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To most computer users, hackers are worse than second-hand-car salesmen. Virus-infected e-mails are their stock in trade and that’s when they’re not trying to bring down Microsoft, stock markets and the Pentagon. But according to Oxblood Ruffin, such a caricature is just plain wrong. Ruffin is “foreign minister” of the Cult of the Dead Cow, one of the oldest hacker groups. He says most hackers work within the law and use their skills to help governments and businesses defend computer systems from real criminals and faulty software. So why did Ruffin’s group release “Back Orifice”, a free software tool that allows people to access anyone’s…