# Mike Walker discusses hacker culture and rules in Microsoft Research podcast

> Original title: Learn the rules: The hacker mindset

- Source: Microsoft Research
- Published: 2026-11-03T17:14:38.000Z
- Bad Influence: https://badinfluence.news/items/f3ufnq7kzj7ny7z1vau84a955
- Original: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/podcast/learn-the-rules-the-hacker-mindset/

## Summary

In a Microsoft Research Podcast conversation with Principal Technical Program Manager Weishung Liu, research manager Mike Walker describes how his interest in rules and hacker culture led him to next-generation cyber defense work, including an all-machine hacking tournament. Walker says security depends on understanding trust and social context, because every security prompt asks users for trust and squandering that trust makes security regimes fall down. The excerpt also covers his childhood in Columbus, Ohio, and his summers on a Virginia farm.