On 3/13/2014 8:22 AM, Sholes, Joshua wrote:
On 3/13/14, 12:35 AM, "shawn wilson" <ag4ve...@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)
