Any reformed black hat programmer/hackers out there? Who are now white hat hackers? Or “retired” from the other side?
While reading the CWS Chronicles about how some common browser hijacking software has evolved, I became interested in how the mind of such malware/spyware software writers and companies work. Do the programming tricks work long enough to make some money? Do they keep on working, and earning money even after all the white hats in the world are after you? Is this occupation insanely profitable or just squeaking by? Who are your clients? How do you release each version into the wild? How widespread do they get? Etc., etc.
Spill your guts! Tell us your secrets! Write a book!
In reading a few strories about spyware mavens and the programmers they use I get the impression that the large majority of these programmers are Indian, Chinese or Russian, etc. and are not US citizens.
While I admit that this is a curious topic (motivations, etc…), an interest in creating malware and or otherwise hacking/cracking–whichever is the preferred term these days–is not something we want to encourage on the SDMB. That said, there are numerous “manifestos” out there in the wild, wild Internets from several gloating malware veterans; you just have to look.
