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Help a grad student understand hacking trends! filter_list
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Help a grad student understand hacking trends! #1
Hi All, I am a student currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Information Science with a concentration in Cybersecurity from the Pennsylvania State University. To complete my degree program, I am researching motivations that lead to target trends in information security and hacker communities at certain points in time, specifically the rise of computer network attacks and exploitations against Healthcare related infrastructure since early 2015. To support my research project, I am looking for respondents to participate in a survey inquiring about what type of new information respondents believe motivates hackers to make decisions to select certain targets at points in time.

As a member of the information security community, I recognize the importance of confidentiality and have prioritized this in my survey to ensure the maximum comfort possible for respondents. The survey will not ask for any personal or demographic information beyond an optional question to understand if you self-identify as a hacker or not. The survey results are entirely anonymous and I encourage the use of Tor or VPNs as you feel appropriate in responding. I am not affiliated with law enforcement in any way, and this is purely an academic survey. No self-incriminating questions will be asked.

The survey contains less than 20 multiple-choice questions, and should take only 5-10 minutes to complete, available at the link below. For those uncomfortable with clicking the provided link, I have separately posted a text version of the survey below, and would welcome comments anonymously e-mailed to

PSU_Grad@protonmail.com .

I thank you for your consideration. Please email any questions to the email posted above, otherwise, please click on the following link to complete the survey:

https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=...cr0wJspWdv

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RE: Help a grad student understand hacking trends! #2
Below is the survey content... if you prefer to answer via e-mail, contact information is in the thread above. Please just mark your response by enclosing it in parentheses ( ) . Thanks everyone.

For the first set of questions, you will be asked to rate on a scale from 1-10 the weight of each of the following information pieces as a motivating factors for hackers to target healthcare at specific points in time. This survey is not interested in knowing goals of attacking the healthcare industry, but rather motivations of a hacker to attack it at a specific point in time.

1. On a scale of 1-10, how much does popular press coverage (including published white papers, academic journals, or formal published claims on social media or news outlets) of successful healthcare-related cyber attacks motivate a hacker to attack or exploit healthcare industry-related infrastructure at that point in time?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2. On a scale of 1-10, how much does informal web forum, chat room, social media, or email discussions of successful healthcare-related cyber attacks motivate a hacker to attack or exploit healthcare industry-related infrastructure at that point in time?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

3. On a scale of 1-10, how much does the availability of new or newly-customized cyber tools motivate a hacker to attack or exploit healthcare industry-related infrastructure at that point in time? (This could include the availability of new zero-day exploits, inclusions of new vulnerabilities into the Metasploit framework, etc, either by external parties or the acting party)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

4. On a scale of 1-10, how much does an attack or exploitation claim or recommendation from a specific, respected hacker or hacker group motivate a hacker to attack or exploit healthcare industry-related infrastructure at that point in time?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5. On a scale of 1-10, how much does a directive from a superior or boss motivate a hacker to attack or exploit healthcare industry-related infrastructure at that point in time?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


The next set of questions ask if the availability of specific new pieces of information would provide more, less, or the same motivation for a hacker to think about attacking or exploiting healthcare industry-related infrastructure at that point in time.


6. How would reading press coverage (including published white papers, academic journals, or formal published claims on social media or news outlets) regarding recent successes to attack or exploit healthcare industry-related infrastructure impact a hacker’s motivation to attack or exploit the industry at that point in time:

-More motivation
-Less motivation
-No impact

7. How would reading informal web forum, chat room, social media, or email discussions of successful healthcare-related cyber attacks impact a hacker’s motivation to attack or exploit healthcare industry-related infrastructure at that point in time?

-More motivation
-Less motivation
-No impact

8. How would the availability of new or newly-customized cyber tools impact a hacker’s motivation to attack or exploit healthcare industry-related infrastructure at that point in time? (This could include the availability of new zero-day exploits, inclusions of new vulnerabilities into the Metasploit framework, etc., either by external parties or the acting party)

-More motivation
-Less motivation
-No impact

9. How would an attack or exploitation claim or recommendation from a respected hacker or hacker group impact a hacker’s motivation to attack or exploit healthcare industry-related infrastructure at that point in time?

-More motivation
-Less motivation
-No impact

10. How would a directive from a superior or boss impact a hacker’s motivation to attack or exploit healthcare industry-related infrastructure at that point in time?
-More motivation
-Less motivation
-No impact

11. Which of the factors asked in this survey MUST be present to motivate a hacker to target healthcare industry-related infrastructure any a specific point in time:
- Popular press coverage of successful healthcare industry-related infrastructure attacks or exploitation
- Community webforum, chat, social media, or email discussions of successful healthcare industry-related infrastructure attacks or exploitation
- The availability of new or newly-customized cyber tools geared toward successful healthcare industry-related infrastructure attacks or exploitation
- A direct attack or exploitation claim or recommendation by a respected hacker or hacker group toward healthcare industry-related infrastructure
- A directive from a superior or boss to target healthcare industry-related infrastructure
- Other (please specify):

12. Finally, do you have additional motivating factors or thoughts not reflected in this survey that you think should be included?

Demographic Question:
13. Do you self-identify as any of the following? (Choose all that apply)

- Whitehat hacker
- Greyhat hacker
- Blackhat hacker
- Cyber criminal
- Freedom of information advocate
- Information Security researcher
- None of the above

14. Have you been motivated to target information security infrastructure associated with the Healthcare industry since early 2015? (“Target” could include the physical, local, or remote deployment of attack or exploitation tools such as ransomware or malware on healthcare-related systems; website defacements; recovery of information from protected systems; or phishing attempts, etc.) This question is not interested in knowing if you conducted any action based on your motivations.

- Yes
- No
- Prefer not to answer

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RE: Help a grad student understand hacking trends! #3
pennstate.qualtrics.com
What is this?

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RE: Help a grad student understand hacking trends! #4
(03-06-2017, 01:19 AM)m0dem Wrote: pennstate.qualtrics.com
What is this?

Survey service.

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RE: Help a grad student understand hacking trends! #5
Good luck with your research! Although, I'm curious to find out what you do in case trolls decide to answer?

[+] 1 user Likes Boudica's post
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RE: Help a grad student understand hacking trends! #6
Given this Is my forte, why not, I'm sure I'll find around 10 minutes to spare.

I shall do It later today.
[Image: AD83g1A.png]

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RE: Help a grad student understand hacking trends! #7
(03-06-2017, 05:38 AM)Jiggly Wrote: Good luck with your research! Although, I'm curious to find out what you do in case trolls decide to answer?

Truth is, I'm just hoping anyone replies at all, so thanks to you guys for even checking it out. Even if just trolls answer, that's still an interesting research finding in my opinion.

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RE: Help a grad student understand hacking trends! #8
(03-06-2017, 05:56 AM)mothered Wrote: Given this Is my forte, why not, I'm sure I'll find around 10 minutes to spare.

I shall do It later today.

I'd appreciate that. Thanks

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RE: Help a grad student understand hacking trends! #9
(03-06-2017, 05:17 AM)pvnk Wrote:
(03-06-2017, 01:19 AM)m0dem Wrote: pennstate.qualtrics.com
What is this?

Survey service.

Yeah, PSU offers us free accounts with them to make it easy for surveys.... I totally understand the hesitation on that though, so that's why I figured I'd offer a text-only version if people don't want to poke around on questionable-looking links from new members.

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RE: Help a grad student understand hacking trends! #10
(03-07-2017, 03:04 AM)PSU_Grad Wrote:
(03-06-2017, 05:17 AM)pvnk Wrote:
(03-06-2017, 01:19 AM)m0dem Wrote: pennstate.qualtrics.com
What is this?

Survey service.

Yeah, PSU offers us free accounts with them to make it easy for surveys.... I totally understand the hesitation on that though, so that's why I figured I'd offer a text-only version if people don't want to poke around on questionable-looking links from new members.
That's nice of them.

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