Quote:
Originally Posted by Coelacanth
Technically, you're right, though I would say "cracking" is more limited to decompiling an EXE to bypass copy protection, specifically...i.e. re-coding a game or software EXE to remove the CD check, for example. Hacking would be doing that with the goal of gaining access to a system or network, not just the software program itself.
Since EU isn't technically copy-protected (in that it's a free download), cracking really isn't part of this discussion. |
Check out the Jargon File :
I have checked keyloggers / trojans and have traced it back to the origin / control servers. I know how to decompile programs and understand what they do. I can code my own tools and programs, and understand what a system is supposed to and not supposed to do normally. I have worked to reduce the problems faced by the average person accessing the internet or using the computer.
I am a hacker in the oldest sense of the word.
http://catb.org/jargon/html/H/hacker.html
Crackers are those who use the skills for reasons other then for the sake of knowing. (not ethical).
http://catb.org/jargon/html/C/cracker.html
And there are script kiddies.
They have no clue as to how to code. They download all these ready made tools and use it claiming it as their own, or only able to modify it slightly to claim as their own. For example the Sub-7 class of malicious programs have so many variations due to lots of script kiddies making slight modifications to the base code to call it their own.
http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/S/script-kiddies.html
Most of the so called "hackers" you meet now are script kiddies. A few are crackers.
Very few are the real hackers as it was meant originally when the word was first used.