Difference Between Hackers & Crackers

Difference Between Hackers & Crackers

The differences between hackers and crackers can be difficult to nail down. The exact definition of each, as well as questions of which are good and which are not, depend on who you ask and who you believe. Crackers are, according to hackers, unskilled and malicious whereas crackers believe that the differences are largely generational

Hackers

According to Chad Perrin of Tech Republic, a hacker is a person with a "strong interest in how things work." Hackers, says Perrin, are individuals who like to create, modify and tinker out of pure enjoyment. According to hacker Phillip S. Tellis, some of the early and best-known hackers included Steve Jobs of Apple Computers and Bill Gates of Microsoft. He states that all current computer security systems are a result of the work of hackers.

Crackers

Crackers agree that cracking does not take the same level of skill as hacking. According to the Cyberpunk Project, a Russian website, cracking involves "persistence and the dogged repetition of a handful of fairly well-known tricks that exploit common weaknesses in the security of target systems." According to the site, the primary difference between hackers and crackers is generational ideals. Hackers, it says, were influenced by the idealism of the "new-left" and the hippies while the crackers were influenced by the punk movement of the late 1970s.