Hackers vs. Crackers

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Recommended: Merits and demerits of hackers and crackers

Hackers vs. Crackers

Introduction

When you hear the word hacker, you probably think of a nerdy, teen-aged boy sitting behind a computer with sinister plans for his attack flowing through the keystrokes of his fingers. You probably think of a techno-criminal defacing websites, shutting down computer systems, stealing money or confidential information-basically a threat to society. But these descriptions may describe someone else enterely. Many in the computer community contend that this criminal description defines crackers. Hackers, on the other hand, are actually people who enjoy learning how computer systems work, and bettering themselves and the computer community with the information that they gain from their learning. So if there are non-criminal (hackers) and criminal hackers (crackers), is it fair to label both hackers and crackers as hackers?

It is important to address this question because the identity of a culture in our society-the hacker culture-is being challenged. It is being defined as good or bad. This good or bad status affects the way Americans use the Internet, the way the government controls or does not control the Internet, and the way technology will grow in the future.

Some people say that there is no difference between hackers and crackers; they are both criminals. Others say that there are major differences between hackers and crackers. This paper addresses whether hackers and crackers really are two separate identities and whether it is right for society to define both hackers and crackers as hackers.

This paper discusses

. The people who believe hackers and crackers are two different groups of people and

should be treated as such.

. The people who believe there is no differe...

... middle of paper ...

...r Credit." Digital Daily June 8, 1999. February 28, 2000. http://www.time.com/time/digital/daily/o,2822,26529,00.htm

Taylor, Paul. "A Sociology of Hackers." The University of East London, United Kingdom. February 16, 2000. http://www.job.am/inet98/2d/2d_1.htm

Denning, Dorothy E.. "Concerning Hackers Who Break Into Computer Systems." 13th National Computer Security Conference October 1- 4, 1990. February 22, 2000. http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/6095/articles/denning_defense_hackers.txt

Vatis, Michael A. "Cybercrime, Transnational Crime, and Intellectual Property Theft."

Before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee March 24, 1998. March 1, 2000. http://www.fbi.gov/search?NS-search-page=document&NS-rel-doc-name=/pressrm/congress/congress98/vatis.htm&NS-query=hacker&NS-search-type=NS-boolean-query&NS-collection=FBI_Web_Site&NS-docs-found=34&NS-doc-number=1

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