5 popular myths about hacking and hackers

If movies are to be believed, computer hackers are socially awkward teenagers living in darkened basements, their skin lit up with the glow from the several monitors that surround them, each adorned with masses of complex computer code that no ordinary person could possibly comprehend.

Their surroundings adorned with obscure music and movie references as they frantically type in commands and algorithms in order to “bypass the firewall” and “access the security mainframe”, all before their computer begins to sound the “intrusion detected” alarm bell telling them their target has successfully located them.

Of course, reality is often more mundane than what movies will have you believe. Here are 5 popular myths about computer hackers.

Hackers are all criminals

Some hackers may indeed be criminals, but not all of them are. Hacking and hackers are sub-classified into “White Hat” and “Black Hat”. White Hat hackers are the good guys and will generally try and exploit software or networks in order to test for weaknesses, in order to improve or fix those weaknesses so bad guys can’t exploit them. They may work for a company, or be enrolled in a bounty program by that company. and bounty programs pay out to hackers who successfully discover and document security weaknesses.

That’s right – hacking can be a legitimate full time vocation, albeit they may tend to call themselves cyber-security professionals (or similar) and not hackers, but it’s still the same deal!

In fact many purists still argue that all hackers are the good guys, clinging to the original term of the word that simply means modifying or editing computer code. Those who make that argument refer to “bad” hackers as “crackers”. (Not many use that term any more, though.)

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Hackers are anti-social

The general perception of hackers is awkward, nerdy basement dwellers. While some may indeed be just that, many – especially White Hat hackers, are just normal people who love finding weaknesses in computer security.

Hackers are always frantically racing against time

Imagine the typical movie scenario. The hacker frantically typing long swathes of complex computer code into their keyboard, trying to “hack that mainframe” before their intrusion is detected by an alarming warning message. Well, that’s just Hollywood’s way of making a pretty mundane and boring task seem exciting.

In reality, hackers – both the good and bad kind – tend to execute a series of automated programs that are designed to systematically test networks and websites for any number of known vulnerabilities. This is usually neither a quick nor an exciting process, and is mostly just waiting to see if any vulnerabilities are discovered. Hacking is often a laborious, analytical process that most definitely doesn’t make for good TV.

Also, no hacker has ever actually said “I’ve hacked the mainframe”, and it’s pretty unlikely that any hacker has ever had an “intrusion detected” warning and klaxon flash up on their computer.

(Check out our “bypassed the firewall and hacked the mainframe” t-shirt here! — UK)

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Being scammed and being “hacked” aren’t always the same thing

We often equate any scam to being hacked. We often thrown the phrase “I’ve been hacked” around as soon as something bad happens (we do the same with the term “virus” as well, but that’s for a different time.) In fact some of the most popular scams on the Internet – such as phishing – don’t fall under the hacking umbrella. Many Internet scams involve the victim making some pretty blatant security errors, and have nothing to do with hacking

So the next time you install a Facebook app and give it permission to post from your account, don’t say you’ve been “hacked” when that’s exactly what it starts doing. Also, don’t say you’ve “been hacked” after you’ve entered your password into a fake website and sent it straight to a crook.

Hackers are super smart mathematical prodigies

Another myth that Hollywood gets the blame for, and rightly so. We’re sure there are many super smart hackers out there. But the reality is you don’t need to possess an exceptionally high intelligence level. Though we doubt it would hurt.

Some of the most successful hackers would make a ton of mistakes and could take a long time to make only small progress. However they did possess some of the more important attributes that are more commonly found in good hackers; an analytical approach, persistence and patience. All three of those are often more important than your IQ.