About a year ago, I read Cult of the Dead Cow by Joseph Menn. It gives the history of the original hacking group. I was particularly struck by one of the founding members, Carrie Campbell. She never claimed to be a hacker. She was just curious, kind, smart, and thoughtful. Even though she wasn’t traditionally technical, she was welcomed into the group with open arms.

I’m not a hacker either. I’ve never had what they call a “hacker-facing role.” I work in the background, approving blogs, going through survey results, and talking through ideas behind the scenes. Even though I’m not a hacker, I’ve felt so welcomed by the community. I wanted to give back to the group I’ve been quietly admiring for years, so I put pen to paper and put together my vision.

So here it is: The Hacker Culture Manual. It’s a celebration of hacking; for hackers, by hackers. It’s my way of sharing the stories of the people who helped Bugcrowd get where we are today.

 

This magazine was a labor of love. When we set out to publish this, we had three goals:

  1. Tell real hacker stories and celebrate one of the coolest communities in the world
  2. Teach the new generation of hackers a little bit about the history of hacking
  3. Create a piece of art, fully human-made. We didn’t want to use AI in the writing or design at all.

I’m proud to say we accomplished our goals.

 

If you’ve been part of that in any capacity, thank you. The Hacker Culture Manual is for you.

How we wrote it

I started with a post-it, as most of my writing projects do. It had a list of words that were inspiring me for the project, including: yearbooks, superlatives, decades, demoscene, leet, nuance, safety, impact, MTV, nostalgia, and vibes. I pitched the idea to some of the most creative people I know to help me get the ball rolling. Bugcrowd’s Director of Red Team Operations, Alistair G, spent hours with me as I refined the vision. Santerra Holler conducted hacker interviews and helped identify the best co-authors in the world. Those two really believed in me, and this zine wouldn’t exist without them.

Next, we surveyed 2000 hackers to help validate some of our assumptions, and then we got to the hard part…narrowing down what we wanted to say. Eventually, we landed on seven articles:

  1. Hacker Culture at a Crossroads – My thoughts on inter-generational sharing between hackers and the future of hacker culture.
  2. The Unwritten Rules of Hacking – The six laws of hacker culture.
  3. The Crime of Curiosity: 50 Years of Hacker Culture – A timeline of how hacking has changed over a span of 50 years.
  4. The Lulz Live On – What 2000 hackers think about the evolution of hacker culture.
  5. Terminals to Theaters – How the hacker archetype came to be.
  6. The Rise of Live Hacking – The history of DEF CON.
  7. A Love Letter to the Hacker Community – A conclusion written by Tati aka “Hacker Mom”
The articles tackle different aspects of hacker culture. We had so many talented people contribute and help write articles, including Casey Ellis, Santerra Holler, Alistair G, Ads Dawson, P3t3r_r4bb1t, Sw33tlie, Erik de Jong, Alx, Bsysop, Zwink, Luke, Vinamrata Singal, Tati Uklist, Dania Durnas, Iceman, and Syntax.

I said earlier that we didn’t use AI to write or design this piece. I want to explain that a bit. First off, I’m not an AI hater. I use it all of the time. Like many hackers, I’ve found it to be a tool that helps me do my job better, faster. But also, I’ve been feeling the need for something human lately. Something dripping with voice. Opinions. Heart. I wanted to create something that celebrates humanity. I think I did (I hope you agree).

How we designed it

From the beginning, we wanted the design to feel like a 90’s zine. Initially, I was thinking of old yearbook spreads. We wanted it to feel nostalgic to read, full of easter eggs and little IYKYK tidbits. I even sketched one out a year ago to attempt to communicate my vision.

I passed my sketch to Cami Macca, who became the lead editorial designer of the zine. She’s also the most talented designer I’ve ever worked with, and maybe the kindest human on earth. Her passion can be found on every page of the zine.

She designed the manual between morning surf sessions and afternoon yoga classes. I almost feel like you can sense how cool her lifestyle is through the design. It happened in the background as we continued business as usual at Bugcrowd. But this was the project that kept our souls alive. We didn’t mind working extra hours to finish it, because we knew it was special.

I asked her how she went about the design. She said, “Creating this fanzine was one of the most enjoyable projects I’ve worked on in a long time. We’re currently surrounded by screens and digital tools, so it felt refreshing to slow down and make things by hand again—drawing, scanning, cutting, pasting, and embracing imperfections of the process. I loved diving into the visual language of each decade. I researched graphic trends, selected period-appropriate typefaces, and created every illustration, layout, and typographic composition from scratch. It was a rewarding way to explore how design and hacker culture evolved side-by-side.”

Ultimately, we just wanted to create something fun that reflected the curiosity that is a hallmark of hackers. Speaking of which, did you find the 25 “1337s” hidden throughout it?

How to get a printed copy

Come by Bugcrowd’s booth at Black Hat to get a copy. We’ll also be passing them out at the Hive event on Thursday night. If you miss us there, a few Bugcrowders (including myself) will be carrying around copies during DEF CON. Come find us and we’ll give you one.

In the meantime, here is the digital copy. Happy reading, folks.

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