laptop with computer disks and repair kits in 2022 Reflecting the two types of hackers, there are two definitions of the word "hacker": • Originally, hacker simply meant advanced computer technology enthusiast (both hardware and software) and adherent of programming subculture; see
hacker culture. • Someone who is able to subvert
computer security. If doing so for malicious purposes, the person can also be called a
cracker. Mainstream usage of "hacker" mostly refers to computer criminals, due to the mass media usage of the word since the 1990s. This includes what hacker jargon calls
script kiddies, less skilled criminals who rely on tools written by others with very little knowledge about the way they work. This usage has become so predominant that the general public is largely unaware that different meanings exist. Though the self-designation of hobbyists as hackers is generally acknowledged and accepted by computer security hackers, people from the programming subculture consider the computer intrusion related usage incorrect, and emphasize the difference between the two by calling security breakers "crackers" (analogous to a
safecracker). The controversy is usually based on the assertion that the term originally meant someone messing about with something in a positive sense, that is, using playful cleverness to achieve a goal. But then, it is supposed, the meaning of the term shifted over the decades and came to refer to computer criminals. As the security-related usage has spread more widely, the original meaning has become less known. In popular usage and in the media, "computer intruders" or "computer criminals" is the exclusive meaning of the word. In computer enthusiast and hacker culture, the primary meaning is a complimentary description for a particularly brilliant programmer or technical expert. A large segment of the technical community insist the latter is the correct usage, as in the
Jargon File definition. Sometimes, "hacker" is simply used synonymously with "
geek": "A true hacker is not a group person. He's a person who loves to stay up all night, he and the machine in a love-hate relationship... They're kids who tended to be brilliant but not very interested in conventional goals It's a term of derision and also the ultimate compliment."
Fred Shapiro thinks that "the common theory that 'hacker' originally was a benign term and the malicious connotations of the word were a later perversion is untrue." He found that the malicious connotations were already present at MIT in 1963 (quoting
The Tech, an MIT student newspaper), and at that time referred to unauthorized users of the telephone network, that is, the
phreaker movement that developed into the computer security hacker subculture of today.
Civic hacker protest in the US Civic hackers use their security and
programming acumens to create solutions, often public and
open-sourced, addressing challenges relevant to neighborhoods, cities, states or countries and the infrastructure within them. Municipalities and major government agencies such as
NASA have been known to host
hackathons or promote a specific date as a "National Day of Civic Hacking" to encourage participation from civic hackers. Civic hackers, though often operating autonomously and independently, may work alongside or in coordination with certain aspects of government or local infrastructure such as trains and buses. For example, in 2008, Philadelphia-based civic hacker
William Entriken developed a web application that displayed a comparison of the actual arrival times of local
SEPTA trains to their scheduled times after being reportedly frustrated by the discrepancy.
Security-related hacking Security hackers are people involved with circumvention of computer security. There are several types, including: ;
White hat:Hackers who work to keep data safe from other hackers by finding system
vulnerabilities that can be mitigated. White hats are usually employed by the target system's owner and are typically paid (sometimes quite well) for their work. Their work is not illegal because it is done with the system owner's consent. ;
Black hat or Cracker:Hackers with malicious intentions. They often steal, exploit, and sell data, and are usually motivated by personal gain. Their work is usually illegal. A cracker is like a black hat hacker, but is specifically someone who is very skilled and tries via hacking to make profits or to benefit, not just to vandalize. Crackers find exploits for system vulnerabilities and often use them to their advantage by either selling the fix to the system owner or selling the exploit to other black hat hackers, who in turn use it to steal information or gain royalties. ;
Grey hat:Computer security experts who may sometimes violate laws or typical
ethical standards, but do not have the malicious intent typical of a black hat hacker.
Hacker culture musician probes the circuit board of a synthesizer for
"bends" using a jeweler's screwdriver and alligator clips.
Hacker culture is an idea derived from a community of enthusiast
computer programmers and
systems designers in the 1960s around the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT's)
Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC) and the
MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. The concept expanded to the hobbyist home computing community, focusing on hardware in the late 1970s (e.g. the
Homebrew Computer Club) and on software (
video games,
software cracking, the
demoscene) in the 1980s/1990s. Later, this would go on to encompass many new definitions such as art, and
life hacking. == Motives ==