What the Hack Is a Hacker? Paige Franklin
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
James Madison University JMU Scholarly Commons Senior Honors Projects, 2010-current Honors College Spring 2019 What the hack is a hacker? Paige Franklin Ryan Adams Caroline Henry Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019 Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Franklin, Paige; Adams, Ryan; and Henry, Caroline, "What the hack is a hacker?" (2019). Senior Honors Projects, 2010-current. 671. https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019/671 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors College at JMU Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Senior Honors Projects, 2010-current by an authorized administrator of JMU Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. What the Hack is a Hacker? _______________________ An Honors College Project Presented to the Faculty of the Honors College James Madison University _______________________ by Paige Marie Franklin, Ryan Edward Adams, and Caroline Carson Henry May 2019 Accepted by the faculty of the Honors College, James Madison University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Honors College. FACULTY COMMITTEE: HONORS COLLEGE APPROVAL: Project Advisor: Philip L. Frana, Ph.D., Bradley R. Newcomer, Ph.D., Associate Dean, Honors College Dean, Honors College Reader: Jim E. Lantzy, D.A., Adjunct Professor, Computer Information Systems Reader: David L. Hardy, M.F.A., Assistant Professor, Graphic Design PUBLIC PRESENTATION This work is accepted for presentation, in part or in full, at Honors Symposium on April 5, 2019. Acknowledgements The authors of this paper would like to extend our sincerest thanks to our project advisor, Dr. Philip Frana, for his unwavering guidance and support throughout this entire process. Dr. Frana not only inspired this project, but he kept our morale high throughout the entirety of its completion. We could not be more thankful for him or the time, energy, and effort he has dedicated to ensuring that this project was of the highest quality possible. We would also like to thank our project readers, Dr. Jim Lantzy and Professor David Hardy, for dedicating their time to providing us with invaluable feedback on our project. Finally, we would like to thank the entire faculty and staff of James Madison University’s Honors College for supporting us in this endeavor and pushing us to produce a work we are proud of. 1 Abstract The purpose of this study is to examine the historical tendencies and characteristics of hackers to create a holistic definition of what it means to be a hacker. By analyzing the contents of the “Hacker Classics” list, it was determined that there is not a single, all-encompassing definition of what it means to be a hacker. Although there are common motivations and ideologies between many hackers, the definition of “hacker” continues to change as time and technology does. 2 Table of Contents Introduction ..........................................................................................................................5 Y Combinator ...........................................................................................................6 Hacker News .............................................................................................................6 The “Hacker Classics” List .....................................................................................8 James Sommers: Creator of the “Hacker Classics” List .....................................9 Purpose..................................................................................................................................10 Hypothesis .............................................................................................................................11 Research Process ..................................................................................................................12 Part I: Hacking Defined ......................................................................................................14 Definition of a Hacker .............................................................................................14 History of the Term ‘Hacking’ ...............................................................................15 Part II: Psychology and Ideology .......................................................................................16 Psychology and Shared Traits of Hackers .............................................................16 Study Relating the Psychology of Hackers to Their Success ...............................19 Political Views ..........................................................................................................21 Female Hackers ........................................................................................................22 Differences between Black, White, and Grey Hats ...............................................24 Study of the Psychology of Black, White, and Grey Hats ....................................26 An Interview with a Black Hat ...............................................................................28 The Hacker Ethic .....................................................................................................30 3 Part III: Individual Hackers ...............................................................................................31 Paul Graham and Robert Morris: Founders of Y Combinator ..........................32 Kevin Mitnick ...........................................................................................................33 Andrew Horner ........................................................................................................35 Bill Gates ...................................................................................................................36 Part IV: Groups and Communities ....................................................................................38 Hacker Groups .........................................................................................................38 The Economics of Hacking ......................................................................................40 Part V: Limitations ..............................................................................................................42 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................43 Appendix ...............................................................................................................................45 References .............................................................................................................................46 4 Introduction The history of computer programming now dates back more than fifty years. In that time, thousands of articles have been published online that are of interest to hackers. So many articles, in fact, that the hacker community has had to develop some ways to get a handle on all the information available to them. And what better way than through collaborative filtering, a process that collects ratings from members of the hacker community? What is there to gain from a list of upvoted articles compiled by an algorithm? What is the point of such a list? What can a list like this tell us about human professions, innovation, historical trends, and how the world works? What does a list titled “Hacker Classics” mean to people who identify as hackers? Historically and generally, the computer science and programming communities are future- focused. Their innovations and work are geared towards moving today’s society to the next step in time and technology. But the “Hacker Classics” list (http://jsomers.net/hn/) explores the history of the information/technological revolution and the people behind it. Upon viewing this list, we wondered if it could serve as a way that hackers and programmers are attempting to understand where they came from and what forces have influenced the hacker community and their work over time? The questions stated above were just a few of our initial thoughts when we first examined the “Hacker Classics” list. We were intrigued by this list of articles, journals, video links, and scholastic essays engineered by a group of hackers. This interest in understanding the meaning 5 behind the “Hacker Classics” list sparked a deep dive into primary sources and research, that when considered as a whole, creates a holistic picture of hackers and the hacking community. Y Combinator Y Combinator is an investment company started in March 2005 by Paul Graham and Robert Morris, along with Jessica Livingston and Trevor Blackwell (People). The company has invested in over 1,450 companies, including Airbnb, Reddit, and Dropbox (Bio). In return for investing in companies, Y Combinator requests a percentage of equity (About Y Combinator). The company went global in 2016, as they began to meet with investors and entrepreneurs in 11 countries (Manalac, 2016). In addition to investing in startups, Y Combinator currently runs Hacker News and hosts the “Hacker Classics” online list. Hacker News Hacker News is a news aggregator site with the purpose to present “anything that gratifies one’s intellectual curiosity,” (Graham, Startup Becomes Hacker News). It was published on February 17, 2007 by Paul Graham (Rao, 2013). The format of Hacker News is based on a reputation economy that closely mirrors that of Reddit, as there are multiple listings on each page