Transcript Profile of a Hacker

Profile of a Hacker
By Tommy Westerman
An Attacker’s Psychological Profile?
 Temple Grandin, a sufferer of a
mental disorder Asperger Syndrome,
hypothesized that hackers may suffer
from the same disorder.
 Though that Kevin Mitnick and several
other widely know hackers displayed
symptons of Asperger Syndrome.
What is Asperger Syndrome?
 Asperger Syndrome (AS) is a
neurobiological disorder named for a
Viennese physician, Hans Asperger,
who in 1944 published a paper which
described its symptoms.
 It has only been recently studied by
professionals.
What is Asperger Syndrom? (cont.)
 Poor social skills
 Fidgeting, restlessness, inability to
make eye contact, unresponsive to
cues in social interaction, such as
facial expressions or body language.
 Exceptional ability to remember long
strings of numbers.
What is Asperger Syndrom? (cont.)
 Ability to focus on a technical problem
intensely and for a long time,
although easily distracted on other
problems and unable to manage
several tasks at once.
 Over sensitive to light, smell, ect…
 Odd an unusual behavior.
 And…
What is Asperger Syndrom? (cont.)
 Deeply honest and law abiding!?
 Most hackers will say that they do
what they do to find security holes
and other helpful things, not to hurt
others.
How Does AS Relate to Hackers?
 Though AS sufferers are generally of
normal intelligence, they are still very
technical and can concentrate on a
single task for a long time.
 They exist in their own universe
where they’re using their skills to do
a justice to society.
Why does AS and Hacking Mix?
 Highly Specialized in certain technical
fields.
 These are the people that designed
and built our computers.
 They seem to know computer
language better than natural
language.
Does AS Relate to Hackers?
 There have been no in-depth studies
to confirm this.
 Nothing has been proved.
 The link between hackers and AS can
be seen in many cases.
AS in the past?
 AS was first discussed in the 1940’s,
long before computers and hackers,
so what did they do before modern
computing?
AS in the Past? (cont.)
 AS can be linked to early
Cryptography.
 AS sufferers were the ones that
cracked the Enigma Machine!
 Alan Turing was even thought to be
AS!
The End!
• Happy Birthday to me!
• Any questions?
Bibliography
 Asperger Syndrome, What is it?
http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/aswh
atisit.html
 Link Found Between Autism and Hacking.
http://www.vnunet.com/news/1134527
 Profile of a Hacker.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/cyberspa
ce/jan-june98/hacker_profile.html
 Takedown.com Kevin Mitnick.
http://www.takedown.com/bio/mitnick.htm
 Security in Computing, Charles P. Pfleeger
and Shari Lawrence Pfleeger.