How to catch a cracker in the US?

Thu Mar 13 13:22:40 UTC 2014

On 3/13/14, 12:35 AM, "shawn wilson" <ag4ve.us at 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.

--Josh