View source for Hacker

{{Short description|Person skilled in information technology}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
[[File:Coding da Vinci - Der Kultur-Hackathon (14123515524).jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Participants in the Coding da Vinci [[hackathon]], [[Berlin]], [[Germany]], April 26–27, 2014|alt=A group of people working on laptop computers at a common table]]
{{Computer hacking}}

A '''hacker''' is a person skilled in [[information technology]] who achieves goals and solves problems by non-standard means. The term has become associated in [[popular culture]] with a [[security hacker]]{{snd}}someone with knowledge of [[bug (computing)|bugs]] or [[exploit (computer security)|exploits]] to break into computer systems and access [[data]] which would otherwise be inaccessible to them. In a positive connotation, though, hacking can also be utilized by legitimate figures in legal situations. For example, [[law enforcement agencies]] sometimes use hacking techniques to collect evidence on criminals and other malicious actors. This could include using anonymity tools (such as a [[Virtual private network|VPN]] or the [[dark web]]) to mask their identities online and pose as criminals.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ghappour|first=Ahmed|date=2017-01-01|title=Tallinn, Hacking, and Customary International Law|url=https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/206|journal=AJIL Unbound|volume=111|pages=224–228|doi=10.1017/aju.2017.59|s2cid=158071009|doi-access=free|access-date=2020-09-06|archive-date=2021-04-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420111518/https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/206/|url-status=live |issn=2398-7723}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ghappour|first=Ahmed|date=2017-04-01|title=Searching Places Unknown: Law Enforcement Jurisdiction on the Dark Web|url=https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/204|journal=Stanford Law Review|volume=69|issue=4|pages=1075|access-date=2020-09-06|archive-date=2021-04-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420104454/https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/204/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Hacking can also have a broader sense of any roundabout solution to a problem, or programming and hardware development in general, and [[hacker culture]] has spread the term's broader usage to the general public even outside the profession or hobby of electronics (see [[life hack]]).

== Definitions ==
{{Further|Security hacker|White hat (computer security)|Black hat (computer security)|Grey hat}}

[[File:Hackers working on Linux laptop with computer disks and repair kits - Milano 2022.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Hackers working on a [[Linux]] 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]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=[[Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution]]|year=1984}}</ref>
# Someone who is able to subvert [[computer security]]. If doing so for malicious purposes, the person can also be called a [[Security hacker|cracker]].{{ref RFC|1983}}

Mainstream usage of "hacker" mostly refers to computer criminals, due to the mass media usage of the word since the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.cnet.com/news/in-95-these-people-defined-tech-gates-gosling-bezos-mitnick-and-more/ | title = In '95, these people defined tech: Gates, Bezos, Mitnick and more | access-date = 2020-05-28 | first = Jon | last = Skillings | date = 2020-05-27 | website = [[CNET]] | quote = The term "hacker" started out with a benign definition: It described computer programmers who were especially adept at solving technical problems. By the mid-1990s, however, it was widely used to refer to those who turned their skills toward breaking into computers, whether for mild mischief or criminal gain. Which brings us to [[Kevin Mitnick]]. | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200528205149/https://www.cnet.com/news/in-95-these-people-defined-tech-gates-gosling-bezos-mitnick-and-more/ | archive-date = 2020-05-28 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> This includes what hacker jargon calls [[script kiddie]]s, less skilled criminals who rely on tools written by others with very little knowledge about the way they work.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Samuel Chng |author2=Han Yu Lu |author3=Ayush Kumar |author4=David Yau |date=Mar 2022 |title=Hacker types, motivations and strategies: A comprehensive framework |journal=Computers in Human Behavior Reports |volume=5 |issn=2451-9588 |pages= |doi=10.1016/j.chbr.2022.100167 |doi-access=free }}</ref> This usage has become so predominant that the general public is largely unaware that different meanings exist.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Yagoda|first1=Ben|title=A Short History of "Hack"|url=http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/a-short-history-of-hack|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=November 3, 2015|archive-date=November 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151110004249/http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/a-short-history-of-hack|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.{{ref RFC|1392}}

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."<ref>[[Alan Kay]] quoted in [[Stewart Brand]], "S P A C E W A R: Fanatic Life and Symbolic Death Among the Computer Bums:" In ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' (1972)</ref>

[[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 (newspaper)|The Tech]]'', an MIT student newspaper), and at that time referred to unauthorized users of the telephone network,<ref name="shapiro">Fred Shapiro: [http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0306B&L=ads-l&P=R5831&m=24290 Antedating of "Hacker"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025200829/http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0306B&L=ads-l&P=R5831&m=24290 |date=2007-10-25 }}. ''American Dialect Society Mailing List'' (13. June 2003)</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://imranontech.com/2008/04/01/the-origin-of-hacker/|title=The Origin of "Hacker"|date=April 1, 2008|access-date=March 1, 2021|archive-date=March 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304085653/https://imranontech.com/2008/04/01/the-origin-of-hacker/|url-status=live}}</ref> that is, the [[phreaker]] movement that developed into the computer security hacker subculture of today.

=== Civic hacker ===
[[File:Anarchist hackers.jpg|thumb|Anarchist [[hacktivist]] protest in the US]]
Civic hackers use their security and [[Software development|programming acumens]] to create solutions, often public and [[Open-source software|open-sourced]], addressing challenges relevant to neighborhoods, cities, states or countries and the infrastructure within them.<ref>* {{Cite web |date=2013-05-15 |title=What is a Civic Hacker? |url=https://digital.gov/2013/05/15/what-is-a-civic-hacker/ |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=Digital.gov |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103065348/https://digital.gov/2013/05/15/what-is-a-civic-hacker/ |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite magazine |last=Finley |first=Klint |title=White House, NASA Celebrate National Day of Hacking |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2013/05/national-day-of-hacking/ |access-date=2023-11-03 |issn=1059-1028 |archive-date=2023-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103065348/https://www.wired.com/2013/05/national-day-of-hacking/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Municipalities and major government agencies such as [[NASA]] have been known to host [[hackathon]]s or promote a specific date as a "National Day of Civic Hacking" to encourage participation from civic hackers.<ref>* {{Cite web |last=Abegail |date=2016-06-04 |title=Join Us for National Day of Civic Hacking |url=https://www.chhs.ca.gov/blog/2016/06/03/join-us-for-national-day-of-civic-hacking/ |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=California Health and Human Services |language=en-US }}
* {{Cite web |date=2016-06-03 |title=Open Data and Innovation at the National Day of Civic Hacking 2016 |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/06/03/open-data-and-innovation-national-day-civic-hacking-2016 |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=whitehouse.gov |language=en |archive-date=2023-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602153858/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/06/03/open-data-and-innovation-national-day-civic-hacking-2016 |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite web |title=Time To Make Plans For June's National Day of Civic Hacking - IEEE Spectrum |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/time-to-make-plans-for-junes-national-day-of-civic-hacking |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=[[IEEE]] |language=en |archive-date=2023-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103065350/https://spectrum.ieee.org/time-to-make-plans-for-junes-national-day-of-civic-hacking |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite web |last=Hong |first=Albert |date=2016-06-08 |title=National Day of Civic Hacking is about 'civic bravery' |url=https://technical.ly/civic-news/national-day-civic-hacking-secondmuse/ |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=Technical.ly |language=en |archive-date=2023-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103065348/https://technical.ly/civic-news/national-day-civic-hacking-secondmuse/ |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite web |date=2013-05-31 |title=Government releases 'unprecedented amount of data' for National Day of Civic Hacking |url=https://venturebeat.com/entrepreneur/government-releases-unprecedented-amount-of-data-for-national-day-of-civic-hacking/ |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=VentureBeat |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004002300/https://venturebeat.com/entrepreneur/government-releases-unprecedented-amount-of-data-for-national-day-of-civic-hacking/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref>* {{Cite web |last=Gallagher |first=Sean |date=2015-02-25 |title=Bus pass: Civic hackers open transit data MTA said would cost too much to share |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/02/bus-pass-civic-hackers-open-transit-data-mta-said-would-cost-too-much-to-share/ |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us |archive-date=2023-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103065349/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/02/bus-pass-civic-hackers-open-transit-data-mta-said-would-cost-too-much-to-share/ |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite web |last=Babcock |first=Stephen |date=2015-02-25 |title=Thanks to civic hackers, a Montreal company just made Baltimore's bus system more usable |url=https://technical.ly/software-development/transit-app-civic-hackers-mta-bus-tracking-data-mobile/ |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=Technical.ly |language=en |archive-date=2023-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103065349/https://technical.ly/software-development/transit-app-civic-hackers-mta-bus-tracking-data-mobile/ |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite web |last=Reyes |first=Juliana |date=2014-01-09 |title=This app shows you how often SEPTA Regional Rail is late (with fixes) |url=https://technical.ly/civic-news/septa-regional-rail-late-app/ |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=Technical.ly |language=en |archive-date=2023-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103065358/https://technical.ly/civic-news/septa-regional-rail-late-app/ |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite web |last=Reyes |first=Juliana |date=2014-07-11 |title=Why does this data from our troubled Philadelphia Traffic Court cost $11K? |url=https://technical.ly/civic-news/traffic-court-data-expensive-william-entriken/ |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=Technical.ly |language=en |archive-date=2023-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103065349/https://technical.ly/civic-news/traffic-court-data-expensive-william-entriken/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref>* {{Cite web |last=Lattanzio |first=Vince |date=2014-01-20 |title=Frustrated Over Late SEPTA Trains, Software Developer Creates App Proposing Better Schedules |url=https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/frustrated-over-late-septa-trains-software-developer-creates-app-to-recommend-schedule-changes/2113743/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |archive-date=2023-11-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120090928/https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/frustrated-over-late-septa-trains-software-developer-creates-app-to-recommend-schedule-changes/2113743/ |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite web |last=Reyes |first=Juliana |date=2014-01-09 |title=This app shows you how often SEPTA Regional Rail is late (with fixes) |url=https://technical.ly/civic-news/septa-regional-rail-late-app/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |archive-date=2023-12-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204180732/https://technical.ly/civic-news/septa-regional-rail-late-app/ |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite web |last=Metro Magazine Staff |date=2014-01-22 |title=SEPTA rider creates app proposing 'better schedules' |url=https://www.metro-magazine.com/10038748/septa-rider-creates-app-proposing-better-schedules |access-date=2023-11-20 |archive-date=2023-11-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120220825/https://www.metro-magazine.com/10038748/septa-rider-creates-app-proposing-better-schedules |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Security-related hacking ===

[[Security hacker]]s are people involved with circumvention of computer security. There are several types, including:

;[[White hat (computer security)|White hat]]:Hackers who work to keep data safe from other hackers by finding system [[Vulnerability (computing)|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 hacking|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,<ref>{{Cite web|title=What are crackers and hackers? {{!}} Security News|url=http://www.pctools.com/security-news/crackers-and-hackers/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515044743/http://www.pctools.com/security-news/crackers-and-hackers/|archive-date=May 15, 2011|access-date=2016-09-10|website=www.pctools.com}}</ref> 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 [[Hacker ethic|ethical standards]], but do not have the malicious intent typical of a black hat hacker.

=== Hacker culture ===
{{main|Hacker culture}}
[[File:Bending.jpg|thumb|A [[DIY]] musician probes the circuit board of a synthesizer for [[Circuit bending|"bends"]] using a jeweler's screwdriver and alligator clips.]]
[[Hacker culture]] is an idea derived from a community of enthusiast [[computer programmer]]s and [[systems designer]]s in the 1960s around the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]'s (MIT's) [[Tech Model Railroad Club]] (TMRC)<ref>{{cite web |last=London |first=Jay |date=6 April 2015 |title=Happy 60th Birthday to the Word "Hack" |url=https://slice.mit.edu/2015/04/06/happy-birthday-hack/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507193534/https://slice.mit.edu/2015/04/06/happy-birthday-hack/ |archive-date=7 May 2016 |access-date=16 December 2016}}</ref> and the [[MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Raymond |first=Eric |author-link=Eric S. Raymond |date=25 August 2000 |title=The Early Hackers |url=http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/hacker-history/ar01s02.html |access-date=6 December 2008 |work=A Brief History of Hackerdom |publisher=Thyrsus Enterprises |archive-date=10 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010145931/http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/hacker-history/ar01s02.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The concept expanded to the hobbyist home computing community, focusing on hardware in the late 1970s (e.g. the [[Homebrew Computer Club]])<ref>Levy, part 2</ref> and on software ([[video game]]s,<ref>Levy, part 3</ref> [[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 ==
Four primary motives have been proposed as possibilities for why hackers attempt to break into computers and networks. First, there is a criminal financial gain to be had when hacking systems with the specific purpose of stealing [[credit card number]]s or manipulating [[banking system]]s. Second, many hackers thrive off of increasing their reputation within the hacker subculture and will leave their handles on websites they defaced or leave some other evidence as proof that they were involved in a specific hack. Third, [[corporate espionage]] allows companies to acquire information on products or services that can be stolen or used as leverage within the marketplace. Lastly, state-sponsored attacks provide nation states with both wartime and intelligence collection options conducted on, in, or through [[cyberspace]].<ref>Lloyd, Gene. "Developing Algorithms to Identify Spoofed Internet Traffic". Colorado Technical University, 2014</ref>

== Overlaps and differences ==
[[File:Eric S Raymond portrait.jpg|thumb|right|[[Eric S. Raymond]], maintainer of the ''[[Jargon File]]'' and proponent of hacker culture]]
The main basic difference between programmer subculture and computer security hacker is their mostly separate historical origin and development. However, the ''Jargon File'' reports that considerable overlap existed for the early phreaking at the beginning of the 1970s. An article from MIT's student paper ''The Tech'' used the term hacker in this context already in 1963 in its pejorative meaning for someone messing with the phone system.<ref name=shapiro/> The overlap quickly started to break when people joined in the activity who did it in a less responsible way.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/P/phreaking.html |title=phreaking |series=The Jargon Lexicon |access-date=2008-10-18 |archive-date=2008-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921080316/http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/P/phreaking.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This was the case after the publication of an article exposing the activities of Draper and Engressia.

According to Raymond, hackers from the programmer subculture usually work openly and use their real name, while computer security hackers prefer secretive groups and identity-concealing aliases.<ref name="Raymond-cracker" /> Also, their activities in practice are largely distinct. The former focus on creating new and improving existing infrastructure (especially the software environment they work with), while the latter primarily and strongly emphasize the general act of circumvention of security measures, with the effective use of the knowledge (which can be to report and help fixing the security bugs, or exploitation reasons) being only rather secondary. The most visible difference in these views was in the design of the MIT hackers' [[Incompatible Timesharing System]], which deliberately did not have any security measures.

There are some subtle overlaps, however, since basic knowledge about computer security is also common within the programmer subculture of hackers. For example, Ken Thompson noted during his 1983 [[Turing Award]] lecture that it is possible to add code to the [[UNIX]] "login" command that would accept either the intended encrypted [[password]] or a particular known password, allowing a backdoor into the system with the latter password. He named his invention the "[[Trojan horse (computing)|Trojan horse]]". Furthermore, Thompson argued, the [[Compiler|C compiler]] itself could be modified to automatically generate the rogue code, to make detecting the modification even harder. Because the compiler is itself a program generated from a compiler, the Trojan horse could also be automatically installed in a new compiler program, without any detectable modification to the source of the new compiler. However, Thompson disassociated himself strictly from the computer security hackers: "I would like to criticize the press in its handling of the 'hackers,' the [[The 414s|414 gang]], the Dalton gang, etc. The acts performed by these kids are vandalism at best and probably trespass and theft at worst. ... I have watched kids testifying before Congress. It is clear that they are completely unaware of the seriousness of their acts."<ref>{{cite journal|first=Ken|last=Thompson|title=Reflections on Trusting Trust|journal=Communications of the ACM|volume=27|issue=8|date=August 1984|url=http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~ganger/712.fall02/papers/p761-thompson.pdf|doi=10.1145/358198.358210|page=761|s2cid=34854438|doi-access=free|access-date=2007-08-24|archive-date=2007-09-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070924124136/http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~ganger/712.fall02/papers/p761-thompson.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

The programmer subculture of hackers sees secondary circumvention of security mechanisms as legitimate if it is done to get practical barriers out of the way for doing actual work. In special forms, that can even be an expression of playful cleverness.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/rms-hack.html |title=The Hacker Community and Ethics: An Interview with Richard M. Stallman |publisher=GNU Project |author=Richard Stallman |year=2002 |access-date=2008-10-18 |archive-date=2021-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307234742/https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/rms-hack.html |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the systematic and primary engagement in such activities is not one of the actual interests of the programmer subculture of hackers and it does not have significance in its actual activities, either.<ref name="Raymond-cracker">{{cite book |url=http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/C/cracker.html |title=cracker |series=The Jargon Lexicon |access-date=2008-10-18 |archive-date=2008-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915184607/http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/C/cracker.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A further difference is that, historically, members of the programmer subculture of hackers were working at academic institutions and used the computing environment there. In contrast, the prototypical computer security hacker had access exclusively to a home computer and a modem. However, since the mid-1990s, with home computers that could run Unix-like operating systems and with inexpensive internet home access being available for the first time, many people from outside of the academic world started to take part in the programmer subculture of hacking.

Since the mid-1980s, there are some overlaps in ideas and members with the computer security hacking community. The most prominent case is Robert T. Morris, who was a user of MIT-AI, yet wrote the [[Morris worm]]. The ''Jargon File'' hence calls him "a true hacker who blundered".<ref>{{cite book |url=http://catb.org/jargon/html/pt03.html#bibliography |title=Part III. Appendices |series=The Jargon Lexicon |access-date=2008-10-18 |archive-date=2008-09-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913155658/http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/pt03.html#bibliography |url-status=live }}</ref> Nevertheless, members of the programmer subculture have a tendency to look down on and disassociate from these overlaps. They commonly refer disparagingly to people in the computer security subculture as crackers and refuse to accept any definition of hacker that encompasses such activities. The computer security hacking subculture, on the other hand, tends not to distinguish between the two subcultures as harshly, acknowledging that they have much in common including many members, political and social goals, and a love of learning about technology. They restrict the use of the term cracker to their categories of [[script kiddie]]s and black hat hackers instead.

[[File:Phrack-org-frontpage-2005.png|left|thumb|The front page of [[Phrack]], a long-running [[online magazine]] for hackers]]
All three subcultures have relations to hardware modifications. In the early days of network hacking, phreaks were building [[blue box]]es and various variants. The programmer subculture of hackers has stories about several hardware hacks in its folklore, such as a mysterious "magic" switch attached to a PDP-10 computer in MIT's AI lab that, when switched off, crashed the computer.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/magic-story.html |title=A Story About 'Magic' |series=The Jargon Lexicon |access-date=2008-10-18 |archive-date=2008-09-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913164649/http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/magic-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The early hobbyist hackers built their home computers themselves from construction kits. However, all these activities have died out during the 1980s when the phone network switched to digitally controlled switchboards, causing network hacking to shift to dialing remote computers with modems when pre-assembled inexpensive home computers were available and when academic institutions started to give individual mass-produced workstation computers to scientists instead of using a central timesharing system. The only kind of widespread hardware modification nowadays is [[case modding]].

An encounter of the programmer and the computer security hacker subculture occurred at the end of the 1980s, when a group of computer security hackers, sympathizing with the [[Chaos Computer Club]] (which disclaimed any knowledge in these activities), broke into computers of American military organizations and academic institutions. They sold data from these machines to the Soviet secret service, one of them in order to fund his drug addiction. The case was solved when [[Clifford Stoll]], a scientist working as a system administrator, found ways to log the attacks and to trace them back (with the help of many others). ''[[23 (film)|23]]'', a German film adaption with fictional elements, shows the events from the attackers' perspective. Stoll described the case in his book ''[[The Cuckoo's Egg]]'' and in the TV documentary ''The KGB, the Computer, and Me'' from the other perspective. According to Eric S. Raymond, it "nicely illustrates the difference between 'hacker' and 'cracker'. Stoll's portrait of himself, his lady Martha, and his friends at Berkeley and on the Internet paints a marvelously vivid picture of how hackers and the people around them like to live and how they think."<ref>{{cite book |url=http://catb.org/jargon/html/pt03.html |title=Part III. Appendices |series=The Jargon Lexicon |access-date=2008-10-18 |archive-date=2008-09-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913155658/http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/pt03.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Representation in media ==

[[File:Anonymous Hacker.png|thumb|right|200px|The clichéd depiction of hackers in popular culture is a shadowy figure with a hoodie working on a laptop against a backdrop of [[Digital rain|falling green computer code]].]]
The [[mainstream media]]'s current usage of the term may be traced back to the early 1980s. When the term, previously used only among computer enthusiasts, was introduced to wider society by the mainstream media in 1983,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Deffree|first=Suzanne|date=2019-09-05|title=EDN - 'Hacker' is used by mainstream media, September 5, 1983|url=https://www.edn.com/hacker-is-used-by-mainstream-media-september-5-1983/|access-date=2020-09-07|website=EDN|language=en-US|archive-date=2020-04-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429123857/https://www.edn.com/hacker-is-used-by-mainstream-media-september-5-1983/|url-status=live}}</ref> even those in the computer community referred to computer intrusion as hacking, although not as the exclusive definition of the word. In reaction to the increasing media use of the term exclusively with the criminal connotation, the computer community began to differentiate their terminology. Alternative terms such as [[Security cracking|cracker]] were coined in an effort to maintain the distinction between hackers within the legitimate programmer community and those performing computer break-ins. Further terms such as [[Black hat hacking|black hat]], [[White hat (computer security)|white hat]] and [[gray hat]] developed when laws against breaking into computers came into effect, to distinguish criminal activities from those activities which were legal.

[[News media in the United States|Network news']] use of the term consistently pertains primarily to criminal activities, despite attempts by the technical community to preserve and distinguish the original meaning. Today, the mainstream media and general public continue to describe computer criminals, with all levels of technical sophistication, as "hackers" and do not generally make use of the word in any of its non-criminal connotations. Members of the media sometimes seem unaware of the distinction, grouping legitimate "hackers" such as [[Linus Torvalds]] and [[Steve Wozniak]] along with criminal "crackers".<ref>{{cite web|last=DuBois|first=Shelley|title=A who's who of hackers|url=http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/06/16/a-whos-who-of-hackers/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110619062251/http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/06/16/a-whos-who-of-hackers/|archive-date=June 19, 2011|access-date=19 June 2011|work=Reporter|publisher=Fortune Magazine}}</ref>

As a result, the definition is still the subject of heated controversy. The wider dominance of the pejorative connotation is resented by many who object to the term being taken from their cultural [[jargon]] and used negatively,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tmrc.mit.edu/hackers-ref.html |title=TMRC site |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060503072049/http://tmrc.mit.edu/hackers-ref.html |archive-date=2006-05-03}}</ref> including those who have historically preferred to self-identify as hackers. Many advocate using the more recent and nuanced alternate terms when describing criminals and others who negatively take advantage of security flaws in software and hardware. Others prefer to follow common popular usage, arguing that the positive form is confusing and unlikely to become widespread in the general public. A minority still use the term in both senses despite the controversy, leaving context to clarify (or leave ambiguous) which meaning is intended.

However, because the positive definition of hacker was widely used as the predominant form for many years before the negative definition was popularized, "hacker" can therefore be seen as a [[shibboleth]], identifying those who use the technically oriented sense (as opposed to the exclusively intrusion-oriented sense) as members of the computing community. On the other hand, due to the variety of industries software designers may find themselves in, many prefer not to be referred to as hackers because the word holds a negative denotation in many of those industries.

A possible middle ground position has been suggested, based on the observation that "hacking" describes a collection of skills and tools which are used by hackers of both descriptions for differing reasons. The analogy is made to [[locksmithing]], specifically picking locks, which is a skill which can be used for good or evil. The primary weakness of this analogy is the inclusion of [[script kiddies]] in the popular usage of "hacker", despite their lack of an underlying skill and knowledge base.

== See also ==
*[[Script kiddie]], an unskilled computer security attacker
*[[Hacktivism]], conducting cyber attacks on a business or organisation in order to bring social change

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* Baker, Bruce D. "Sin and the Hacker Ethic: The Tragedy of Techno-Utopian Ideology in Cyberspace Business Cultures." ''Journal of Religion and Business Ethics'' 4.2 (2020): 1+ [https://via.library.depaul.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1152&context=jrbe online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116223623/https://via.library.depaul.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1152&context=jrbe |date=2023-01-16 }}.
* Hasse, Michael. [http://elk.informatik.hs-augsburg.de/tmp/cdrom-oss/hasse_hacker.pdf Die Hacker: Strukturanalyse einer jugendlichen Subkultur] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930174851/http://elk.informatik.hs-augsburg.de/tmp/cdrom-oss/hasse_hacker.pdf |date=2017-09-30 }} (1994)
* Himanen, Pekka. ''The hacker ethic'' (Random House, 2010).
* Himanen, Pekka. "19. The hacker ethic as the culture of the information age." ''The Network Society'' (2004): 420+ [https://www.academia.edu/download/8055465/20100512150452580.pdf#page=440 online]{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.
* Holt, Thomas J. "Computer hacking and the hacker subculture." in ''The palgrave handbook of international cybercrime and cyberdeviance'' (2020): 725–742.
{{refend}}

=== Computer security ===
{{refbegin}}
* Dey, Debabrata, Atanu Lahiri, and Guoying Zhang. "Hacker behavior, network effects, and the security software market."'' Journal of Management Information Systems'' 29.2 (2012): 77–108.
* {{cite book | last = Dreyfus | first = Suelette | title = [[Underground (Suelette Dreyfus book)|Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier]] | year = 1997 | isbn = 1-86330-595-5 | publisher = Mandarin }}
* {{cite book |last1=Hafner |first1=Katie |author-link=Katie Hafner |last2=Markoff |first2=John |author-link2=John Markoff |year=1991 |title=Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier |location=New York |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=0-671-68322-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/cyberpunk00kati }}
* {{cite book | last = Levy | first = Steven | title = Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government Saving Privacy in the Digital Age | year = 2002 | isbn = 0-14-024432-8 | publisher = Penguin}}
* Logik Bomb: [http://insecure.org/stf/hackenc.txt Hacker's Encyclopedia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070708204945/http://insecure.org/stf/hackenc.txt |date=2007-07-08 }} (1997)
* Revelation: [http://www.textfiles.com/hacking/ulimate.txt The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Hacking & Phreaking] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160905213959/http://www.textfiles.com/hacking/ulimate.txt |date=2016-09-05 }} (1996)
* {{cite book | last = Slatalla | first = Michelle | author2 = Joshua Quittner | title = Masters of Deception: The Gang That Ruled Cyberspace | url = https://archive.org/details/mastersofdecepti1994slat | url-access = registration | year = 1995 | isbn = 0-06-017030-1 | publisher = HarperCollins }}
* {{cite book | author-link = Bruce Sterling | last = Sterling | first = Bruce | url = https://archive.org/details/hackercrackdownl00ster | title = The Hacker Crackdown | year = 1992 | isbn = 0-553-08058-X | publisher = Bantam }}
* {{cite book | last = Taylor | first = Paul A. | title = Hackers: Crime in the Digital Sublime | year = 1999 | isbn = 978-0-415-18072-6 | publisher = Routledge | url = http://insecure.org/stf/them_and_us.txt | access-date = 2009-03-08 | archive-date = 2009-03-09 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090309104312/http://insecure.org/stf/them_and_us.txt | url-status = live }}
* {{cite book | last = Thomas | first = Douglas | title = [[Hacker Culture]] | year = 2002 | isbn = 0-8166-3345-2 | publisher = University of Minnesota Press}}
* {{cite book | last = Verton | first = Dan | title = The Hacker Diaries: Confessions of Teenage Hackers | year = 2002 | isbn = 0-07-222364-2 | publisher = McGraw-Hill Osborne Media | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/hackerdiariescon0000vert }}
{{refend}}

=== Free software/open source ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book | last = Graham | first = Paul| author-link = Paul Graham (computer programmer) | title = [[Hackers and Painters]] | year = 2004 | isbn = 0-596-00662-4 | publisher = O'Reilly | location = Beijing}}
* {{cite book | last = Himanen | first = Pekka | year = 2001 | title = The Hacker Ethic and the Spirit of the Information Age | publisher = Random House | isbn = 0-375-50566-0 | url = https://archive.org/details/hackerethic00pekk }}
* {{cite book | last1 = Lakhani | first1 = Karim R. | last2 = Wolf | first2 = Robert G. | chapter-url = http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-352-managing-innovation-emerging-trends-spring-2005/readings/lakhaniwolf.pdf | chapter = Why Hackers Do What They Do: Understanding Motivation and Effort in Free/Open Source Software Projects | editor1-first = J. | editor1-last = Feller | editor2-first = B. | editor2-last = Fitzgerald | editor3-first = S. | editor3-last = Hissam | editor4-first = K. R. | display-editors = 3 | editor4-last = Lakhani | title = Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software | publisher = MIT Press | year = 2005 | access-date = 2016-03-25 | archive-date = 2015-09-23 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150923034503/http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/sloan-school-of-management/15-352-managing-innovation-emerging-trends-spring-2005/readings/lakhaniwolf.pdf | url-status = live }}
* {{cite book | last = Levy | first = Steven | author-link = Steven Levy | title = [[Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution]] | year = 1984 | isbn = 0-385-19195-2 | publisher = Doubleday}}
* {{cite book | editor1-last = Raymond | editor1-first = Eric S. | editor2-last = Steele | editor2-first = Guy L. | title = [[Jargon File|The New Hacker's Dictionary]] | publisher = The MIT Press | year = 1996 | isbn = 0-262-68092-0}}
* {{cite book | last = Raymond | first = Eric S. | title = [[The Art of Unix Programming]] | publisher = Prentice Hall International | year = 2003 | isbn = 0-13-142901-9}}
* {{cite book | last = Turkle | first = Sherry | author-link = Sherry Turkle | year = 1984 | title = The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit | publisher = MIT Press | isbn = 0-262-70111-1}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* {{Wikibooks inline|Hacking}}
* {{Wiktionary-inline|Hacker}}
* {{Commons category-inline|Hackers}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hacker}}
[[Category:Hacking (computer security)]]
[[Category:Hacker culture]]
[[Category:Computing culture]]
[[Category:Computing terminology]]
[[Category:Computer programming]]
[[Category:Computer viruses]]
[[Category:Internet security]]