Decoding the Cultures of Hacking
What would it be like to hack a computer system free of IRL (in real life) risks? Video games like Deus Ex: Human Revolution offer the thrill, strategies, and frustrations—but without the FBI knocking on your door. In 2011, video game media website IGN released a trailer showcasing Human Revolution’s “social” and “hacking” mechanics. In the trailer, game [ ]
Everyone hates a pedophile. Every human society protects children, and adults who harm them can face the harshest punishment allowed by law. Many powerful abusers are shielded by the silence of the complicit and fearful. Thanks to the work of whistleblowers and leakers like the UN’s Anders Kompass, who exposed abuse committed by peacekeeping staff, [ ]
Like many a young person, MTW (Justin May) was a serious gamer—a serious Xbox 360 gamer, to be precise. Unlike most gamers, though, MTW wanted more from his games and his console. He sought a kind of super-console, one that allowed him to manipulate the operating system, run software emulators, and unlock the ability to [ ]
Hackers! Communists! Should we panic? Stereotypes and hysteria have so often spurred US government hacker narratives that one can be forgiven for scoffing when FBI Director Christopher Wray’s declares that “China’s hackers are positioning on American infrastructure in preparation to wreak havoc” as just the latest cyberspace nothing burger. Then again, it s not only the [ ]
First on the air in 1965, the BBC program Tomorrow’s World showcased the latest in science and technology to millions across the UK. Early episodes included features on everything from electronic music, to computerized banking, to car radios. The series promoted a future that was exciting, safe, and filled with creative promise. In 1972, host [ ]
On May 19, 1998, seven hackers from hacker think tank L0pht Heavy Industries took a seat in front of the United States Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. In spite of being introduced as hackers, they’re in suits, not hoodies. Committee Chair Senator Fred Thompson opens by informing the audience that the seven men will be [ ]
Fear sells when you’re selling security. Rule #1 of cybersecurity marketing: hackers are scary. But what’s the scariest kind of hacker? Imagining a scary hacker, many will conjure the usual stereotypes: dim basement, black hoodie, mold growing on Mom’s spaghetti. But in an ad released in 2023, Cisco’s marketing department has flipped the usual script. [ ]
If someone broke into your house, would you blame your architect, builder, or window manufacturer for enabling the act? Probably not. But if someone hacked your email provider and swiped your credit card information, you’d likely blast and shame the provider all over social media for failing to protect your information. We now expect companies [ ]
In this pivotal scene from Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation, surveillance expert Harry Caul assembles, splices, and transforms a collection of tapes recorded earlier in the film. At this point in the film, Caul has been hired to surreptitiously capture an exchange between a man and a woman walking though Union Square in San Francisco. [ ]
Contemporary concerns about disinformation largely center on social media, but there has always been a much larger playing field when it comes to online fiction. Ever the predictors of unconventional uses of technology, computer hackers began asking questions about the veracity of digital information at the dawn of the dotcom era: What forms of communication [ ]