What Makes A 'CYBERCRIMINAL'

They come in many forms. Yet they share one thing -- they all have a very curious mind.

Cybercriminals or those that perpetuate lawless activities through the use of computers have long fascinated psychology and sociology experts. Yet despite long years of study, still no conclusive finding has been established as to what their typical characteristics are.

"It's not one single image," said Eugene Spafford in an article published by the Washington Post the other day. "It's a whole variety of motives and persons who are doing this kind of thing. I don't think there are really any characteristics that apply across all groups."

Spafford heads a multidisciplinary program on technology, psychology and other fields at Purdue University in the United States. He said cybercriminals could be young or old, educated or uneducated, rich or poor.

"They don't even need to be particularly good at computer programming because many viruses are easily modified and virus writers tend to share their wares," he explained.

Sociology and criminology professor Jim Thomas from the Northern Illinois University agrees. Having studied the computer underground for years, he said the root of cybercrimes is "anti-social behavior" which knows no type.

"You might as well ask why someone throws bricks off an overpass onto passing cars," he said.

What motivates these people to hack computer systems or write damaging viruses is also unclear. Many of the new breed of viruses like the controversial ILOVEYOU or "love bug" focused on Microsoft's popular Outlook mail-management software.

Experts say that these writers are drawn to the Outlook's ability to run mini-programs done in Visual Basic. Thus, any user could write a simple program and make it work in any Microsoft application.

"That makes it easy for them," Spafford said.

Spafford's research also showed that a small number of virus writers create their programs out of some criminal intent, either to damage a company's computer system or to erase their own tracks within the system.

And the study also showed that many virus writers share a talent for rationalizing their actions. "Like many who break into computer systems, these people argue that they are pointing out holes or weaknesses in system security," Spafford said. "It's as if they're saying that they are doing the computer world a favor."