A Conceptual Model of Hacker Development and Motivations

A conceptual model describing the development of hackers and their motivations is constructed from existing psychological theories. The constructs of “flow” and “criminal tendency” are taken and developed from psychological theories of motivation and learning. These constructs are used as moderators and mediators respectively in the model to describe the development of a hacker from “Tool kit/Newbie” to “Cyber Punk” or “Old Guard” as described in Rogers (2001) taxonomy of hackers. Empirical testing of the model has not been achieved in this paper. However if empirical testing does support the model then the constructs involved may provide website designers, network administrators and managers with useful variables and insights to reduce hacker development.