“Judging by how many people in this comment thread identify with the traits described in the article, it probably just shows that those traits are pretty ordina

“Judging by how many people in this comment thread identify with the traits described in the article, it probably just shows that those traits are pretty ordinary” Or it could point to the fact that the traits that make an effective “hacker” (tendency to exploit systems to gain power and control) happen to be the same traits that make an effective sociopath. Broadly speaking, psychopaths exploit social systems while hackers exploit technological systems. But there’s really not much of a barrier. What hackers call “social engineering” is what manipulators and sociopaths would refer to as manipulation. To be clear, I don’t mean to imply that all hackers are sociopaths. Or even that most of them are. It is quite possible to be an extremely effective hacker with a solid moral foundation. “With great power comes great responsibility”, etc. I’m merely trying to encourage some self-awareness in the hacking community.