After general understanding a hacker is an extremely talentierter computer specialist, who can overcome and in stranger of systems penetrate in particular safety barriers. Parallel to it numerous further definitions for this term, which do not find within different, also information-technical ranges, use, exist. Thus hacker is considered also as a name for humans with unusually good abilities in his field of activity, or generally to an improvisation talent. Particularly in the programming scene the term in this form is used, whereby there also gladly developers are called of free software, which reveals their source code, overall as hackers, which represents an expression of the respect for their ethical attitude in relation to the society.

The term stands also for persons, who use and in a way use a technology of arbitrary kind creatively, which the developers of the technology did not plan.

Regardless of its term finds "to hacker "in the media usually in the context of a destructive computer expert application, which uses his talents primarily for criminal purposes. Derived from this use, the term is brought colloquially fast with criminal subjects in connection, which bad in the sign and cause to the society damage want to lead.

In the hacker culture further classifications, as for example to Hacktivist than name for someone, exist which uses its abilities for political purposes. Destructive hackers are called there devaluing Crasher or Cracker, whereby the term is to be distinguished "Softwarecracker "from it again and no synonym for a destructive hacker represents.

With respect to the professional world one differentiates clearly between a hacker as security experts and a Skriptkiddie unaquainted in the thing, which act without knowledge of it, how the used weak point functioned and how new safety gaps can be sought out. Contrary to a hacker a Skriptkiddie safety barriers can overcome exclusively with the help of a script in form of one "step by step "- operating instructions and more prefabricated, strongly automated programs, but is missing to it the ability to improvise in the case of problem.

Term change

The word "chop "had in the course of history many meanings. Begun of the sauntering ride, something rent or into small pieces strike (14. Century), a writer or a someone, who performs routine work (18. Century), a name for a dry cough and/or for in order to make attentive or also around a word, whose discussion one does not know exactly, whitewash on itself (19. Century), attained the term into the late 1950er years directly several new meanings.

Thus Harley Davidson drivers used in south California "hacking "as synonym for dividing their motorcycles and not least for the Tunen of their makes, in order to make it lower, faster and more beautiful than the originals.

At the same time the term "chop "used by the model railway club of the WITH (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), more exactly the TMRC (Tech Model Railroad club OF WITH). It stood here for particularly elegant and creative ideas and solution methods of any kind. If a student of the WITH a refined caper go out-hit a corner, the evil author was considered as "a hacker ", without absolutely referring thereby to the computer.

In contrast to this the Computerfreaks of the WITH called AI lab (Artificial Intelligence Laboratory), which the first large computers of the WITH programmed, also common programming and the free exchange of knowledge "chopped themselves "and "hackers ". Already in these first years they wrote a Kodex, which was not however at that time yet completely so seriously taken for itself, as it was later the case: the hacker ethics.

When members of the model course club began to work with a DEC-PDP-1-Computer their Slang was transferred now also in written form to the computer. Those first well-known use of the term "hackers "was registered in this way by the expenditure of the student paper from 20 November 1963 of the polytechnical institute of the WITH.

End of the 1960er stood the term "for hacker "already world-wide as synonym for someone, which is occupied intensively with the computer.

1972 opened John T. to Draper, also admits as "Captain Crunch ", by its publication of a clay/tone choice signal the era of free telephoning, the so-called Phreaking. This was more remarkably chops, which represents the first salient association between the term "to heels "and overcoming safety barriers.

Regardless of its term was coined/shaped "hackers "into the 1970ern to beginning of the 1980er years as name for an unusually good programmer. Derived from it the word resembles rank within the programmer and hacker scene also today still another: It witnesses from respect and represents an honor for unusually good abilities, which is not considered lent of members of the scene as rashly.

In contrast to this also skurrile, usually on the fast provided "chop "called, which function, but are by far not perfect. Regarding a developer, whose source code represents only one lining up of such Hacks, the word hacker stands for a schlampigen programmer and represents in this context no honour.

the media Newsweek and CBS news publicised 1983 for the first time the term "hackers "in connection with criminal computer specialists.

Hacker stood for center of the 1980er primarily for wissbegierige humans, who investigated, into the depths of the subject penetrated the world of the computers and thereby in stranger of systems chop itself could. Due to the fascination of the latter ability, it was strongly exaggerated represented particularly toward end of the 1980er by film and press. A quite limited definition of the term reached so the heads of the population and let the myth hacker, as it is languagecommon used today, develop. The 1988 published contribution Stalking the Wily hacker of Clifford Stoll from the expenditure for May of the Communications OF the ACM as well as its relevant work The Cuckoo's Egg from the year 1989 and not least the reactions of the press to at this time the circulating Morris worm and KGB chopping did their remaining, in order to coin/shape this one-sided picture lastingly.

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