Hackers are people too. Well, at least they’re not what you think they are.
Posted by Sven Slootweg | Posted in Hacking, Internet | Posted on 04-10-2009
0
A lot of people think a ‘hacker’ is either a cybercriminal that breaks in to computers, or a security expert that looks for vulnerabilities and holes in software, and tells the programmer about it. However, both of these are quite wrong. Not completely wrong, but a ‘hacker’ sure isn’t limited to those two.
As defined on http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html#what_is, a hacker builds things and a cracker breaks them. Therefore, a cybercriminal would be a cracker, because he breaks a certain piece of security. A virus writer, however, would be both a hacker and a cracker. At the same time he builds something (he writes a virus), and breaks something (he tries to circumvent a security mechanism).
Then a cybercriminal can still be a hacker?
Yes and no. Technically a virus writer would also be a hacker, but since his ultimate goal is to break something, it would be safer to call him a cracker, since writing a virus is only done in order to achieve the circumvention of a security mechanism (aside from criminal intentions). A better example of a hacker would be someone taking a trash can, and using it as a casing for his computer. He uses the trash can for something it’s not intended for, in order to invent (or build) something new: a trash can computer.
But why do all the newspapers, news sites, television channels, etc. say that a hacker breaks into computers?
Ever since the first people that tried to spread virii* became active, these people have been calling themselves hackers. Since a lot of people came to believe it, the media adapted this definition, to keep it simple. Media are nearly always simple. If you watch the news, and they tell someone has been murdered, they won’t tell you what type of gun was used, because there is fair chance you are not interested in any more information than what has happened. It’s the same with crackers. Since people are not interested in a definition (they want their news to be short and simple) the media just assume everyone understands what they mean when they say ‘hacker’ .
Are hackers always those nerdy IT guys?
Of course not! Anyone who invents something is a hacker: he builds something new. Thomas Edison was a hacker. Leonardo Da Vinci was a hacker. Painters and singers are, technically seen, hackers as well (provided they don’t use parts of other peoples work, of course). You can be hacker if you find a creative way to stop that annoying leaking drain.
A last tip: There is a very good video on the internet, that you can watch to get a better feeling of what a hacker is. Even though this video mainly focuses on IT hackers, it can be a very educative 43 minutes. You can watch the video at http://www.veryangrytoad.com/video/180/Hackers-Are-People-Too.