The irony was not lost on Johnny Long. On the silver screen, both hackers and zombies are typically associated with disaster, so the fact that he was at a zombie-themed security conference to speak about hackers making a positive difference in the world seemed satirical.
But speaking to the audience at the Hacker Halted conference Thursday in Atlanta, he turned that irony on its head as he described the efforts of an organization he founded in 2007 after being struck by the challenges he saw during a trip to Uganda.
"In 2007, I found out that for the first time in my life that hackers could actually help; that hackers could do positive things," he said. "I already sort of knew that, but I wasn’t able to convince anyone else. So in 2007 I started Hackers for Charity."
Considered a pioneer in Google hacking, Long has penned a number of books on computer security. In the years since the founding of Hackers for Charity, the organization has grown to include services ranging from computer training to leather crafting courses to hunger relief efforts.
In keeping with the zombie theme of the conference, he noted that in Max Brooks' famous book, 'The Zombie Survival Guide', the author puts forth a zombie apocalypse checklist to help people survive. In a way, that checklist is very real - once a person gets beyond the basic requirements of food and water, there are other elements of life that must be met, Long explained.
"It's amusing and it’s funny, but Max Brooks is brilliant because he based this checklist on something real, which is [Abraham] Maslow's hierarchy of human needs," Long said. "This is a real thing that describes what people need not only to survive, but to find fulfillment in their lives. And we've actually seen each level of this in our work in Uganda."
But Uganda is not the only place where Long believes hackers can help. At the recent DerbyCon conference in Kentucky, he and other volunteers taught a computer security class at a battered women's shelter that focused on issues such as email security.
"It was a huge success," he said. "I would love to see more of this."
Long thanked the EC-Council and EC-Council Foundation for supporting Hackers for Charity. Recounting stories of how computer literacy and access to resources changed the lives of some of the people he has worked with in Uganda, he asked attendees of the conference to support the group's efforts as it attempts to expand its services. The organization needs software and hardware hackers that can "think outside of the box" to help with the solutions the organization is deploying, he said.
"We need more courses; we need more training," he said. "Our hackerspace is bought and paid for. It's funded, but it's empty. We need help with that."
"These stories are powerful, they are definitely worth being part of," he added. "My challenge to you is, become a part of the story. Get involved."