Yep, works the same in most groups that perform illegal activities. Law enforcement uses the same threats to turn people in gangs, etc.
One interesting (IMO) thing to point out is the basis of this article: 25% of hackers are informers. This InfoSecIsland article is based off an article from The Guardian (
link), but misquoted it. The Guardian article stated "estimated" (while still applying much FUD), but it seems every other article written states the "1 in 4" as a fact. The misquote was taken from Emmanuel Goldstein from a panel at the last HOPE conference. Emmanuel and the Off the Hook crew talked about it on their June 8th broadcast (
link - starting at 26:25).
