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"Hackers" crack more Fed sites
pluteus_larva writes "Speaking of the media and government's war on hackers, CNN is reporting that "hackers" (why can't *anyone* get this right?) are attacking Federal Web sites. " The press is covering this in a variety of areas. In related news, CobaltQ sent us the story about how "non-sanctioned" Chinese crackers have taken aim at NATO sites since the Chinese embassy bombing.
Wired News Service posted a few lines last week about "crackers" shutting down fbi.gov with a DOS attack, and I almost fell out of my chair laughing. Cracker will *never* be used as a term to describe a malicious hacker in the popular media.
As noted by many other posters in this discussion, "cracker" is a racial slur. It has been in use for far longer than computers and networks have been around. I cite a Webster's from 1963 I just happen to have lying around:
Cracker:
1. a bragging liar
2. something that makes a cracking or snapping noise
3. NUTCRACKER
4. a dry think crisp bakery product made of flour and water
5. POOR WHITE: -- usually used disparagingly
6. the equipment in which cracking is carried out
Besides it's other meanings, cracker is just a lame term. When I saw that Wired article, I wondered what kinds of arguements went on in the newsroom when the editor and reporter disagreed over the term... or when at a staff meeting they decided to standardize upon usage.
I sincerely hope this arguement gets buried today, and that our esteemed colleagues at Slashdot ignore future temptation to start it up again by so blatantly including the arguement in the news brief.
(Sigh) The usage of Hacker vs. Cracker tells more about the writer and his or her readership than about the person being described. I use "cracker"
when writing for a geek audience, but I always use "hacker" when writing for a mass medium whose readers or viewers think "crackers" are people in the South who have Confederate flags in the back windows of their pickup trucks.
Why are you whining about this tired old argument?
You might have had a point if this was 1983, we had just seen the movie Wargames and wanted to prove how much a geek you were.
But this is 1999, the term Hacker has been used to refer to those who break into other computer systems at least since 1983 that I can remember.
The battle was long lost, it's time you just get a grip.
The analogy is a very good one. I live in a secured appartment complex with locks on all the exterior doors, plus locks on the doors to each apartment. A simular situation is in effect with my computer. Each account can be considered a door, and passwords can be considered locks. I have passwords(locks) on all accounts(doors) that need login privilages, and dissabled all other accounts(doors). If somebody breaks into my computer they are treaspassing, just as they would be if they broke into my appartment.
A service like named or httpd can be considered to be like a bank lobby. If you stay within the bank lobby doing only normal transactions, then you're welcome. On the other hand, if you force your way back behind the counter to the employees only section and start rummaging through the files, then your are trespassing.
"hackers" (why can't *anyone* get this right?)
And they spelled Komputer and Computer... and I say my way is right and everyone else is wrong.
Face it, just becuase a small vocal and annoying minority try to use a word in a certain way, doesn't make that the "correct" meaning of the word. Go find a battle you haven't already lost.
DrLunch.com The site that tells you what's for lunch!
Would you respect me if you came home one day and found me walking around your house browing through your underwear while playing your barry manilow records? Or would you call the cops and have me hauled away? More likely, you would want me out of your damn house. Sure, you'd get better bolts for your door and maybe put up some bars and be more secure in the end. But, the fact still remains that I trespassed onto your property and looked through your belongings without permission.
I have no respect for people who break into sites without permission, whether they damage things or not. I DO, however, respect those who do it with permission on another system or locally on their own system. It takes quite a bit of brains to figure out ways around complex security measures. There are legal and ethical ways to breach the security of programs. (That is, until some misguided piece of legislation tramples that right.)
Mind you, I'm not preaching security through obscurity. I'm just saying that breaking into a system without permission is inethical, regardless of intentions. Who knows? Maybe I walked into your house to rearrange your furniture and fix your toaster. You don't know that, however. Therefore, you feel threatened by my presense and will presumably call authorities to haul me off elsewhere.
These so-called break-ins are actually fakes created by the government so they can a) get increased support for crackdowns on "evil hackers" and b) increase attention and therefore funding for their own "cyberwar" plans.
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