Abstract

Despite the diversity, freedom, and community offered by the computer underground a number of computer hackers choose to be employed or subcontracted by security organisations.
This paper is based upon interviews with individuals who are employed to use their hacking skills legitimately, as part of their employment, and will explore the extent to which these individuals engage in criminality and the potential risks that this poses for the industry.
It is apparent that traditional formulations of ‘black hat’ and ‘white hat’ hacking are no longer useful, and that in order to understand why people ‘cross the line’ between legitimate and illegal activity it is necessary that we attempt to understand the factors that influence and that bound the reasoning processes of ‘Ethical Hackers’. In this way it is possible to suggest some solutions that may minimise the harms that are associated with criminality within the computer security industry.