What evil lurks in the hearts of hackers? Joe Grand knows, and he believes that systems administrators should know, too. Those who can’t think and act like a hacker are doomed to be outsmarted by one, says Grand, an author, electrical engineer and former member of The L0pht, a hacker think tank. In this interview, Grand explains how IT pros can protect their systems from hackers and why “hacker” isn’t synonymous with “criminal.” It’s a message that he promotes in a new book from Syngress Publishing, Hardware Hacking: Have Fun While Voiding Your Warranty. He co-authored this book with Ryan Russell and notorious hacker Kevin Mitnick.