03 Track 3

Unit 2

Computer Culture

Chapter 1

Unmasking Virus Writers and Hackers

Page 27

Unmasking Virus Writers and Hackers

When we think of the people who make our lives miserable by hacking into computers or spreading malicious viruses, most of us imagine an unpopular teenage boy, brilliant but geeky, venting his frustrations from the safety of a suburban bedroom.

Actually, these stereotypes are just that – stereotypes − according to Sarah Gordon, an expert in computer viruses and security technology, and a Senior Research Fellow with Symantec Security Response.

Since 1992, Gordon has studied the psychology of virus writers. “A hacker or a virus writer is just as likely to be the guy next door you, “she says, “or the kid at the checkout line bagging your groceries.

Your average hacker is not necessarily some Goth type dressed entirely in black and sporting a nose ring: she may very well be a 50-year-old female.”

The virus writers Gordon has come to know have varied backgrounds; while predominantly male, some are female. Some are solidly academic, while others are athletic.

Many have friendships with members of the opposite sex, good relationships with their parents and families; most are popular with their peers. They don’t spend all their time in the basement. One virus writer volunteers in his local library, working with elderly people.

One of them is a poet and a musician, another is an electrical engineer, and others work for a university quantum physics department. You wouldn’t take them out of the lineup as being the perpetrator.

Hackers and virus writers are actually very different, distinct populations. “Hackers tend to have a more thorough knowledge of systems and a more highly developed skill set,” Gordon says, “whereas virus writers generally take a shallower approach to what they are doing.”

Hackers tend to have a much deeper knowledge of individual applications and are still regarded as being somewhat “sexy” in today’s counterculture, while virus writing is looked down upon, mostly for its random damage and lack of required skill.

Their motivations may also differ. While both hackers and virus writers are initially attracted by the technical challenge, hacking is more about power and control.

When you’re hacking and you get into a system, you remain involved with that system − you take it over and dominated it.

On the other hand, once a virus writer releases a program into the wild, the virus goes off and keeps on making copies of itself independently of the author. It’s not as intimate or connected a relationship as between a hacker and the computer, the virus writer relinquishes control and becomes disassociated from the actual activity, he or she has set in motion.

Gordon explains that people write viruses for a number of reasons. Some may perceive it as a technical challenge, even though writing a virus is actually very easy. It can take two minutes or less, depending on the application you’re using.

And the part of the program that makes it viral, i.e., that makes it replicate itself, is generally very simple. Just one or two lines of code. It’s much more complicated to write a useful application than it is to write a virus.

Younger virus writers like to be part of a group they look for peer identity which is important to them or it may be a way to make a social statement. If you are a young person who doesn’t have a lot of power and you can assert yourself with a political statement in a virus that travels all around the world, you might think you’re making a difference, imagining yourself a modern-day social activist.

Gordon says, “It’s a big deal to them when they see it on CNN. They feel like they’ve reached the world.”

“Furthermore,” Gordon says, “most virus writers don’t understand the damage they do. Most of them just don’t make the connection between actions and their consequences.”

This is understandable to a degree, because the computer has introduced a shift in the way we communicate. Desensitization occurs; you miss all the visual cues the contextual clues, and you don’t see the impact you’re having on another person.

We’ve all gotten email from people who are actually abusive in writing when they’d never speak to us that way in person.

People who make mischief with their computers seem to distance themselves from their actions. They justify their behavior with the rationale that “It’s not really wrong, it’s not illegal.” Or they may tell themselves, “Well, everybody has antivirus software, so if I send this out, it won’t really hurt anybody.”

Fortunately, social pressure is changing the impressions people have of hackers and virus writers. Their own peers are beginning to say to them, “This is not cool.”

And, while it is still widely legal to make viruses publicly available Gordon’s research has shown a decrease in acceptance of online publication of virus source code.

Gordon says the media used to promote virus-writers as being geniuses and heroes. But now the press has changed its tune. They no longer portray virus writers as brilliant and misunderstood.

“We’re seeing the media start to turn around,” she says. “We’re getting the message out to young people that writing viruses really isn’t cool.”