Hacker or Cracker

The definition and use of ‘hacker’ is the subject of considerable controversy among various subcultures. The Jargon File illustrates the self-understanding of academic hacker culture, a name that suggests the original academic environment that subculture does not mean that hacking at the time was an academic study.

During the Jargon File basket in response to bad press since 1990, all the hackers who emphasized their activities on the circumvention of security mechanisms, regardless of their motivation, was not a hacker but a cracker.

Within the computer security hacker culture, only the darker color directions (Black Hats) and script kiddies were called crackers. In contrast, there are hackers who draw such a distinction in the absence of a clear dividing line between “good” and “reject evil.”