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Hacker

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(Redirected from Hacking (coding))

For other uses, see Hacker (disambiguation).

A group of people working on laptop computers at a common table
Participants in the Coding da Vinci hackathon, Berlin, Germany, April 26–27, 2014

A hacker is a person who attempts to gain unauthorized access, esp. remotely, to a computer system or network [1], or, much less commonly, a person with an enthusiastic interest in computer systems,[2]

In common usage, the term most often refers to someone who gains unauthorised access to computer systems, but it is also used for security researchers, skilled programmers, computer enthusiasts, and members of hacker culture.

Hackers are associated with several overlapping areas of computing. In computer security, hackers find, exploit or test weaknesses in systems and networks, with motivations that may include crime, espionage, protest, recreation or defensive security research. In programmer and enthusiast communities, the term has also been used positively for people who explore technical systems creatively and understand them deeply.

The word has also influenced related terms such as hackathon, civic hacking, hacktivism and life hacking. In these uses, “hacking” often refers more broadly to rapid, inventive or unconventional problem-solving ("Life hack") rather than unauthorised access. Because these meanings developed in different communities, the boundaries between them are contested and context-dependent.

Main article: Security hacker
These paragraphs are an excerpt from Security hacker.[edit]

A security hacker or security researcher is someone who explores methods for breaching or bypassing defenses and exploiting weaknesses in a computer system or network.[3] Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, such as profit, protest, sabotage, information gathering,[4] challenge, recreation,[5] or evaluation of a system weaknesses to assist in formulating defenses against potential hackers.

Hackathon

Main article: Hackathon

A hackathon is an event in which participants collaborate intensively on software, hardware, data, or design projects over a short period.

In addition to creating functional software or hardware, hackathons can help participants develop skills like problem-solving, creativity, team work, communication, and time management. Hackathons can also lead to formation of new companies, finding innovative solutions to real-world problems, or as part of building a community around particular technology or cause.

Anarchist hacktivist protest in the US

Civic Hacking

Main article: Civic hacking

Civic hackers use their security and programming acumens to create solutions, often public and open-sourced, addressing challenges relevant to neighborhoods, cities, states or countries and the infrastructure within them.[6] Municipalities and major government agencies such as NASA have been known to host hackathons or promote a specific date as a "National Day of Civic Hacking" to encourage participation from civic hackers.[7] Civic hackers, though often operating autonomously and independently, may work alongside or in coordination with certain aspects of government or local infrastructure such as trains and buses.[8]

Hacker Culture

Main article: Hacker culture
A DIY musician probes the circuit board of a synthesizer for "bends" using a jeweler's screwdriver and alligator clips.

Hacker culture is an idea derived from a community of enthusiast computer programmers and systems designers in the 1960s around the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT's) Tech Model Railroad Club (TMRC)[9] and the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.[10] The concept expanded to the hobbyist home computing community, focusing on hardware in the late 1970s (e.g. the Homebrew Computer Club)[11] and on software (video games,[12] software cracking, the demoscene) in the 1980s/1990s. It is in this sense of the word we get concepts like Lexer hack, Kitchen hack, and Growth hacking.

Naming

Hackers working on a Linux laptop with computer disks and repair kits in 2022

Fred Shapiro has written that the theory "that 'hacker' originally was a benign term and the malicious connotations of the word were a later perversion is untrue." He found that the malicious connotations were already present at MIT in 1963 (quoting The Tech, an MIT student newspaper), and at that time referred to unauthorized users of the telephone network,[13][14]

However, in 1984 a hacker was defined as an advanced computer technology enthusiast (both hardware and software) and adherent of programming subculture.[15]

Sometimes, "hacker" is simply used synonymously with "geek": "A true hacker is not a group person. He's a person who loves to stay up all night, he and the machine in a love-hate relationship... They're kids who tended to be brilliant but not very interested in conventional goals It's a term of derision and also the ultimate compliment."[16]

See also

  • Hacktivism, conducting cyber attacks on a business or organisation in order to bring social change.

References

  1. ^ "hacker, n., sense 3.a". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. March 2026. doi:10.1093/OED/9013366126. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. ^ "hacker, n., sense 3.b". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OED/1167335712. Retrieved June 3, 2026.
  3. ^ Gao, Xing (2015). "Information security investment for competitive firms with hacker behavior and security requirements". Annals of Operations Research. 235: 277–300. doi:10.1007/s10479-015-1925-2. S2CID 207085416.
  4. ^ Winkler, Ira. Spies Among Us: How to Stop the Spies, Terrorists, Hackers, and Criminals You Don't Even Know You Encounter Every Day. John Wiley & Sons. 2005. pg. 92. ISBN 9780764589904.
  5. ^ Sterling, Bruce (1993). "Part 2(d)". The Hacker Crackdown. McLean, Virginia: IndyPublish.com. p. 61. ISBN 1-4043-0641-2.
  6. ^ *"What is a Civic Hacker?". Digital.gov. May 15, 2013. Archived from the original on November 3, 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
  7. ^ *Abegail (June 4, 2016). "Join Us for National Day of Civic Hacking". California Health and Human Services. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
  8. ^ *Gallagher, Sean (February 25, 2015). "Bus pass: Civic hackers open transit data MTA said would cost too much to share". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on November 3, 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
  9. ^ London, Jay (April 6, 2015). "Happy 60th Birthday to the Word "Hack"". Archived from the original on May 7, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
  10. ^ Raymond, Eric (August 25, 2000). "The Early Hackers". A Brief History of Hackerdom. Thyrsus Enterprises. Archived from the original on October 10, 2008. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
  11. ^ Levy, part 2
  12. ^ Levy, part 3
  13. ^ "The Origin of "Hacker"". April 1, 2008. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  14. ^ Fred Shapiro: Antedating of "Hacker" Archived 2007-10-25 at the Wayback Machine. American Dialect Society Mailing List (13. June 2003)
  15. ^ Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution. 1984.
  16. ^ Alan Kay quoted in Stewart Brand, "S P A C E W A R: Fanatic Life and Symbolic Death Among the Computer Bums:" In Rolling Stone (1972)
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