Hacker Stock Photos
Submission 30,206
Part of a series on Stock Photo Clichés. [View Related Entries]
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| About • Origin • Spread • Various Examples • Search Interest • External References • Recent Images • Recent Videos |
About
Hacker Stock Photos are a variety of licensed images depicting cyber-criminals in action, typically in an overdramatized or oversimplified fashion. Most often used as a generic visual aid in articles and publications about hacking-related news, this subset of stock photo cliches has become a popular subject of online parodies due to their hyperbolic interpretation of how computer hacking works.
Origin
While difficult to pinpoint, the earliest known appearance of a hacker stock image in a news article dates back to 2008 in a CBS News report about the vandalism of Epilepsy Foundation's official website with seizure-inducing images.
Spread
In the following years, usage of hacker stock photos became increasingly frequent as the coverage of cybercrimes continued to grow in technology journalism, heavily fueled by the emergence of Anonymous hacktivism and other faceless hacking collectives, beginning with Operation Lulzsec. On August 1st, 2011, BoingBoing ran an article titled "Hacker Stock Art" with a compilation of awkward and cliched stock photographs used in tech journalism. In December 2011, Sad and Useless ran a similar compilation in a post titled "What Hackers Look Like According to Stock Photo Sites." On September 26th, 2013, BuzzFeed published an article titled "All These People Are “Computer Hackers” According To Getty Images."
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] Getty Images – Computer Hacker Pictures and Images
[2] iStockPhoto – Hacker Pictures and Images
[3] ShutterStock – Hacker Stock Photos
[4] BoingBoing – Hacker stock art
[5] Sad and Useless – What Hackers Look Like According to Stock Photo Sites
[6] Dangerous Minds – IMAGES OF HACKERS ACCORDING TO STOCK PHOTOS
[7] Gawker – The Most Prolific Hacker on the Internet: A One-Handed Shadow
[8] BuzzFeed – All These People Are “Computer Hackers” According To Getty Images
[9] Teach Privacy – The Funniest Hacker Stock Photos
[10] Teach Privacy – The Funniest Hacker Stock Photos 2.0
[11] TechRepublic – Photos: Our 10 favorite stereotypical hacker stock photos
[12] Uproxx – And Now, A Bunch Of Terrible Stock Photos Of Computer Hackers
[13] Reddit – I searched stock photos tagged "hacker" and made a collage. Here's what hackers really look like…
[14] Motherboard – Think Stock Photos of Hackers Are Cheesy? Blame This Guy
[15] Imgur – Funniest Hacker Stock Photos
[16] The Guardian – 10 technology stock photos and what they really mean
[17] Imgur – Hacker Stock Images
[18] Imgur – Hacker Stock Photos are the Funniest Thing
[19] Imgur – Hacker Stock Photos
[20] Reddit – What hackers look like according to stock photo agencies
[21] Imgur – Hacking in Progress
[22] Imgur – Have Some Hacking GIFs
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