Skip to main content
The homepageVoxVox logo
The homepageVoxVox logo

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Is This the Face of a Typical Hacker?

This might not be the image of an average hacker, but one company came up with an estimate.

by Amy Schatz
Featureflash/Shutterstock

Hackers don’t typically look like Thor? Whodathunk?

In honor of the new hacker movie Blackhat (Fair warning: its Rotten Tomatoes score was 31%) and President Obama’s focus on cybersecurity issues at the State of the Union address earlier this week, the marketing team at cyber-security news site Secure Thoughts created a composite of what a typical hacker actually does look like.

Using images from 50 infamous hackers (including the still-unextradicted Scot Gary McKinnon and computer scientist Robert Tappen Morris), the site created the following creepy gif:

hacker gif all

Some selected images are below if you want to take a closer look at some of the more infamous hackers in recent history.

Hackers composite

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

See More:

Most Popular

  1. Take a mental break with the newest Vox crossword
  2. We’re asking the wrong question about the hantavirus outbreak
  3. Virginia Democrats’ irresponsible new plan to save their gerrymander
  4. Trump’s China policy is nearly the exact opposite of what everyone expected
  5. Are far-right politics just the new normal?

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh