Royal Holloway: The Computer Misuse Act and the characteristics of convicted hackers

Table Of Contents

• There is a large variation in skill levels among the convicted individuals who fit the loosely defined term of “hacker”, with the majority having little to no skills and are usually ex-IT employees. Only eight of the 132 cases could be defined as highly skilled, having written their own malware, controlled or rented destructive botnets, or were high-performing members of significant hacktivist groups.
• The main motivation of convicted hackers across all skill levels was money, followed by ego-centric reasons for all except the low-skilled convicts, whose second-highest motivation was revenge.
• The vast majority of the 132 convicted hackers were male (only 3 of the 132 identified as female), with ages averaging between 23 and 35 years old; around a third of hackers were known in some way to their victims.