They are nothing but little kids who like causing mayhem. A different form of the kids who drop stones or bricks off fly overs, daub walls with ugly graffiti or put metal rails on railway tracks.
They have no care or consideration for your freedom, rights or privacy. Thy use that as an excuse, like pirates, to put up a cloak of respectability for their mayhem.
Some will grow out of it and some will realise hacking sites for credit card details is far more profitable.
This won't stop them, still if they don't have the ability to reveal a lot more hackers a cell awaits them. the notion they will trade that cell for a cushy job hacking for the Government is beyond absurd and those putting it forward need to think it through.
Put up a strong case why the Government of any country should use one of these guys and not kids with some moral and ethical fibre right out of university. Or just the people who nailed them.
It's like "Lets not convict this bank robber, but use him to catch other bank robbers."
Instead of using the people who don't rob banks who caught him.
