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What the heck is a cyberhacker? Huh? Amusing...
Author: HumanX | Saturday August 30, 2003
As you may know the Blaster.B creater has been nabbed. But what I want know is, what is a cyberhacker.
I must admit I was somewhat entertained yesterday when some prosecuter for the "Blaster.B" case produdly stood in front of reporters at his podium and proclaimed "We have captured the cyber-hacker".
A smile slowly began to grow, then a chuckle and finally a laugh. Cyber-Hacker I thought, is this a new word? Is this man defining a culture? Is he on the in?
After the laugh was over, I thought, "No, this guy is a goon. He must have thought putting these two words together really sounded cool. I bet he fealt proud and hip".
The unfortunate side effect, the negative connotation of the word hacker. I have to tell you, I rarely use this word, it is a word that describes few people in this world. The word is over used, it is abused and in the eyes of the public describes a malicious individual.
A hacker for me and I think most people who are truely close to computers, is the guy who is up to 2-3 in the morning, pounding away, solving problems. A hacker knows no defeat. A hacker loves computers. A hacker is NOT a malicious individual. Cracker comes to mind.
I found myself very uncomfortable writing this article, these words are ofthen used incorrectly and have become so cliche, that I have to admit I feel this sense of revulsion in my finger tips.
It disgusts me to hear a public figure condemming a million hard core computer enthusiest by using the name Hacker.
To the press, to the government, to our nations police force: use the correct terminology for those people who break the law. Call them criminals. What you fail to realize is that when you label a computer criminal a hacker, you glorify the individual. Now in the eyes of the younger generation who have not learned the true colors of the hat that they where, you have turned this criminal into a heroic figure. A marter if I may. And the white hat that they may have worn will turn to black because you have turned this criminal into a cool computer guy which our younger generation looks up to.
I do not think the governments of the world have figured this out yet.
The hackers of the world have given us and you what we have today. Millions of computers, millions of software applications and the internet. Hackers have brought good to the world and by using the word hacker to describe a criminal you shame the hard work of so many individuals.
Descriptions
hack
1. A clever and original rearrangement of the existing system or network resources that results, as if by magic, in a stunning improvement in system performance (or an equally stunning prank). A hacker is one who uses computers to perform hacks and is not necessarily a computer criminal. See cracker, hacker ethic, phreaking.
2. A quick and dirty job that produces results, but without following any logical or orderly procedure.
hacker
Traditionally, a computer enthusiast who enjoys learning everything about a computer system or network and pushing the system to its highest possible level of performance through clever programming. Hackers do not necessarily engage in unauthorized computer access (cracking) or other illegal activities. In the press and popular usage, hackers are often equated with computer criminals, to the consternation of hackers and those with some knowledge of the computer's history.
See black hat, crackel; grey hat, hacker ethic, hacking, white hat.
hacker ethic
A set of moral principles that was common to the first-generation hacker community (roughly 1965-1982), described by Steven Levy in Hackers (1984). According to the hacker ethic, all technical information should, in principle, be freely available to all. Therefore, gaining entry to a system to explore data and increase knowledge is never unethical. However, destroying, altering, or moving data in such a way that could cause injury or expense to others is always unethical. In ncreasingly
more states, unauthorized computer access is against the law.
See computer ethics, cracker, cyberpunk, cyberspace, hack, phreaking.
hacking
1. An approach to computer programming that emphasizes the playful, creative exploration of the performance limits of computer systems.
2. An attempt to get a complex program or system working without taking the time to do so in an organized, orderly manner. See hack, hacker:
HumanX
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