ABSTRACT
‘Now pay attention, 007’. This famous line delivered by James Bond’s quartermaster was often followed by a diametrically opposed response. Bond, impatient with Q’s tedious instructions on the correct way to use the gadget, would roar off into the field, masterfully controlling the device and sometimes skilfully and creatively circumventing the gadget’s original purpose. This is not what most people would recognise as the epitome of the definition of the term ‘hacker’. But this is what many hackers would recognise as their key skill. Controlling a device through technical mastery and making it do things the inventor never intended is the hallmark of the hacker. One could argue that the apps created for smartphones are a prime example of this. The proliferation of apps that utilise the internal sensory apparatus (GPS, camera, gyroscope, microphone and audio output amongst others) has allowed for the huge evolution of such instruments. Smartphones can be used as a torch or a spirit level, a compass and GPS locator, handheld computer, music library and television; sometimes they are even used to telephone friends. Such examples highlight ostensibly positive uses of the creative impulse to innovate and become a master of technological constructions. Moreover, many people who were caught and prosecuted for hacking have since been employed as security advisers for technology companies. The problem is that the term hacker has come 96to embody a far more negative connotation, that of the deviant who lurks unseen on the Internet and infiltrates computers, spying on us, stealing from us and infecting our computer systems (Webber and Vass, 2010).
