The Computer Underground Essays (9442 words) - Hacker,

The Computer Underground NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE COMPUTER UNDERGROUND A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE MASTER OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY BY GORDON R. MEYER %CompuServe: 72307,1502% %GEnie: GRMEYER% DEKALB, ILLINOIS AUGUST 1989 ABSTRACT Mame: Gordon R. Meyer Department: Sociology Title: The Social Organization of the Computer Underground Major: Criminology Degree: M.A. Aproved by: Date: _____________________________________ ___________ Tesis Director NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY ABSTRACT This paper examines the social organization of the "computer underground" (CU). The CU is composed of actors in three roles, "computer hackers," "phone phreaks," and "software pirates." These roles have frequently been ignored or confused in media and other accounts of CU activity. By utilizing a data set culled from CU channels of communication this paper provides an ethnographic account of computer underground organization. It is concluded that despite the widespread social network of the computer underground, it is organized primarily on the level of colleagues, with only small groups approaching peer relationships. Certification: In accordance with departmental and Graduate School policies, this thesis is accepted in partial fulfillment of degree requirements. ______________________ Thesis Director ______________________ Date ACKNOWLEDGMENTS FOR CRITIQUE, ADVICE, AND COMMENTS: DR. JAMES L. MASSEY DR. JIM THOMAS DR. DAVID F. LUCKENBILL FOR SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT: GALE GREINKE SPECIAL THANKS TO: D.C., T.M., T.K., K.L., D.P., M.H., AND G.Z. THIS WORK IS DEDICATED TO: GEORGE HAYDUKE AND BARRY FREED Introduction The proliferation of home computers has been accompanied by a corresponding social problem involving the activities of so-called "computer hackers." "Hackers" are computer aficionados who "break in" to corporate and government computer systems using their home computer and a telephone modem. The prevalence of the problem has been dramatized by the media and enforcement agents, and evidenced by the rise of specialized private security firms to confront the "hackers." But despite this flurry of attention, little research has examined the social world of the "computer hacker." Our current knowledge in this regard derives from hackers who have been caught, from enforcement agents, and from computer security specialists. The everyday world and activities of the "computer hacker" remain largely unknown. This study examines the way actors in the "computer underground" (CU) organize to perform their acts. The computer underground, as it is called by those who participate in it, is composed of actors adhering to one of three roles: "hackers," "phreakers," or "pirates." To further understanding this growing "social problem," this project will isolate and clarify these roles, and examine how each contributes to the culture as a whole. By doing so the sociological question of how the "underground" is organized will be answered, rather than the technical question of how CU participants perform their acts. Best and Luckenbill (1982) describe three basic approaches to the study of "deviant" groups. The first approach is from a social psychological level, where analysis focuses on the needs, motives, and individual characteristics of the actors involved. Secondly, deviant groups can be studied at a socio-structural level. Here the emphasis is on the distribution and consequences of deviance within the society as a whole. The third approach, the one adopted by this work, forms a middle ground between the former two by addressing the social organization of deviant groups. Focusing upon neither the individual nor societal structures entirely, social organization refers to the network of social relations between individuals involved in a common activity (pp. 13-14). Assessing the degree and manner in which the underground is organized provides the opportunity to also examine the culture, roles, and channels of communication used by the computer underground. The focus here is on the day to day experience of persons whose activities have been criminalized over the past several years. Hackers, and the "danger" that they present in our computer dependent society, have often received attention from the legal community and the media. Since 1980, every state and the federal government has criminalized "theft by browsing" of computerized information (Hollinger and Lanza-Kaduce, 1988, pp.101- 102). In the media, hackers have been portrayed as maladjusted losers, forming "high-tech street gangs" (Chicago Tribune, 1989) that are dangerous to society. My research will show that the computer underground consists of a more sophisticated level of social organization than has been generally recognized. The very fact that CU participants are to some extent "networked" has implications for social control policies that may have been Implemented based on an in- complete understanding of the activity. This project not only offers sociological insight into the organ- ization of deviant associations, but may be helpful to policy makers as well.