From curiosity to crime: Exploring pathways into criminal hacking

The goal of this study was to better understand pathways into cybercrime and the various stages that young people move through before engaging in criminal hacking behaviors. The study draws on unique data resulting from interviews with 22 criminal hackers from the Netherlands and the UK, of which 15 were caught by the police, and 7 were self-identified criminal hackers. Qualitative analysis revealed that young hackers tend to have early experiences with information technology and remain preoccupied with computers throughout early adolescence. Here, we identified two primary trajectories: one shaped by exposure to online peers via gaming communities, and another characterized by self-directed exploration of computer skills in relative social isolation. Driven by curiosity and intrinsic motivations, young people use readily available information on YouTube, Google and forums to obtain information and develop skills in the field of computers and technology. By means of experimenting and trying out newly acquired knowledge in practice, lines between legal and illegal behaviors blur and young people risk to become involved in crime. Offending behaviors seem to be influenced by various mechanisms, including parental oversight, cognitions and perceptions about ethics, and encouragements from both online and offline peers. They possibly form critical points for intervention and prevention purposes. Over time, offending behaviors can escalate as they contribute to increased reputation among peers or evolve into more materialistic oriented hacking. We encourage quantitative assessments of risk factors and involvement mechanisms for cybercrime offending to validate the underlying patterns identified in the current analysis.