[miso]

I was in a discussion about what I consider to be the true hacker ethos, as opposed to the mainstream idea of what hacking is today. I consider myself to be a true hacker. (Although I honestly prefer the term "modder" or "maker") For me, it's not about exploiting a security flaw, nor is it about the end result. It's about the process of getting there. It's about making something do something it was never meant to do. To expand, update, or adapt a device, from a computer to a kids toy for new applications. Wikipedia sums up the idea well:

The hacker culture is a subculture of individuals who enjoy the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming limitations of software systems to achieve novel and clever outcomes. The act of engaging in activities (such as programming or other media) in a spirit of playfulness and exploration is termed "hacking". However, the defining characteristic of a hacker is not the activities performed themselves (e.g. programming), but the manner in which it is done.

However, I constantly see, and hear about "crackers." People whose primary focus is malicious and exploit weaknesses in computer systems for profit or self gain. (I'm using the term "cracker" in this context for the purposes of this thread. I'm well aware of, and support finding flaws in the interest of security) It seems that people like me, are slowly dwindling down to zero, and I fear, that it is a lost mentality. Even some of the first hackers, who are closely linked with modern day hacking in popular culture, it was not about making free calls. They could do that, but it was more about exploring the system, to understand and manipulate it in ways we they weren't meant to. A really well done and interesting documentary on the origin of hacking and the early pioneers is "The Secret History of Hacking" and I feel it explains what I consider to be a true hacker. So, is the true hacker a lost mentality?

the term 'hacker' can be seen as very vague even if it isn't, you probably already know about the white, gray & black hat, which are just a simple way of ranking a hacker from good to bad. atleast, that can make some people understand that there is not only bad hackers, but they might just think that people are hackers due to output they got, but no, the process does, because for example, compromising 10k accounts from a website is hacking, the process behind it makes the person a hacker because they know how they did it. I define myself as a cracker & modder because thats what i basically do, i crack apps and sometimes mod them, then releasing them on sinister.ly.

However, there is some people that i would just call "fakers", i use that term to define people who called themselves hacker when they got the free wifi in the train, or use honey when buying things of amazon. No, you're not a hacker

I did however hacked my school, got everyone's details from SIMS.net, i've discovered exploits upon exploits, allowing me at the end to dump everyone's details onto a USB, i might talk about it in a full thread if needed, but im just saying what i did to my school to i guess relate, it took me 2 years to discover all the exploits etc.. but the process of finding new exploits was the best part. At the end of last year, i have been able to have a modded RM Tutor 6 Client on a school computer, allowed me to have higher privileges compared to other students (like screen vieweing), then they've changed to ParagoClient, which was harder to bypass, but got a patch after a few days of them changing the client