Of course, cybercriminals are of various types and they come from all walks of life. But there are certain generic facets of the human personality that differ between criminals and non-criminals. External motivations are not sufficient to determine who is a criminal or who is not, in the same way that oxygen alone is not sufficient to start a fire. In the cybercriminal's case, there also needs to be a deep understanding of networks and technology on top of the typical criminal mindset.

A substantial amount of technical knowledge

It may be easier than ever to use the Net, send email etc. but to get unauthorized access into another network or someone else’s computer requires much more than just that much knowledge. It takes a long time to get the required level of expertise to successfully commit and get away with cybercrime, which explains why most cybercriminals specialize in only one type of crime

Contempt for the law or feeling above the law

Like “real” criminals, cybercriminals usually need to justify their actions to themselves and they do so by thinking that the laws cause harm, are unnecessary or plain dumb. Many feel that such laws deserve to be independently tested for validity or effectiveness. Some even feel that because of their position, intelligence or skill set, they are above the law and can do what they see fit to it.

Manipulative and risk-taking nature

One often wonders why hackers put in so much effort to try to rob banks and con artists spend so much time dreaming up scams for so little profit and so much risk when they could have earned much more by having proper jobs. They also run the risk of getting caught. Maybe it is the thrill of doing something forbidden or committing the crime for crime’s sake which makes such people act irrationally. They get a “high” feeling when they circumvent maximum security, fool or manipulate people into buying into their scams or when they dodge the law.

An active imagination

Many cybercriminals use the Internet to create new personalities which are pleasant to believe in and can even help to avoid tracking down. In this way, con artists create elaborate scams based on what they would like to believe in. Cyberstalkers and paedophiles, of course, have sexual fantasies. Hackers like to believe that they are using the cyberworld to do what they find hard to do in the real world: take over other people through their own systems.

Reference

The Scene of the Cybercrime by Deborah Shinder

An Exploratory Study of Criminal Computer Behavior
http://www.cerias.purdue.edu/homes/mkr/cybercrime-thesis.pdf