Even though the words Hacker, Cracker or Phreaker might
look similar to most of us, it is important to understand the difference among
these inhabitants of Cyberspace. But, what’s the difference?
The word Hacker has been linked to outlaws, but let’s
gets deep into its meaning:
Definitions:
HACKER:
1. People who enjoy exploring the details of computer
systems. The person who takes advantage of everything that can be possible in
the computer world, as opposed to those who just want to learn the basics.
2. The person who uses all the passwords of different
computer programs belonging to others, in order to access them due to the fact
of inaccessibility and high prices.
CRACKER:
1. A person who acts as an intruder or as a spy, blowing
the security of a system in order to cause damage or to get profit out of
selling information to the best buyer.
2. Person who steal the codes and passwords that belong
to others in order to re-sell them and make money easily.
PHREAKER:
1. People who get inside the web using stolen phone lines,
or who get into the system of phone companies to modify customer’s accounts.
2. They are usually considered crackers, because their
goal is to cheat without being discovered in their illegal activities.
Hackers consider themselves as elite, since their merit
is based upon their skills, although new members are always welcome.
Crackers tend to gather in small groups, which are very
secret and private, who have little to do with open multi-culture. Even though
crackesr call themselves hackers, hackers consider them inferior.
Why such a bad reputation?
Generally speaking, the media has not been very helpful
to Hackers. It has been wrongly spread by the media that Hackers are mean
because of the problems and situations they get involved in. Hackers are
different from Crackers.
Crackers get into computer systems in an illegal way with
an illegal purpose. Crackers use their knowledge in a wrong way and they usually
get in trouble for it. There are several crackers
who have ended up in prison due to their acts, in spite
of the fact that the law is not very helpful (at least not until the decade of
the 90s) in regards to the facts that can be considered illegal in the computer
World. Look at
the fact that it is not the same to get into a person’s
computer system through the phone line as it is to break into an office crossing
the door. This has allowed the impunity of these people.
Among the different activities carried out by crackers we
find: Carding (illegal use of Credit Cards), Trashing (Getting information out
of trash containers, such as credit card numbers, passwords, receipts and
directories) and Phreaking or Phoning (illegal use of phone networks).
