Security News > 2021 > March > While Reg readers know the difference between a true hacker and cyber-crook, for everyone else, hacking means illegal activity

For the wider population, hacking has become synonymous with nefarious activities because - for the vast majority of people who experience it - it's in a criminal context.

Regular Register readers can differentiate between criminal hackers who break the law and ruin people's lives, and hardware and software hackers who ingeniously lash together systems and perform miracles to get things running.

Expecting the mainstream media to differentiate between a cracker, hacker, skimmer or script kiddie is asking a lot of education in the small sound bites their viewers depend on.

It's possible for hack, hacker, and hacking to sustain multiple meanings.

People have embraced the term regardless of its connotations: plenty of conferences still describe themselves as hacker events, referring to cyber-security or hardware fiddling, and that's the goal ahead - reclaiming the term.

We'll do what we can to clarify in our coverage that a hacker breaking the law is a criminal, and a hacker with a brilliant algorithm is law-abiding and admirable, but trying to override today's language in the short term is impossible: it's something for the long haul.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2021/03/05/debate_hackers_against/