The local police force here has a test to see if you 'have what it takes' to be a part of their cyber security squad or whatever they call it. On a lark I took part in it (the test was pretty simple, at least, that's what I thought). After taking the test (and knowing full well I had no intention to follow through on applying for a job with them, I just can't look at puzzles without getting this itch to solve them) I realized I may have just given out some information that I had better keep to myself, which is to advertise a capability.
Having a capability and advertising it is already stupid in my book, and more the fool I am I slipped up there. But having such a capability, subsequently approaching machines that you have no permission for, repeatedly attempting to gain access, succeeding at that and then to actually retrieve data that you have no right to when you're already in a position of extreme suspicion with the authorities to me borders on the insane. I really can't understand even for one second why someone as gifted as this would act in this way, it is something I've been wondering about with a lot of these so called hackers. What drives them to do this, obviously the downsides of successfully showing off their skill end up in a head-on collision with forces they can't possibly hope to defeat.
It's all fun and games until the SWAT team arrives.
Have there been any studies on the psychology of people that are pathologically drawn to breaking in to other people's computer systems?