The good hackers

I recently created some cover art for the Riverfront Times in another collaboration with Tom, a great AD with whom I always enjoy working. The cover was for an article about "ethical hackers" and how they are helping companies find weaknesses in their cyber-security.

Here is part of the synopsis Tom provided:

"The term “computer hacker” tends to bring up a lot of negative stereotypes. People think of anonymous villains capable of bringing governments and corporations to their knees with just a few strokes of the keyboard. But there also exists another type of hacker – the kind rarely portrayed in sci-fy thrillers. These “white hat” hackers (a.k.a. “ethical hackers”) work to defend networks from cyber attacks by scouring system operations for vulnerabilities that could allow access to sensitive data. But where the “black hat” hackers would then go in for the kill, the ethical hacker reports the weakness and helps fix the flaw."

I really liked the idea of the "security thief" for sketch #1:

In this sketch, I was playing with the notion that hackers are usually incognito, but helpful hackers it's go by their everyday names and even seek out employment through publicity and networking:

Sketch #3 is more literal and plays off the phrase "white hat hacker" that was used throughout the article. It also has that "spy vs spy" feel:

Tom liked the literal approach (often the best choice for a cover), and I worked up a "digital g-men" image:

Thanks for reading!

Enjoy the Day,

Chris