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What is a hacker?

A debate about what hackers, crackers, lammers, etc are

         

Herenvardo

9:57 am on Dec 11, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



In the topic tittled "Hacker Cracks Apple's iTunes", a debate began about if that hacker was really a hacker or not. See that at [webmasterworld.com...]

So I have decided to start a debate about that topic.

My idea of what a hacker is: a person with a lot of knowledge about a system, able to break in and make changes (s/he has to be able to break in to be a hacker, but is don't needed to DO it)
Cracker: somebody who breaks in systems and steals information for profit or causes damage to the system.
Lammer: A cracker without the knowledge needed to be a hacker who uses 3rd party tools to crack systems.
Pirate: A cracker speciallised in breaking anti-copy protection systems or a resseller of illegal copies of any product (music, video, software or even hardware)
BSP: Backup Service Provider, almost a pirate, with no intention of taking profit but backuping material. Almost all BSPs are also pirates.

What is your opinion about all of this? I will be glad to hear (read) it.

Greetings,
Herenvardö

Note:Please don't post something like "agree!" or "i think different" without explaining the reasons. I hope to get from here a definition of some of the terms above ;)

requiem

12:30 pm on Dec 11, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



A hacker is a (computer)criminal who claims to be fighting for a just cause, doing the world a favour etc. E.g. "DVD Jon"

A cracker is a (computer)criminal that are just purly evil e.g. "OLEG ZEZEV".

A lamer is a term used by hackers and crackers to refer to wanna be criminals.

Every one who has any involvement with piracy is a pirat, and a pirat is a criminal.

Please report all criminals to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.

strimmerboy

12:42 pm on Dec 11, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



A hacker is a code guru
A cracker is a criminal
A script-kiddie is a cracker without a clue

satanclaus

6:46 pm on Dec 11, 2003 (gmt 0)



They're all subclasses of class computer criminal with different values for their variables and a few different functions.

fisherman

10:46 pm on Dec 11, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Don't forget about the "white hat" vs. "black hat" distinction.

strimmerboy

8:37 am on Dec 12, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



[wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk ]

The 'hacker as criminal' thing is a creation of mass media AFAIK.

strimmerboy

8:38 am on Dec 12, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



...although making furniture with an axe also appeals...

Herenvardo

10:55 am on Dec 12, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



A hacker is a (computer)criminal

Of course, fully disagree
Don't forget about the "white hat" vs. "black hat" distinction.

Hacker's know how to break a system, but this doesn't mean that they do it.
Of course, hacking is illegall. There are many that do it for curiosity (white hats), but it's still illegall.
A true hacker (white hat) never makes changes in the systems s/he enters. If s/he makes changes, becomes a cracker (black hat).

Greetings,
Herenvardö

synergy

4:18 pm on Dec 12, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Hackerz: know how to break into a computer system/network/code/etc

Crackerz: know how to break software security and registration codes.

Phreakerz: back in the 90's, these people would create signal jammers that would allow for free long distance calls. Not sure if this word still exists.

volatilegx

8:14 pm on Dec 12, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I think synergy has it right.

A cracker isn't necessarily a hacker, and vice versa.

The whole iTunes thing was more of a crack than a hack, IMHO.

TheDoctor

8:58 pm on Dec 12, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



>>Phreakerz: back in the 90's

Change that 9 to a 7. They were around that long ago.

Also, long long ago, but in this here galaxy, programmers used to call themselves Hackers, because they hacked code.

garann

10:06 pm on Dec 12, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Two cents worth:

A hacker is anyone who has enough knowledge about their tools to use them for something they weren't strictly intended for, like using tables for layout. There's nothing malicious implied in the word, though there is obviously the potential to do something malicious.

Those who use their knowledge for evil are crackers. Those who wait for someone else to use their knowledge for evil, then spread it around after adding comments about how k3wl they are to the code are script kiddies.

synergy

10:36 pm on Dec 12, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Oops didn't even realize I typed a 9 instead of a 7. That was before my day anyways. (born in 1980)

I guess the word cracker has taken on a different meaning since I was in the warez community.

TheDoctor

10:41 pm on Dec 13, 2003 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



>>born in 1980

I forgive you, but please don't do it again :)

superpower

12:11 am on Dec 14, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Hacker: somebody who makes it a habit to learn everything about how a technology works and is reasonably competent at it. I don't think a hacker has to be a guru necessarily though.

Cracker: a black-hat hacker. The knowledge is used for "bad"/unethical/illegal purposes.

Lamers: A person who wants to be a hacker or cracker but is clueless.

Script Kiddie: They used to be teenagers but now I wouldn't be surprised if a 6 year old could spark World War 3.

BSP: Never heard of it until now. I think you made this up.

chadmg

5:58 pm on Dec 15, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Actually, a hacker is defined as just a computer expert. A cracker is a malicious black-hat hacker. The media turned hacker into a bad word.

Herenvardo

10:04 am on Dec 16, 2003 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



BSP: Never heard of it until now. I think you made this up.

I first saw the term "BSP" in a cd that burned for me a friend. In the back of the CD, it read "Legal note: This CD is only for backup purposes. The Crazy Pirate BSP is not responsible of the use, missuse or illegall use of the backuped media." When I asked him what BSP meant, he smiled and said: "Backup Service Providers". Of course, it was completelly sarcastic, and I didn't had a license for any of the programs contained there... ;)
At least in Barcelona, the term BSP is very used. I imagine that out of here is something strange...

Greetings,
Herenvardö