On 3/13/2014 8:22 AM, Sholes, Joshua wrote:
On 3/13/14, 12:35 AM, "shawn wilson" <ag4ve.us@gmail.com> wrote:
A note on terminology - whether you know what you're doing, actually break into a system, or obtain a thumb drive with data that you weren't supposed to have - it has the same end so I'd refer to it by the same term - hacking. Trying to differentiate terms based on skill, target, or data type is kinda dumb.
If one came up in this field with a mentor who was old school, or if one is old school oneself, one tends use the original (as I understand it) definitions--a "cracker" breaks security or obtains data unlawfully, a "hacker" is someone who likes ethically playing (in the "joyful exploration" sense) with complicated systems.
People who are culturally younger tend use "hacker", as you are doing, for the former and as far as I can tell no specific term for the latter.
If you ask me, this is something of a cultural loss.
Not sure I can agree with that. I have been in this game for a very long time, but for most of it in places where the world's population cleaved neatly into two parts: "Authorized Users" who could be identified by the facts that they had ID cards, Badges, and knew the door code; and "trespassers" who were all others. Then you new kids came along and (pointlessly, in my opinion) divided the later group into the two described above. -- Requiescas in pace o email Two identifying characteristics of System Administrators: Ex turpi causa non oritur actio Infallibility, and the ability to learn from their mistakes. (Adapted from Stephen Pinker)