What Do Hackers Want?

[nihil]

Knowledge...is power.

Hackers are essentially no different than anyone else. They only think they are.

Hi, that might have been true up until about 3 years or so, ago. Nowadays there are relatively few hackers and a lot more skiddies who couldn't hang ten lines of compilable code together.

They are like the "mules" of the drug trade............... in the food chain, but right at the bottom.

They mostly don't even want to be 1337 these days............ they want $$$$$ and a sense of "power". A bit like the "my knife is bigger than your knife" mentality in street gangs?

Look at what is going on these days?

1. Spamming
2. Identity theft
3. Fraud (e-bay etc)
4. Click fraud
5. Reversed click fraud (drop the competing target in the crap )
6. DoS
7. Soak up competitor's bandwidth
8. Soak up competitor's advertising budget
9. Stock pumping

To mention but a few. All of those are illegal activities, and are based in criminal intent rather than technical knowledge.

"The hacker is dead, long live the hacker"

I would suggest that part of the reason for these developments is that there is no real motivation to be a hacker, when you make no money out of it, yet face the same or worse punishment as/than the skiddies and their criminal puppeteers?

[TejasV]

Hi,
Really mature guys

[Moira]

What is a hacker anyway? Most people fall somewhere in between.

[D0pp139an93r]

They basically want the red pill, but like the color blue better so in theory they want a purple pill that does not exist.

Viagra?

[Aardpsymon]

There are so many variants on hackers. Some want everything to be free and thus leech forever off p2p networks. Some want everything to be free and so spend hours writing linux code. Some are bored and marginalised so write viruses to get back at the world that owes them one. Some are bored and egotistical and so do the same. Some are insecure and so skiddie hack their friends computers to see what everyone really thinks of them, then those friends find out and bloody kick their ass. Some think that government is wrong and go try and "stick it to the man".

I would say most of the above have some defined mental condition that needs treating.

Some are just curious and want to know what is on other peoples computers. Some want to test/improve their skills. Some want to mount their stolen copy of windows on the wall the way "real men" mount stuffed animal heads.

[Moira]

And some just want to discover an inventive solution to a problem.

[gore]

Viagra?

Nah the Purple Pill exists, just depends which one you mean.

purplepill.com is for heart burn.

Another purple pill I know of has more uses and is probably more what someone would be looking for

[D0pp139an93r]

Nah the Purple Pill exists, just depends which one you mean.

purplepill.com is for heart burn.

Another purple pill I know of has more uses and is probably more what someone would be looking for

Meh... I still prefer Percosets. GOddamn Connecticut was fun..

[e><ius]

7. Soak up competitor's bandwidth
8. Soak up competitor's advertising budget

quite smart. but quite low.

that reminds me of working at computer shows... shady shady things happen when you sell 90% discounted ink cartridges straight outa china. ppl digging thru your boxes for shipping address. anything goes.

[gore]

Meh... I still prefer Percosets. GOddamn Connecticut was fun..

Percocet / Oxycodone is great. Hard to find in Michigan even when you actually need it though because Drs are more prone to letting you suffer than giving you anything that might actually work.

I badly injured my back not that long ago and in the ER I got Dilauded and Vicodin and Valium. I could actually walk without almost falling down from pain, but when I went to a regular Dr, NO pain killers.... At all....

As a side note I'm allergic to anti inflammitory meds to the point of needing an ER trip if I accidently take aspirin or ibuprofin. So you can see my annoyance level at knowing Canada has stronger meds over the counter than what I could get from a regular Dr.