What do you mean when you say hacker?

[happygeek]

A survey of attendees at Infosecurity Europe earlier this month showed 70 percent in favour of the dictionary definition (in this case the Cambridge Dictionary) of a hacker being amended. The amendment in question being to remove 'illegality' from the definition. The current definition of a hacker is "a person who is skilled in the use of computer systems, often one who illegally obtains access to private computer systems".

So what do you reckon, DaniWebbers? Is it time that hacker was reclaimed entirely (rather than relying upon black and white labels) and if so what word should replace it as the default for those who illegally access systems and data? Cybercriminal (bit of a mouthful, and covers a much broader group than just 'hackers') or maybe the much less used these days cracker (which has a different pejorative meaning in US slang of course) or, well, what?

Discuss :-)

[pty]

The short answer is that it depends who I'm talking to. With other people who are interested in technology I use hacker in the traditional sense (white hat).

With muggles (many of my clients), it's easier to use the word to describe the black hat variety. It just means I don't have to explain the term to people who don't really care.

[JamesCherrill]

Seems to me that the essence of "hacking" is to gain access to some resource or capablility that the original software developer did not want you to access. As such it's always going to be crimially illegal and/or a violation of the original software's T.O.S.

As such I would leave it in its current default state.

[rproffitt]

There are a few ways to go here. But keeping the original definition WITHOUT the illegally word would be best IMO.

The legality would depends on the country, laws and permission. If the access was by the owner's request, legal If not, illegal.
I'm thinking of locksmiths. It would be legal or not for them to open a safe depending on permission.

So hacking doesn't mean it's illegal.

[Reverend Jim]

When I hear "hacker" I think of someone who is doing "seat of the pants" computer work, whether legal or not. I've had to do a fair bit of this in my years of being on call for our System Control Centre. At 3:00 when the system is in the toilet is not the time to be developing a permanent solution to the problem. That's the time for hacking a quick fix to buy time for the permanent solution.

So I'm fine with hacker, and the "black/white hat" qualifiication. I think it is also easier to explain to the lay public using those terms rather than getting technical.

[overwraith]

Well, let's remember there are three types of hackers, white hat, black hat, and gray hat. Two of them are illegal. One is not. White hats work as penetration testers on corporate networks, they are essentially testing the security of the network in question, and are paid to break in and simultaneously maintain confidentiality. Most of the pen testing books out there claim that the term hacker has been hijacked by the media, and it used to mean little more than a computer afficionado. Let's also bear in mind that a lot of the 'hacker' tools out there are the byproduct of a software developer finding out there are vulnerabilities in thier code, and they needed a tool to test the security of such code. Hack tools are often a byproduct of legitimate needs, for instance packet sniffers. Packet sniffers are a legitimate tool used to determine things such as whether your network is currently under attack, or whether all is quiet on the watchtower. Simultaneously such a tool could be installed on a rouge AP to sniff credit card numbers while simultaneously using things such as ssl strip. It is in fact legal to buy and purchase hack tools most often. Make sure you have a legit vendor.

[happygeek]

To think in terms of white/grey/black hats is, IMHO, way too simplistic. Perhaps there need to be multiple terms rather than multiple definitions of one term? Take a look at the definitions here http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/H/hacker.html which include everything from programmabkle system tweaking, obsessive coding, expert coders, enthusiasts/experts of any kind. The one definition missing, it has been deprecated from the list, is the malicious meddler/information thief - which it uses the older yet term of cracker for.

[Pady112]

It's really has a kind of negative meaning to me. I think it's a person who is the best in cheating internet users and enjoys doing some harm. The difference between qualified programmer and hacker is like a difference between good and evil.

[Reverend Jim]

Unfortunately, movies and TV have co-opted the term to mean anyone who is capable of gaining unauthorized access to a system in under two minutes, even a completely unfamiliar system. The hacker is basically the movie/TV version of deus ex machina. Check out Die Hard 4 and just about any episode of How to Get Away With Murder.

[Steven Kenneth]

Absoultely! Legality depends on the scenario it about to happen, and permissions as well as access rights.
If the hacking takes place under white hat i.e. test penetration activities how could it be illegal. It is absolutely a part of testing, sometimes QA. Thus, a better term to differentiate in seperate will sounds good.
But, at the same time, When we are about to hear the word called "hacker", the definition which will instantly pop up in our mind is an informal way of accessing something which results or reflects harm.

[baabroz1]

A programmer is a person who uses PC, organizing or different abilities to defeat a specialized issue. The term programmer may allude to anybody with specialized aptitudes, yet it regularly alludes to an individual who uses their capacities to increase unapproved access to frameworks or systems so as to carry out violations.

[haimen]

Hacker may refer to someone with technical skills. It has ability to gain unauthorized access to systems in order to commit crimes.

[Seevenup]

I second pty on this. I'm describing it exactly the same way !

[Dani]

I certainly don't associate the word hacker with anything illegal or nefarious. To me, a hacker is someone who doesn't just follow the manual but is an out-of-the-box thinker who is capable of using things (could be technologies, products, etc.) in non-traditional, creative ways to his or her benefit. In the realm of computer hacking, it's simply being creative to get into functionality not designed to be easily accessible, or designed to be accessible at all, to the end-user. You can hack your registry, for heaven's sake. MacGyver was a hacker. There's even a TV show called Hack My Life which is a how-to series about various life hacks. My mom watches the show, which airs on the same network as Impractical Jokers and COPS, meaning their target audience are non-technical baby boomers. If that doesn't mean the word has made it mainstream, I don't know what does.

[Reverend Jim]

I think the term "hacker/hack" has been watered down to the point where it has returned to its original meaning. It was originally what you stated, then it became associated with the black-hats. Now it is so over used it has lost its negative connotation. Life hack? Seriously? What's wrong with the words "advice" or "tip"?

[chirag_11]

Hacker is the person who is expert in intruding your pc and can make amendments in your pc, this process of intruding is also known as penetration testing in legal hacking.
Hacker term can be legal if the intruding is done within the ethics and is known as ethical hacking.Hackers are of three types :-
1.Black Hat Hacker:-A Black hat hacker is the criminal who breaks into the network with the wrong intention like money stealing,password stealing,destroying files,stealing credit card numbers.
2.White Hat Hacker:-A white hat hacker is the hacker which breaks into the system for the purpose of testing the bugs and loopwholes
3.Grey Hat Hacker:-A grey hat hacker is the hacker or computer security expert who may sometime violate laws or typical ethical standards.

[Gurleen_dev]

The term Hacker originally refers to a clever or expert programmer, someone who can gain unauthorized access to other computers. A hacker hacks his/her way through the security levels of a computer system or network. The process of hacking can be as simple as figuring out somebody's password or as complicated as writing a program to break into another computer's security software.

Now let's have a look at how hackers define the term hacker-
One of the hackers named Sean (@meals) said : "Hacking is trying to break into different companies and let them know that they have vulnerabilities so that they can fix them to protect their customer".
Another hacker named Joel Margolis (@teknogeek) defind this term as : Hackers work "to preserve the security of everything around us" by finding "every way they can break and be broken then tell you how to fix them."
Further Hackers are of three types:

1.Black Hat Hackers - Evil Doer
Black Hat hackers are criminals who break into computer networks with malicious intent. They may also release malware that destroys files, holds computers hostage, or steals passwords, credit card numbers, and other personal information.

2.White Hat Hackers - Savior
The term "white hat" in Internet slang refers to an ethical computer hacker, or a computer security expert, who specializes in penetration testing and in other testing methodologies that ensures the security of an organization's information systems.

3.Grey Hat Hackers - Hybrid
A grey hat is a computer hacker or computer security expert who may sometimes violate laws or typical ethical standards, but does not have the malicious intent typical of a black hat hacker.

[macfan]

Hacker is someone who, basically, hacks. Meaning they take care of widely-understood security. Many (extremely) well skilled hackers are hired by respectable companies (not only from IT field) and hackers duty is to take care of security within that company's IT infrastructure. The more skilled hacker, the better salary s/he gets.

On the other hand cracker is someone who tries to, simply, make as much destruction as possible. They are illegal, they commit all sorts of nasty things in order to demolish IT security and to get richer and richer.

[bracknelson123]

A hacker refers to an individual who is an expert in the uses of computers, networking, or other skills to overcome a technical problem.

Also, the hacker term refers to the person who uses his or her abilities to gain unauthorized access to systems or networks to commit crimes.
A hacker can steal your all personal data damage or bring down systems.

[andrewflintoff]

one that hacks. 2 : an individual who is unpracticed or untalented at a specific movement a tennis programmer. 3 : a specialist at programming and taking care of issues with a PC. 4 : an individual who unlawfully accesses and now and again alters data in a PC framework.

[Naheedmir]

Hacking means identifying weakness in computer systems and networks and exploiting the weaknesses to gain access to the system. Following are types of hacking:

• Ethical Hacker
• Cracker
• Grey hat
• Script kiddies