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Nude ambitions
New Member
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 Posted - 03/31/2007 : 10:41:12 PM
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Last week my computer was hacked,and my
windows was corupted and rendered useless,so
I went looking for info on it,this is what I found.
How did you get interested in studying the psychology of virus
writers? And how do you get to know them?
I became interested in viruses because, quite simply, I got one.
Viruses were a relatively new phenomenon at that time, so I set about
learning as much as I could about them. As I did this, I came into
contact with virus writers, as well as antivirus product developers.
There seemed to be a bit of disparity between things that were said
about the virus writers and the way the virus writers themselves
treated me, so I set out to see exactly what was the truth.
It wasn't hard to make contact initially. Most of the active virus
writers were all taking part in various FidoNet (precursor to
internet) echomail exchanges. I was already active there, as I had
designed and developed my own BBS, and received the echomail several
times per day.
Sometimes I would meet them at various universities, sometimes
(literally) "at the mall." Sometimes we would talk on the phone,
sometimes we exchanged email, sometimes personal mail. I think it was
easy for me to do because I was not "the enemy"; I was not judging
them, I just wanted to understand more about their viruses, and what
they thought about them. In the late eighties, early nineties, I was
pretty much into "the internet" (it was nothing like it is now), and
once they learned about IRC, sometimes I'd meet up with them there.
When alt.comp.virus came about (this is another story), I was still
actively talking with a lot of them; now I don't do that very much at
all. As there are so many, I am forced to use various sampling
methods to make the (few) generalizations that can be made. Of
course, with some people I've stayed in touch.
Is it possible to give a profile of a "hacker"? Or a virus writer? Is
there overlap between the two types?
If by "profiling" you mean "Can you tell me what type of person is
likely to write a virus?" or "Who might hack?" the short answer
is "yes and no." Mostly no. But here are some observations.
Initially the virus writing and hacking communities were very much
two separate groups. Hacking required a totally different skillset
and mindset from virus writing. Now, with the massive connectivity
available, the two skillsets are having some crossover. However, in
general, hackers frown upon virus writers. After all, hacking
requires system knowledge and skill and is somewhat "sexy" in today's
counterculture, while virus writing is still looked down upon, mostly
for its indiscriminate damage and lack of required skill.
How true is the stereotype that the hacker subculture is made up of
bright, but socially maladapted adolescent boys? And what about
girls? Has the demographic changed with the growth of the internet in
the past few years?
I think in any area of scientific investigation, you have to be aware
of dangers of stereotyping. But I'll try to answer here based on my
experience and research.
Bright? Yes. But again, depends on how you define bright. Some people
would argue that doing something illegal is not generally very
bright. But I'd counter that with the fact that most people in the
hacker subculture are not out doing illegal things and that people
with deep systems knowledge don't generally get it by osmosis. . . .
Maladjusted? Sometimes. Again, depends on how you define maladjusted.
Certainly the hackers I've known were perfectly fine within their own
environments--aren't we all? They have good relationships with peers,
with their girlfriends or boyfriends (husbands or wives), normal
jobs, do pretty well in school (sometimes very well), etc. But at the
same time you should consider that if you take any of us and compare
us with a different set of people with different values a
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Edited by - Nude ambitions on 04/01/2007 07:01:40 AM
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Country: Botswana
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Studying the psychology of virus writers & hackers
