hacker.org

plope0726 wrote: When using the term hacker in this context, the only difference really is the intent behind what a person is doing. Of course to term cracker came about because "ethical" hackers wanted to distance themselves from those who were basically trying to steal from and damage systems. Really though in the end its a persoanl opinion, some call all of the above hackers, some break them up into the sub groups, hacker, cracker, script kiddie... It doesn't matter because in the end, in the eyes of the "law", it's all the same. Usually though when I think of a hacker, I think of a person who is intrigued with discovering how things work and finding ways to use these things to their advantage. Whether it be computers, phones, or whatever. In fact, I believe the first to be called hackers were programmers who were good at "hacking" out code. And "cracking" is a term that can be used for many situations. Cracking password, Cracking copyrights, cracking into networks, and so on....But because everything in our society has to have a label we have these discussion. The general public likely thinks of hackers as anyone who breaks into computer systems, regardless of intent. Then when one steps into the "hacker" world, there are different categories for people who do these things. But I think it all comes down to intent.