computer hacker psychology

[leviathan59]

I am currently studying psychology and sociology at the local college and I have 5 degrees in network administration, programming, user support and network security. My question is this, do any of you see the potential use of a computer criminal profiler? Is this a field in which you think would benefit the security community, law enforcement and government?

[Egaladeist]

Hi leviathan59,

Well..there does seem to be some talk about it....

Let's talk about computer crime in a way that builds on that work. You have said that serial killers often taunt their adversaries, which makes them visible. But there are spies like Aldrich Ames who seem to have had extraordinary discipline, so whatever ego-type needs they gratified did not require a public display. They strike me as the most dangerous people on the other side.

Absolutely. People who don't need to say, "Look at how good I am" to someone else are the criminals who pose the greatest threat, regardless of their specialty. That kind of restraint happens to be unusual with criminal hackers or crackers. Most of these people seem to have a need to boast about their latest conquest on a listserv.

My guess is that, as technology becomes less expensive, more powerful and more pervasive, we'll start to see "the Hannibal Lecters of cybercrime."

http://www.thiemeworks.com/write/arc...leprofiler.htm
ThiemeWorks - Profile of a Profiler

Eoghan Casey is currently a full partner, Instructor, and Educational Technology Developer with Knowledge Solutions LLC. In his courses, he teaches individuals to investigate crimes that involve computer networks and to use the Internet as an investigative tool. Through Knowledge Solutions, he consults on criminal cases that involve computers, networks, and the Internet. He is also a System Security Administrator for Yale University, where he investigates computer intrusions, cyberstalking reports, and other computer-related crimes, and assists in the research and implementation of university wide security solutions.

http://www.corpus-delicti.com/fs_boo...ors_1sted.html
Criminal Profiling / © 1996 - 2002 Knowledge Solutions LLC

Eg

[nihil]

Hello,

leviathan59

That is a hard one to call I am sure that you could write one hell of a book, and make a fair amount of money in the process.

I am not sure of the practicalities though? it is a bit like profiling a car thief? As I see things, profiling comes into its own in psyco-criminology (hey! I just invented a new word for you ). When it comes down to the more mundane criminal activities, it is of less practical relevance?

My recommendations would be to think about the book. As part of your research, approach the law enforcement agencies and get their views. Please don't forget Interpol, and New Scotland Yard over here and the RCMP in Canada.

As I see it, profiling is more suitable for individuals.................skiddies run in herds?

Cheers

[dinowuff]

According to the RCMP, there is no real hacker profile anymore, due to the proliferation of computers over the last decade. However, the stereotypical profile apparently is not entirely defunct. The teenager from the South Shore who made headlines last January following his arrest on suspicion of hacking into several high-profile organizations (including NASA) conforms perfectly with the "bored, dysfunctional male loner between the ages of 15 and 25 with an unhappy family life" profile formerly used by the Mounties.

Source

[Goitz]

Hi all,

I've been curious about that psychosocial motivations and profile of hackers, too. However, I haven't found anything published regarding that.

leviathan59, if you are planning to do a dissertation on the subject, you won't be the first but I can't see any credible reference as of yet. However, you might be interested in the approach used by a study along similar lines but concerning terrorists. Check out:

http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/pdf-files/..._Terrorism.pdf

it might be useful.

Good luck!

[gore]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...30558?v=glance

[¤The¤Spe©ialist]

http://www.antionline.com/showthread...898#post848898

That about sums it up...

What you need to remember though is that this mainly applies to anyone you see jumping around, tossing the H word around. You see kids doing that... I myself on the other hand have never met a fellow criminal who really did that outside the contexts of a joke or insult. Either way it'll always fallow the general path of what I've said in the thread above though.

But then agian, take a good look at "criminal profiling" in action. Lets take The-Rev as an example. He used to come on AO-IRC when it was around. The conversations where your average tech-support garbage which you'd normally expect on the board instead. Then t3h l33t h4x0r profiler known as JP would have stuff like this to say about him...

Internationally famous hacker profiler, JP Vranesonuvavich has ridiculed the FBI for incorrectly blaming Pimpshiz and The-Rev as being the Deceptive Duo. "Having applied my advanced ' hacker profiling techniques ' I was able to conclusively prove that the 'Dell Dude' and 'Dumb Bimbo' were in fact the Deceptive Duo. I have in fact photographic evidence. The attached picture shows the Deceptive Duo making their getaway following a recent ' drive by hacking ' of a commercial computer retailer establishment. I have not yet identified the older black gentleman that they were seen plotting with "I am by no means a criminal psychologist, or a behavioral scientist. What I'm going to describe in this special report is based on over 6 years of studying the "underground", and from talking with well over 7,000 different hackers " crowed JP. " In order to help the law enforcement community do better 'hacker profiling' I am making available copies of my patented ' hacker profiling techniques ' online...

Haha...

[kyrios]

A good book to read on this is one written by Kevin D. Mitnick: The Art of Deception. He was a hacker who then turned it around and now he uses "his talents and the extensive
knowledge he gathered about information security and social engineering tactics to helping government, businesses, and individuals prevent, detect, and respond to information-security threats" (Kevin Mitnick - The art of deception). If you read that book you might get a better understanding of how their (hackers) psychology works. By the way it is a good book.

P.S. If you want it, i have it in PDF format.

[jm459]

Originally posted here by leviathan59
I am currently studying psychology and sociology at the local college and I have 5 degrees in network administration, programming, user support and network security. My question is this, do any of you see the potential use of a computer criminal profiler? Is this a field in which you think would benefit the security community, law enforcement and government?

I'm afraid you've missed the boat on this one. In the UK we already have such specialisits. Only recently, MI5 had a full page Ad looking to recruit computer security professionals. This is the very first time that I have seen such an Ad from the UK Civil Service. I'm sure that the computer criminal profiler is just part and parcel of these guys everyday jobs

[¤The¤Spe©ialist]

A good book to read on this is one written by Kevin D. Mitnick: The Art of Deception. He was a hacker who then turned it around and now he uses "his talents and the extensive
knowledge he gathered about information security and social engineering tactics to helping government, businesses, and individuals prevent, detect, and respond to information-security threats" (Kevin Mitnick - The art of deception). If you read that book you might get a better understanding of how their (hackers) psychology works. By the way it is a good book

Yeah but Mitnick always kept himself within a circle of other "l33t d00dz". Its fair to say that everything he did was to look cool infront of people he thought was tech-savvy at the time. And from what I've seen... he wants others to beleave he is just that. Only this time its through the highly technical means of being a compulsive liar and playing grab-ass just to get at another man's PDA, phone, not to mention other stuff which may be loosely hanging from a pair of pants.