Who Writes Malicious Programs and Why? Hackers and malware writers come from different age groups, backgrounds, countries, education and skill levels…with varying motivations and intents. I would say most malware writers and cybercriminals today treat it as a business venture for financial gain while “script kiddies” typically do it for the thrill and boosting a reputation as being a hacker among their peers. Below are a few articles which attempt to explain who these individuals are and why they do what they do.