Hi Kaycee, Welcome to Susan's
You have to understand the bitterness here towards these things. This is a website where people who have a similiar past and a similiar problem can get together for support and to learn about themselves.
This site, because of the issues it deals with, was brought down by a mallicious person who was familiar with the software that these boards used. Most of society would call that person a hacker (Kevin Mitnick also broke into systems illegally. Although he stole information and published it from over 60 different systems and was charged with computer fraud in 2 different states (North Carolina and California) he was called a 'hacker'). If you want to call it a cracker that's fine. The truth is it doesn't matter. It's a word. There isn't much sense in argueing over the word and whether it is correct or accurate. What people have a problem with is the behavior.
Gaining access to a system through the use of a software development flaw with the sole purpose of destroying and / or damaging that system, is illegal. That behavior is what everyone here is denouncing.
In some circles that is called hacking, although not all 'hacking' is bad as your definition shows. The original computer definition referred to experts with the UNIX operating system and their code level manipulation of the Kernel using C to accomplish some pretty neat feats. However, hacking can also refer to the illegal access of a computer system to purposefully destroy or illegally access data.
Cracker came about from "Password Crackers" who would get the /etc/passwd file and run it through a dictionary program. It would encrypt the first word of the dictionary and try and match all of the passwords in the file, and so on and so on. Because, as I am sure you are aware, crypt() encryption can't be unencrypted in any reasonable amount of time. So the words would have to be encrypted and then matched. The term "Cracker" was originated there.
The problem here is that he didn't try and discover sensative information by 'poking around' The person who did this, to my understanding, did the following things.
1. Researched The Software that these boards Operate on.
2. Actively searched for, and found, software flaws and exploits for this particular software package.
3. Used those exploits to gain administrative access to these boards.
4. Used that administrative access to destroy this particular site.
QuoteWhile I do not condone THIS hacker's behavior by any means, I feel that they should not be harassed as a whole.
I agree whole-heartedly with this statement. I think the heart of many problems is that people, all people, have a tendency to group people together under a 'word' and then try and figure out what exactly that 'word' means. It doesn't matter, it never did and it never will. The problem is not hackers, it is anyone who sets out and attempts to destroy things they don't understand or that they feel are different.
Regardless, it really doesn't matter. It is the BEHAVIOR we are denouncing, not the word
If you wish it called cracking, that's fine, if you want it called hacking, that's fine too. It doesn't matter, what matters is the behavior that clearly shows hate, ignorance, and fear.
With respect,
Jessica
