Inside the Security Mind: Making the Tough Decisions

Understanding the Modern Hacker

Security is one of the few fields in technology where the problem and the solution both deal with human beings. We do not simply beat a router to death because its protocols are not functioning. Rather, we deal with other people who, like us, have the capacity to be incredibly cunning and dynamic. So, just as a networking engineer must have an understanding of routers, so must a security engineer have an understanding of hackers.

Before we begin, let me state that the term “hacker” is not necessarily the correct term for describing a computer criminal. “Hacker” basically refers to an individual who is proficient in a specific subject; someone who knows the ins and outs of a particular technology or topic. Terms ...