Understanding Hacker Motivations, Development and Outlook

In the last year, the world has shifted to be digital-first, requiring security teams to rapidly adjust. At the same time, evolving attack surfaces and complex digital ecosystems introduce new challenges for cybersecurity teams. Cybersecurity too has become increasingly automated to keep up with new threats, but security teams still face an uphill battle when it comes to scaling expertise and covering shifting digital landscapes. Automated scanners help organizations defend against known threats, but it takes human creativity to link several low-severity vulnerabilities together to help a customer avoid a breach, or find a unique bypass to a software patch.

Hackers have risen to the challenges presented by the past year, from supporting businesses through rushed digital transformations to committing more time to protecting healthcare providers. The 2021 Hacker Report celebrates the diverse and robust expertise within the largest global hacker community and their symbiotic partnership with the security teams they work with.