Questão 1307736

Unmaskingviruswritersandhackers

Whenwe thinkof the peoplewhomake our lives miserablebyhacking intocomputers, orspreading maliciousviruses,mostofus imagineanunpopular teenageboy,brilliantbutgeeky. Actually,thesestereotypesarejustthat stereotypes according toSarahGordon, anexpert incomputer virusesandsecuritytechnology.Since1992,Gordon hasstudiedthepsychologyofviruswriters.“Ahacker oraviruswriterisjustaslikelytobetheguynextdoor toyou”, shesays, “or thekidat thecheckout line baggingyourgroceries.Your averagehacker isnot necessarilysomeGothictypedressedentirelyinblack andsportingaanosering:shemayverywellbea50year-oldfemale. The viruswritersGordon has come toknowhave variedbackgrounds;whilepredominatelymale,some arefemale. Somearesolidlyacademic,whileothers areathletic.Motarepopularwiththeirpeers.Onevirus writer volunteers in his local library, workingwith elderlypeople.Oneofthemisapoet ,another isan electrical engineer.Youwouldn'tpick themoutof a lineupasbeingtheperpetrator. “Hackerstendtohaveamorethroughknowledgeof systemsandamorehighlydevelopedskillsetandare regarded as being somewhat sexy in today's counterculture”,Gordonsays,“whereasviruswriters generallytakeashallowerapproachtowhat theyare doing, and are looked down upon, mostly for its randomdamageandlackofrequiredskill.” Theirmotivationsmayalsodiffer.Whilebothhackers andviruswritersare initiallyattractedby technical challange,hackingismoreaboutpowerandcontrol. Whenyou'rehackingandyouget intoasystem,you remaininvolvedwiththatsystemyoutakeitoverand dominate it.Ontheotherhand, onceaviruswriter releasesaprogramintothewild,thevirusgoesoffand keepsonmakingcopiesofitselfindependentlyofthe author.

(AdaptedfromAnderson,NeilJ. .Thomson)

One can infer from the passage that the average hacker: