What Is Hacking?
Hacking is a term that has gained widespread usage for its negative connotation, often used to describe criminals who exploit security flaws in digital systems. However, this pejorative meaning is not the only use for the term, and many people who have an advanced understanding of computer technology use the term in its positive sense to refer to themselves. Some of these individuals work in cybersecurity, helping to prevent cyber attacks and keep sensitive information secure. This group of hackers is often referred to as white hats, and they are paid for their services by the system owners.
The term ‘hacker’ was first used to refer to people who, in an era of highly constrained computer capabilities, improved computer performance by eliminating, or ‘hacking,’ excess machine code instructions from programs. These early hackers were able to take advantage of hardware limitations and explore the limits of what computers could do, often with amusing results. One famous example involves Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak prank calling the Pope at the Vatican by whistling a special tone into a telephone that allowed for free long distance calls.
More recently, hacking has been used to describe a range of activities that involve leveraging technical or social weaknesses in digital systems to achieve personal gain. These activities may include financial gain, like stealing credit card details or identity fraud; corporate espionage; or raising public awareness through the release of secret information, such as by groups like Anonymous and LulzSec.