Problems of Forensic Sciences 2013 Vol. 93 (XCIII) 391-403
THE PERPETRATORS OF COMPUTER CRIMES AS A HETEROGENEOUS GROUP
Jakub LICKIEWICZ
Department of Psychology and Family Studies, Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski University, Kraków, Poland
Streszczenie
Researchers have often described the hacker subculture as homogeneous. The aim of this study, however, is to identify the differences between groups within this subculture. It distinguishes three groups of hackers: neophytes, who are people new to hacking and have low technical skills, an experienced elite with high technical skills and an utterly inexperienced group known as lamers. The relationship between the psychological and technical factors was evaluated. The NEO-FFI Personality Inventory, the Social Competence Questionnaire and the Test of Internet Addiction were applied to test the thesis. A scale of technical abilities was created with the cooperation of IT experts to evaluate the level of technical skills. Four-hundred-and-twenty-two people participated in the preliminary stage of the research, while 82 were admitted to the second stage. A large number of people were excluded as they were found by the technical questionnaire to lack the required skills. It was only in the second stage that participants were examined using the psychological questionnaires. The research found a relationship between the technical skills and personalities of perpetrators of computer crimes, but uncovered no direct dependence between technical skills, social competence and Internet addiction, which contradicts the stereotypical understanding of hackers.
Słowa kluczowe
Hackers; Computer crime; Personality.