Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Because that's where the money is ...

Why do people hack computers? Motivations have changed from exploring the tech landscape (1990s) to fame in the community - "leet" status (early 2000s) to filthy lucre (today).

Cisco has a very interesting paper by their security research team, where they tracked down a "bot herder" (someone who takes over computers) and spent some time with him in IRC.


If you're interested in the psychological - rather than technical - aspects of the Dark Side, this is a very good read indeed.

ObDisclaimer: I used to work at Cisco, and know the folks involved in this report. Smart guys.

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