International Journal on Criminology Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 2014 | Page 13

International Journal on Criminology - Volume 2 Issue 1 - Spring 2014
The Behavioral Intelligence Paradigm Shift in Fighting
Cyber-Crime: Counter-Measures, Innovation, and
Regulation Issues
Phillipe Baumard
This paper investigates the technological
evolution of cyber-crimes from
its emergence in the early 1980s to
its latest developments in 2013. From this
evolution, we draw implications for doctrines,
policy, innovation, incentives, and
roadmaps as we propose the emergence of
a new “behavioral intelligence” paradigm,
both in the attack and defense arenas.
Cyber-crime refers to the unlawful
use of numeric, electronic, and software
capabilities to misuse, temper, devoid,
destruct, or influence public or private
information systems. Cybernetic and informational
components may not be the
primary target or final outcomes of cyber-crime
campaigns.
The origins of cyber-crime are concomitant
with the pioneering efforts of
technology enthusiasts in exploring the
possibilities offered by technological innovation.
Exploration and autonomous appropriation
are still, to date, a core motivation
in the creation of “hacks”. John Draper
was one of these computer enthusiasts who
helped popularize the first “phreaking”
hack, consisting of a multi-frequency tone
generator, later known as the Blue Box to
pitch the exact 2600 Hz frequency to hack
into the long distance phone system of
AT&T in the early 1970s.
Most of the early attacks were spontaneous,
motivated by technology exploration,
non-directed (without a specific
target in mind), and immediate in their
effects. With the rise of personal computers,
these early pioneers of hacking started
to group in spontaneous associations,
espousing discourses of the times on individual
freedom, resistance to authority,
and amusement with detours of emerging
technologies. Phreaking and hacking became
both shared practices that cemented
long friendships between developers, industry
pioneers (Wozniak, Jobs, etc.), and
politically motivated technology enthusiasts.
The borders between an emerging
underground culture (yippies and hackers)
and a criminal sub-culture were blurry
and unstable, with very little self-regulation,
and comprising teenagers, advanced
computer developers, and self-taught
technology explorers. We call this era the
“code breaking years”, where talented individuals
are mostly motivated by symbolic
and small gains, a feeling of belonging
to a new community and self-identity.
However, in the mid-1980s, technical
bulletin boards from hackers’ groups
started to disclose attack guidelines for
intrusions, sometimes both physical and
code-based (such as the first issue of the
Legion of Doom LOD/H Technical Journal,
on Jan. 1, 1987 ). LOD and MOD (Masters
of Deception) hence became influential in
transforming these early movements into
more organized “cracking” communities,
moving a step away from the original hacking
culture (see Figure 1).
A
Professor, Ecole Polytechnique, Chair Innovation and Regulation of Numerical Services
1
http://www.textfiles.com/magazines/LOD/lod-1
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