#9: I am Autistic, I Work in Cybersecurity, But I am Not a Hacker, Here’s Why

Introduction

Cybersecurity attacks are happening all the time now and this has led to the demonization of hackers. Add to that the news, government reports, and research studies that show that many hackers are on the Autism Spectrum. All this reinforces the stereotype that Autistic people belong in STEM fields and that hackers are evil. However, even though I am Autistic and work in Cybersecurity, I am not a hacker.

Sci-Fi

Science Fiction is one of my favorite genres. It helps us to expand human imagination through amazing adventures in a bright future. Sci-Fi has also been historically used to make it easier to talk about the hard topics in our time such as racism, politics, and war. Many Sci-Fi films and movies help to highlight the stereotypes and fear of being different and how people react.

First, Terminator 2: Judgment Day from 1991, the best of the Terminator films, revolves around mankind’s war against robots. The first time Sarah Connor, played by Linda Hamilton, sees the Terminator robot, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, she runs in terror without knowing what’s going on or what the Terminator’s true mission was. This is a great example of how stereotypes work. The conflict made Sarah fear and hate all robots, even though the Terminator wasn’t there to hurt her. All she understood, he looks like a killer robot, so he must be a killer robot.

Second, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace from 1999, not one of the best Star Wars films, looks at the origins of Anakin Skywalker, played by Jake Lloyd. As a young child, he is warned early on by Master Yoda, a wise alien, about the dangers of fear: “Fear is the path to the dark side, fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering”. This is a good example because when people fear what is different, it weaponizes stereotypes to justify hate.

Third, more recently Star Trek: Picard, the latest Star Trek TV series, takes stereotypes and fears then upgrades both to oppression. Season one of the show focuses on the systematic oppression of synthetic life forms, robots created by humans. In the Star Trek universe, synthetic life forms are different, but are accepted as they work side by side with humans, but due to fear they are demonized, blamed, outlawed, and eliminated systematically. This is an extreme example, but it does show where stereotypes and fear can lead.

Autistic Hackers

When one thinks about hackers, the stereotype is already negative: young men wearing hoodies, people in foreign countries committing crimes, etc. Add to that many of the hackers caught in the past many years are reported to be Autistic: Gary McKinnon, Ryan Cleary, Adam Mudd, Lauri Love, and others. This adds to the existing stereotypes that tie Autistic people to STEM, thanks to government reports and research over the many years. Wired published an article as far back as 2001 about anecdotal evidence linking Autistic children to people in Silicon Valley. Studies in Europe show high rates of Autism in areas of technical innovation. This means that Autistic people would make great hackers right? Wrong!

I, Hacker?

I was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD in early 2021. Even though I had been working in IT and cybersecurity for more than 20 years, I was eager to explore career options that would be better suited for me. When I did web searches around Neurodiversity and careers what did I find? Most pointed straight to STEM fields. Some articles even presumed that Neurodiversity would be the key to addressing the Cybersecurity skills gap.

From all the stereotypes and articles, do I want to be a hacker? I thought about it. Being a hacker would fit my personality, but it didn’t fit who I am. Like the synthetic android character of Soji in Star Trek: Picard, played by Isa Briones, I decided not to let stereotypes determine my career path. Because when one steps back from the stereotypes and takes inventory of their life, their values, what they care about, and what they are willing to fight for, the future can be very different than the fixed path determined by stereotypes. Most important of all is having the ability to choose one’s path instead of being forced into a box and pigeon holed.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company.