*Hacker? Cracker? Learn the difference.*
Written by Reene (izunami)

First, let's get one thing perfectly clear.

A hacker would never want your account.

As a matter of fact, hackers do not want anyone's account.

Hackers do not break into bank accounts, seek to topple the government or write the viruses that make your life miserable. They don't speak in l33t, break into computers or vandalize websites.

Believe it or not, they aren't interested in the slightest in doing any of these things, and get kind of insulted when people keep saying that they do.

For quite some time now there has been a great deal of confusion among Neopians (and indeed some of the Neopets Staff themselves) about what, exactly, a hacker is. I will admit that even to myself it can be a confusing topic, but my goal with this article is to clarify the difference between the words 'hacker' and 'cracker' while briefly touching on 'scammers' and 'script kiddies' since they relate to the topic at hand. For starters, let's look at a few definitions from The Jargon File (version 4.4.7):

*hacker* n.
/Originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe./
1. A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary.
2. One who programs enthusiastically (even obsessively) or who enjoys programming rather than just theorizing about programming.
3. One who enjoys the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or circumventing limitations.

*hack* n.
1. An incredibly good, and perhaps very time-consuming, piece of work that produces exactly what is needed.
2. To work on something (typically a program). In an immediate sense: ?What are you doing?? ?I'm hacking X.? In a general (time-extended) sense: ?What do you do around here?? ?I hack X.?

*cracker* n.
/Coined ca. 1985 by hackers in defense against journalistic misuse of
hacker/.
1. One who breaks security on a system.

*cracking* n.
1. The act of breaking into a computer system; what a cracker does.
2. The persistent and dogged repetition of a handful of fairly well-known tricks that exploit common weaknesses in the security of target systems.

As you can see, according to the Jargon File, the two are quite different. But just what is this Jargon File thing you may ask? That would be an excellent question, as it is always prudent to check your sources. So I'll tell you.

The Jargon File (known in its official print version as /The New Hacker's Dictionary/) is "a comprehensive compendium of hacker slang illuminating many aspects of hackish tradition, folklore, and humor." Put simply, it is a collection of slang terms commonly used by hackers (past or present) and put together by hackers as a source of reference both to themselves and those outside the culture wishing to understand it a little better. Many of the terms found in the Jargon File have been around since the early 60s! That should give you some indication of just how long the hacker culture has been around for. Consider also (as is mentioned above) that hackers have been attempting to stop the sullying of their good names for nearly /two decades now/!

So how does all of this relate to you or your fellow Neopians? Simple. Day after day, I browse the HC only to see numerous posters crying out over having been 'hacked'. Day after day, I post (what I believe to be) polite and civil corrections to these claims, more often than not getting in some kind of dispute with either the original poster or another poster over what hacking is. To be blunt, I'm tired of it. All I am doing is repeating what I've already said countless times before. That is what this is for- to save myself and others the time of typing the same thing over and over again and make it so I need not linger on the same board refreshing for 10 minutes to make sure I don't need to elaborate on my post or defend it against someone who, quite frankly, is simply mistaken.

To those who believe they or a close friend has been 'hacked': You weren't. I know accepting the loss of your items, pets, and/or NP is difficult. I know that it much easier to displace the blame onto some nameless evil 'hacker' (even though that's not what they are and not what they do) and I know it's hard to accept that you could have made a mistake that lead to your loss. However, 9 times out of 10 I am willing to bet that when someone loses their account it is directly due to some fault of their own: they shared their account with someone, they fell for the ploy of some scammer and revealed their password, their password was far too easy to guess, they neglected to log themselves out of a public computer (you'd be surprised how many people play Neopets!), they visited a website that used a cookie grabber to gain access...The list goes on! But the fact is, none of this is hacking. In fact, most of this isn't even really cracking, as many of these are not feats of any sort of technical prowess, but are accomplished by merely playing off of the average person's inherent desires and personality traits; easy NP, free items, gullibility, laziness and (the big one) /ignorance/.

Knowledge is power. Knowing how to protect yourself and being smart enough not to fall for the tricks of people out to get your NP or your account is the only thing that will keep you safe. Displacing the blame onto someone else without admitting /you/ made a mistake only makes it easier for the next scammer that comes along. Furthermore, using the wrong words for things (such as using 'hacker' when you really should be using 'cracker' or 'scammer') only offends a group of people that have done nothing wrong. Indeed, hackers are a group you should be thanking; if it wasn't for the hackers that make a living by making systems and websites like Neopets /more/ secure, you'd have a lot more problems from malicious crackers than you do now. As a matter of fact, as far as vulnerabilities that crackers may exploit go, it seems Neopets has an excellent track record, which seems to indicate that they do in fact have a hacker or two working for them. This is mildly disappointing as well when you consider that The Neopets Team themselves misuses the word hacker!

I wish to touch lightly on the subject of script kiddies. Unlike crackers, who at least have some rudimentary knowledge of computers and usually understand the exploits they're using, script kiddies basically don't have a clue. Script kiddies are also one of the reasons you need to type in a security code when you log onto your account. Some time ago, Neopets had a problem with script kiddies running brute force programs in order to gain access to accounts. A brute force program is a program that takes a pre-made list of common passwords and tries each of them in turn on whatever account(s) on whatever website(s) the kiddie indicates. Like most 'exploit programs' (such as the infamous winnuke program from a few years back) they take little to no skill to use and no understanding whatsoever of the exploit it is using for it to be successful. The code you must now type in causes these brute force programs to get 'stuck' because they cannot see or replicate the characters (most exploit programs are rather stupid in this respect). It is important to distinguish a cracker from a script kiddie (though less important than distinguishing a hacker from a cracker) because while the former expresses some degree of intelligence and skill, the latter displays none and is worthy of the utmost contempt.

Well I hope I didn't deviate too much there. There is one last thing I want to say before I lose your attention.

While I do not speak as a hacker, I do speak as somebody who knows hackers, both objectively from afar and personally. I have had multiple friends that are hackers, and I can say from experience that a more fun-loving, genuinely good and fascinating group of people you will not find anywhere. My signifigant other (whom also plays Neopets and whose name I will not disclose here) is also a hacker and I am offended by the insinuation that he or any of my friends would do things as petty and pointless as crack into some random Neopet user's account for jollies.

So please, the next time you want to use the word 'hacker' or 'hacked', really think about what it means before you use it. Are you using it correctly? Is what you /really/ mean 'cracker' and 'cracked' or 'scammer' and 'scammed'? Use the correct words. By not doing so and by not thinking about the words you are using and the people to whom you are referring you are hurting a group of people that have done nothing wrong.



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