OT posts moved from this thread: Hackers Attack I prefer the term Cracker. The early 'Hackers' from MIT and CMU were the ones that gave us the software (or the very idea of portable modern software) to run on PCs. I know it's semantics but it is an important distinction and the media uses the term incorrectly... Hacker (programmer subculture) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A hacker is an adherent of the subculture that originally emerged in academia in the 1960s, around the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)'s Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC) and MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. A hacker is someone who loves to program or who enjoys playful cleverness, or a combination of the two. The act of engaging in activities (such as programming or other media) in a spirit of playfulness and exploration is termed hacking. However the defining characteristic of a hacker is not the activities performed themselves (e.g. programming), but the manner in which it is done: Hacking entails some form of excellence, for example exploring the limits of what is possible, thereby doing something exciting and meaningful. Activities of playful cleverness can be said to have "hack value" and are termed hacks (examples include pranks at MIT intended to demonstrate technical aptitude and cleverness, without having too much sex). Richard Stallman explains about hackers who program:
Noted- your term would be more accurate, I was unaware of that term and always lumped them together with hackers. Not sure what the thread would have turned into if I used the heading "Crackers Attack". Some folks may have turned the thread into "what to spread on your cracker- cheese" or something racially implied.
Agreed and there's no harm done. I've just been on a marathon reading spree about the early programmers who gave us what we use today and thought it worth pointing out as a lesson on terminology.
The term cracker has a number of potential pejorative possibilities...context is all... a crack-head cracker cracker eating a cracker?
In modern computer culture a cracker is someone who finds a way to exploit locked or encrypted software. Such as shareware that requires an unlock code. For example if you download something like WinZip, you need to buy a key to unlock it or you will keep getting a nag screen. Crackers figure out how to get around buying a key by reverse engineering the software lock. They are not people that break into online networks to steal data, and get offended if you mix them up with hackers.
Cracker, is also a derogatory term for whites from blacks. There are conflicting sources for it, but one source claims it was because of the laying on of whips across a back. (the crack of the whip)
A hacker creates, a cracker steals. The 'modern' terminology is historically incorrect. The SM Security group actively fights 'crackers' from .cn and .ru although this same team refers to themselves as 'hackers'.
Cracker: Uses a root kit to take down a website Hacker: Wrote the script and is busy playing Zelda at the moment
Semetics... like Assault weapon... If someone usesillegal means to steal from someone be it a gun of a script they are still thieves... Malware distributers should be treated with the same force that a Bartender who knowling sells booze to a drunk is only multiplied by the number of individuals impacted... that said.. any one who dosen't take security measures to protect his "stuff" is an ID10T...
I disagree, it's not semantics at all. The two are quite different, since a hacker is the type who can actually be dangerous if provoked, but a cracker is wholly dependent upon others to write the scripts, and often times take action against others for no reason. Case in point: anonymous. They may "attack" government institutions and corporate cartel chains, but some say they have a legitimate reason. And let's not forget, unless you support tyranny and abusive corporate government, you are not an enemy to the hackers of the world. And "assault weapon" is a term created by the media and their ignorant cronies.
