Computer Hacker World Views

On Saturday, August 17, 1996, hackers took control of the World Wide Web home page of the U. S. Department of Justice. The unknown perpetrators replaced it with swastikas, obscene pictures, criticism of the Communications Decency Act, and links to anti-politician sites on the Web. The name of the site was changed to “Department of Injustice” and said the department “serves to punish all who don’t agree with moral standards set forth by Clinton. Anything and anyone different must be jailed.”

As security professionals, we already understand many of the motives involved in traditional espionage—greed, ideology, revenge, coercion, intrigue. These also motivate individuals in the newly burgeoning ares of industrial espionage. It’s not as easy to understand the motives of those who hack into WWW sites or write computer viruses.

One good source of information is a “cyberpunk” literature. William Gibson’s Neuromancer, published in 1984, is usually credited as defining the genre. The “hero,” a young man named Case, is a hacker who earns a living via industrial espionage. His life includes drug abuse, black marketeering, theft, surgical implantation of electronics, danger, and violence.

Computer security expert Paul Saffo wrote several years ago “I am particularly struck by the ‘generation gap’ in the computer community when it comes to Neuromancer: virtually every teenager hacker I spoke with has the book, but almost none of my friends over 30 have picked it up.”

Although it is difficult to define the movement, there are three main classifications of cyberpunks. Hackers are skilled or talented with most aspects of computers, electronics, and technology. For them, technology is not just a hobby but a way of life. Cypherpunks believe the government is out to invade the privacy of everybody on the planet. Their central goal is to out-smart the system. Ravers use synthesized and sampled music, computer-generated psychedelic art, and designer drugs to create massive all-night dance parties and love-fests in empty warehouses or remote locations.

Many cyberpunks believe that information and computing resources should be freely accessible to everyone. They do not believe it is wrong to break into someone’s computer, read files, or copy them. If anyone is at fault, it is the victim for failing to secure (or adequately secure) his or her system.

Here is a short list books and films, in case you would like to learn more about this world view:

William Gibson’s Neuromancer (1984), Count Zero (1986), Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988), and Virtual Light (1994).
John Brunner’s Shockwave Rider (1975), a favorite of Robert Tappan Morris, Jr., author of the Worm which invaded two or three thousand Internet sites in 1988.
Bruce Sterling’s Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology (1986), The Artificial Kid (1980), Islands in the Net (1988), and Crystal Express (1990).
Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) and the movie based on it, Blade Runner (1982) directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford and Sean Young.

For those of you trapped in cars during long communtes, look for these titles on audiocassette. My local library had several of these titles on their shelves.

The Internet has several interesting WWW pages about cyberpunk literature They contain more extensive discussions of the genre, as well as more extensive lists of books, films, and analytical articles. For one put together by a Purdue University doctoral candidate in English Literature, point your browser to http://omni.cc.purdue.edu/~stein/stein.htm.