

Authentic hacker speak - newbee40

i'm a screenwriter who's writing a lead character that is a high level hacker. I've done my research but want it to be as authentic as possible and not embarrass myself with his dialogue. Any help?
======
_dps
I don't know if you're likely to get many useful responses here, but I'll
offer a few specific pieces of advice on tropes to avoid:

1) films often use the "aha, now I'm _really_ serious" gimmick, wherein the
"hacker" is now talking about some technique that he hadn't used before. There
are rarely authentic justifications for this in reality. See, for example, the
last 20 minutes of "Swordfish" ... "That's _2048_ bit RSA... not even _I_
could crack that!". Please don't do that.

2) Anecdotal: the best hackers I know shun jargon. Jargon-heavy dialogue
always feels condescending. Anywhere you feel tempted to use impressive-
sounding jargon, consider that the hacker would consider such a thing
commonplace and would consider it implicit in any conversation with another
hacker. Another analogy: you wouldn't write Bruce Lee in a role where he
expounds in detail about his punches and kicks as he's fighting; apply the
same aesthetic and you'll do fine.

3) The technical details of "Hacker Speak" are almost impossible to make
authentic to your audience because there are so many different
specializations. I could wax on about, e.g., high performance numerical
computations but wouldn't know how to synthesize authentic talk about
cryptography. On the other hand, I would probably be able to pick out
inauthentic talk about cryptography pretty easily. Spotting fakes is _a lot_
easier than creating plausible technical dialog. My recommendation would be to
elide as much of the technical story as possible, and focus any programming-
related dialog on the "three chief virtues" of a programmer: "laziness,
impatience, and hubris" (coined by Larry Wall, I believe). To put it in more
accessible terms: your hacker should always be thinking "How can I accomplish
this task with the least human work possible (laziness)? How can I engineer it
to go faster (impatience)? Is there really any reason why I couldn't write a
program to solve problem X (hubris)?"

Anyway, I've had some experience with the film/TV industry (lived in LA for
many years) so if you have any specific questions I'm happy to expand in email
(see my profile for my address).

Good luck!

~~~
pasbesoin
A good vehicle can be a non-technical character to whom the technical
character provides a brief -- not disrupting flow -- and particularly lucid
explanation.

You will need a fairly exceptional consultant for the brief and lucid
explanation.

Your job, as the screenwriter, is to fit that explanation into the screenplay
in a manner that seems natural and furtherw the storytelling.

Then, you get an audience that learns a bit, and experts who say to
themselves, "Hey, they actually got that bit right." (Maybe they're even
quietly impressed at that. And when their friends ask them what movie gets "X"
right, they're more likely to cite yours.)

~~~
newbee40
agreed. thanks!

------
SiVal
I say the emphasis should be on technical accuracy, not on the affected hacker
slang adopted by some silly people. There are a lot of different sorts of
people who love working with computers. Some are intensely mathematical, some
are nerds who are driven by intellectual challenge (think of the NASA
engineers with skinny ties and slide rules who loved nothing more than to tear
into an impossible engineering challenge with lives on the line), some are
annoying hipsters for whom hacking is some sort of fashion statement complete
with special slang to, like everything else, show how hip they are, some are
malicious cracker vermin who brag about their toxicity, some are conscientious
craftsmen who take great pride in doing good work.... The thing they almost
all have in common when they talk to each other is that they know the real
names of things and they are more precise in their use of technical terms than
the general public. If you don't want to embarrass yourself with the dialog,
first priority is factual correctness.

~~~
rachelbythebay
May I suggest that self-taught practitioners of the art might not know the
names for things? Names tend to be a function of classrooms and degree
programs. They might know a way to do something which has a name without
knowing that name because they independently recreated it out of necessity.

Or, failing that, perhaps they used something before it had a name which made
it popular. See also: design patterns and anyone who predates their
popularity.

~~~
SiVal
Classrooms and degrees aren't required, but significant exposure to the words
of experts is almost always a prerequisite to genuine expertise. If you don't
know what experts have to say about a topic, it's very unlikely that you are
an expert. If you do know what they have to say, you know how they say it.

If the OP is interested in portraying "hackers" who aren't highly skilled,
having them misuse terminology would be a good approach, for example
portraying a later mastermind in his early, naive days. But portraying a
world-class expert who uses hacker slang but can't get the technical
terminology right would be a classic Hollywood error.

~~~
pasbesoin
One of the brightest people I know taught himself a good deal of what he
knows. Nonetheless, he is a very precise speaker on these topics. He learned
the language along with the topic. And he uses it to communicate --
exceptionally clearly, by the way.

The language is an important component of functioning effectively in the
domain. And it serves as a thinking aid, as well; it's very difficult to
manipulate complex fields without the use of abstractions. Language is part
and parcel of those abstractions.

I am in agreement with SiVal. Accurate communication is a clear measure.

Perhaps somewhat akin with the current "brogramming" fettish, one...
"Hollywoodism" is to apply some sort of slangy techspeak "bravado" to "elite
hackers".

That's B.S.

P.S. I should add that "taught himself" means a combination of reading,
_doing_ , and collaborating with others in his fields of interest.

He might have entered some of those fields kind of sideways, but once people
within them observed and learned that he really knows what he is doing and
what he is talking about, that doesn't matter. (And that he quickly and
thoroughly learns things he doesn't already know, when needed. Or... as often
as not, before "needed", because of his driving interest.)

~~~
newbee40
i agree with most of what i've seen here and am VERY thankful for the
responses but there is something to the language of coding that is extremely
specific that i'm looking for.

to the person who uses: LAMP servers, python script,ubuntu machines, etc.
these items are matter of fact tools for what they do and are as sexy or
dramatic as a hammer, saw or vice grip to a construction worker BUT to people
being invited into a world they're not familiar with they become a welcome mat
on the floor to a journey.

~~~
pasbesoin
I also meant to say that you may face in part what budding programmers face:
Find that 1% of books and materials that are really a class above in their
clarity -- and, being so effective, often in their brevity, as well.

I don't have a list at hand and may not be the one to provide one. But... you
might look around and cross reference comments to find the "quintessential"
works on these topics.

One exceptional book can be worth (more than) a car load of the alternatives.

------
beloch
What your hacker can and cannot do is far more important than what he/she
says. Your hacker can have perfectly written dialogue, but if he hacks into
the GPS system of a Cadillac and turns it into a remote-control car it's not
going to matter.

A lot of Hollywood screen-writers use computers as a form of magic to get
around plot difficulties. Say your heroes meet a bunch of aliens and you don't
want to dedicate a 30 second montage to the months or years-long process of a
team of linguists learning to communicate (badly) with them. Have your hacker
set up a nice translation program on his special unobtanium-core uber-computer
and, presto! When those aliens turn out to be not so nice, again the hacker
can save the day by slicing into their mainframe and blowing up their mother-
ship with a mac virus!

You get the idea.

You can pick up all the hacker language you want, but if you don't pick up
some real knowledge (or run your plots past real hackers) you're going to make
the same mistakes practically every other Hollywood screenwriter does.

~~~
marshray
_hacks into the GPS system of a Cadillac and turns it into a remote-control
car it's not going to matter_

There's actually been quite a lot of success demonstrated with hacking
automotive control systems.
[http://www.pcworld.com/article/196293/car_hackers_can_kill_b...](http://www.pcworld.com/article/196293/car_hackers_can_kill_brakes_engine_and_more.html)

The steering isn't drive-by-wire, but everything else in a modern car is
(including accelerator and brakes).

------
unimpressive
Well, first off; I have to ask which definition of "hacker" we're running off
of here:

From the Jargon File ("Around 1988"[0]):

HACKER [originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe] n. 1. A person
who enjoys learning the details of programming systems and how to stretch
their capabilities, as opposed to most users who prefer to learn only the
minimum necessary.

2\. One who programs enthusiastically, or who enjoys programming rather than
just theorizing about programming.

3\. A person capable of appreciating hack value (q.v.).

4\. A person who is good at programming quickly. Not everything a hacker
produces is a hack.

5\. An expert at a particular program, or one who frequently does work using
it or on it; example: "A SAIL hacker". (Definitions 1 to 5 are correlated, and
people who fit them congregate.)

6\. A malicious or inquisitive meddler who tries to discover information by
poking around. Hence "password hacker", "network hacker".

If were talking one through four, you can probably just look at talks by open
source project leaders at various conferences. Take a look at various bulletin
boards, etc.

If were talking 6, then I would like to add that in my experience the speech
used generally changes with skill and age. The security experts I've met, who
seemed worthy of the title, seemed to have a very sophisticated sort of tone,
almost formal. But I don't have very much experience in this area.

Though I agree with SiVal, minute for minute, research spent on technical
accuracy will translate into more believable dialogue on stage than anything
else you could do. If you want to hear a phreaker talk about how he became a
phreaker for three hours, these tapes will be perfect for you:

ftp://ftp.wideweb.com/GroupBell/HowBPhreak1HQ.zip

ftp://ftp.wideweb.com/GroupBell/HowBPhreak2HQ.zip

ftp://ftp.wideweb.com/GroupBell/HowBPhreak3HQ.zip

ftp://ftp.wideweb.com/GroupBell/HowBPhreak4HQ.zip

ftp://ftp.wideweb.com/GroupBell/HowBPhreak5HQ.zip

ftp://ftp.wideweb.com/GroupBell/HowBPhreak6HQ.zip

What year is the story taking place? That's relevant because the terms you
might hear today are not the terms you would hear in 1975, or the terms you
would hear in 1988.

[0]: <http://www.dourish.com/goodies/jargon.html>

------
Capricornucopia
Sean and I are co-founders of an IT security startup, Cyberia Labs:
<http://cyberialabs.coldstream.ca> Sean has 25 experience doing IT security
work for Alcatel, the Canadian Military, and Sears, among others. As far as
blackhats go, he was instrumental in helping the FBI catch "Hipcrime" (Google
it). As far as whitehats go, we ARE whitehats. We've got the patents, years of
2600 magazine issues, and <http://hacklab.to> memberships to prove it. ;) My
dad is also a screenwriter, newbee40, so we'd be glad to help you make your
character seem authentic. Visit our website, send me an inquiry via the web
form on our website, and we'll see if we can arrange something. Warmly, Kim

~~~
orangethirty
Let Sears know that their store machines in Puerto Rico (the ones employees
use to clock in and customers use to browse their catalogs) are not quite
secure. Plus they insist on having the USB ports uncovered, and load anything
that is plugged into it.

:)

------
marshray
You can find endless hours of hacker/data security conference presentations on
YouTube. Defcon and Shmoocon are perhaps representative, especially the older
ones.

To see hackers in action, look for footage of "capture the flag" type events.
In practice, it's usually just a bunch of guys typing on keyboards and
scratching their heads without saying much.

------
rachelbythebay
Perhaps you could find a high level hacker and spend some time speaking with
that individual to see how they describe things and what sort of language they
use. Of course, that means identifying a high level hacker, and that is
typically bestowed upon an individual by the community.

Unfortunately, now you have two problems. Sorry.

------
checker659
I think this is worth mentioning: The best way, of course, is to BECOME a
hacker (yourself). The 'speak' should come naturally.

Now, if you only have a day to spare for the project, that's a different story
altogether.

Good luck!

------
keiferski
These have all been non-answers. The best advice I can offer is to watch "The
Social Network". Its hacking scenes are about as authentic as any movie has
ever been.

~~~
newbee40
hah! i agree and i have that opened when i'm writing to NOT STEAL from it but
i'm actually more interested in having my protagonist relate to the one other
programmer in the story differently than he does to everyone else.

thanks for your time.

------
cynwoody
17 \|/0|_||_|) 83|-|00\/3 _|00 70 \/1$17
|-|77P://\|/\|/\|/._|4`/$$173.(0|\/|/$7|_||=|=/|_337/|_337_7.-4|\|$|_470.-.|-|7|\/||_.[1]

[1]<http://www.jayssite.com/stuff/l33t/l33t_translator.html>

------
johnny22
The authenticity of the dialogue depending on other aspects of the character
(and which hacker stereotype) you're going for and of course.. depending on
what hacker means to you

------
1123581321
The correct answer is, "I bet I could do that," followed by four hours of
typing and reading logs.

------
shail
I think you meant a low level hacker. :)

------
czbond
Tweet the Anonymous group - maybe you'll get someone who would be willing to
speak over Skype. Also, ping some Internet Security firms and see if you can
speak to some of their consultants. They might be willing to spend time with
you to add a "film mention".

------
blacksqr
You say you've done your research, but you still clearly don't get the
concept. Any authentic high-level hacker worth the name that you might contact
will hack your script by deliberately giving you wrong information. For the
Lulz.

