You may have heard about the many ‘leaks’ in the news in recent weeks, especially in reference to hackers. These illegal cyberattacks are dangerous precedents for all countries involved. But a local Whitney Young club, Technology In Problem Solving (TIPS), has turned hacking into a positive. “We do these sort of jeopardy-style hacking problems, and it’s for ethical hacking- the art of offensive security. You learn how exploits happen and you learn how to protect against them,” says Patrick Gallagher ‘17, co-founder of TIPS. “The problems [that we solve] are intentionally vulnerable, so we can recognize what vulnerabilities look like.” This club, which meets as a club on Thursdays and as a team on Mondays, is made up of students ranging from Academic Center students all the way up to the three seniors on the team. On a typical Monday, Gallagher welcomes everyone in, then will waste no time in pulling up a Powerpoint to present to the twenty-odd students who have gathered in the desks. As he went through the problems, he explained the concepts and demonstrated their use. His goal is to essentially expand the members’ toolbox- that is, he shows them techniques and tricks that they may then apply to the problems and challenges that they attempt to solve. As he was going through his presentation, he wasn’t hesitant to sprinkle in some humor. Many of the students agreed that what made the club so captivating is the superspy feel to it. Griffin Lynch ‘17 noted the “secretive, undercover” feel to the activity. Others pointed out the benefits of ‘positive hacking’; Edward Yang ‘19 said “It helps you not break stuff.” As demonized as it may be in the popular media, hacking can be a huge positive for the technology industry. As for now, we should all be proud of the next generation of positive hackers that is taking root at our school.