Why The Media's Definition Of A Hacker Is Absolute Bs

So, you think you know what a hacker is do you?

I'm here to tell you that you're wrong.

Probably.

At least to a certain degree anyway.

Unless you are involved in internet security to some degree then the only definition of a hacker that you will have heard is one given to you by the media, be it on the news or in the movies.

According to such sources all hackers are bad.

Very bad.

Hardened criminals the lot of them.

Of course that is true to some extent - a large proportion of hackers really are bad guys who steal money, deface websites and knock sites off the internet for varying amounts of time.

There are many different types of hacker though and all come with their own labels, such as -

Black Hat hacker

White Hat hacker

Grey hat hacker

Script kiddie

Phreaker

Hacktivist

Computer Security hacker

Hobby hacker

Not all of the above are bad - white hat hackers, for example, are often employed by large organisations who wish to have their networks tested so that they can identify any weaknesses before the real bad guys find them.

Another example, the hobby hacker, is often misunderstood too.

Such hackers are probably better defined as tinkerers as though do not aim to break anything, preferring instead to modify existing pieces of code or hardware.

You can read more about the other types of hackers in one of my recent posts on my blog - "So Just What Sort Of Hacker Are You?"