To hack or not to hack, that is the question: Ethical orientation in hacking

Much of the cybersecurity behavior research focuses on the role of motivation and psychological factors that influence hacking behavior and performance. There is, however, limited research on how an individual's ethical orientation is associated with distinct hacking interests. Building on cybersecurity and ethics research, this paper examines how three dimensions of ethical orientation, specifically, idealism, relativism, and deontology, are associated with white-hat, gray-hat, and black-hat hacking interests. We tested our model using partial least squares structural equation modeling by surveying 542 management students. The results indicate that idealism was negatively associated with interest in illegal and unauthorized hacking (i.e., black-hat and gray-hat hacking) and with ethical hacking. By contrast, deontology was negatively associated with interest in gray-hat and white-hat hacking. Relativism showed no significant correlation with interest in hacking. Notably, interest in white-hat hacking was strongly associated with both gray-hat and black-hat hacking. This finding indicates a co-occurrence pattern in hacking interest related to the interest formation stage. We suggest that educators and organizations should implement ethics screening and training early in the cybersecurity curriculum to identify and manage risk.