At Digital Transformation EXPO Europe Samy Kamkar, independent security researcher infamous for creating the ‘Samy’ Myspace computer worm that gained notoriety when it propagated across the social networking site in 2005, said that hacking exploits are not always malicious in nature, and are rather often imbedded in inquisitively and a determination to push boundaries.
“There is something super-intoxicating about being able to use some sort of tool and manipulate a system across the internet without knowing anything else about it,” he explained.
It is that capability that often inspires hackers and researchers to continually evolve and develop different attack methods, and explains why threats are not only constantly changing, but are also constantly harder to defend against, Kamkar argued. “Once there is no challenge, the fun is gone [for hackers].”
Kamkar likened hacking to “solving a puzzle” and “it’s always really fun to solve a puzzle – it feels good to get to the other side."
He said: “It’s as if somebody designed a maze; in a typical maze you can escape if you find the right path out. With computer hacking, it’s as if somebody designed a maze and then they blocked off all of the exits, but when you’re hacking, you’re still able to get to the other side.”