hacker

1) Eric Raymond, compiler of The New Hacker's Dictionary, defines a hacker as a clever programmer. A "good hack" is a clever solution to a programming problem and "hacking" is the act of doing it. Raymond lists five possible characteristics that qualify one as a hacker, which we paraphrase here:

• A person who enjoys learning details of a programming language or system
• A person who enjoys actually doing the programming rather than just theorizing about it
• A person capable of appreciating someone else's hacking
• A person who picks up programming quickly
• A person who is an expert at a particular programming language or system, as in "Unix hacker"

2) The term hacker is used in popular media to describe someone who attempts to break into computer systems. Typically, this kind of hacker would be a proficient programmer or engineer with sufficient technical knowledge to understand the weak points in a security system. For more on this usage, see cracker.

Read more about hacker: - SearchStorage.com is a storage-specific portal with information about security issues.

Do you have something to add to this definition? Let us know. Send your comments to techterms@whatis.com

Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us

RELATED CONTENT Symantec values market for stolen data at $276 million The buying and selling of stolen credit card and account data on the black market is in the millions, according to a new report from Symantec. DHS should lose cybersecurity authority, experts say A group of security and policy experts told a House subcommittee Tuesday that cybersecurity should move from DHS to the White House. What can be done to keep students from becoming cybercriminals? When cybercriminals offer tuition payments to college students in exchange for their services, what can anyone do to intervene? Security management...