Will The Real 'Hackers' Stand Up?

The Term Didn't Always Refer To Cyber-Vandals -- And Still Shouldn't

John Dujay writes about the Internet as a tool for average people.
Ten years ago, if a newspaper ran a headline like "Hackers Attack Yahoo!," you would be left scratching your head:

Hackers? Isn't that what kids call other kids who slash their shins with hockey sticks?

Is that someone who uses a machete to get through the woods? Or someone with a rough, dry cough?

And just what the heck is Yahoo! anyway?

Hacked: Illustration by Karl Laun for IBSAlas, today we all know what a hacker is. Those of us who have come to depend on the Internet for various activities in life may actually shiver at the term.

But the original "hackers" were not the same sort of troublemakers as today's cyber-saboteurs. The first hackers came about in the 1960s at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Just Havin' Fun

Engineering students wanted to experience the then-unprecedented computing power of mainframe computers, but access to these room-sized machines was strictly limited. Each user was given only a relatively short time on the machines, and this often happened during odd hours.

So the engineers had to develop quick, clever shortcuts to accomplish complex programming tasks. These shortcuts were called "hacks," and the name stuck.

In the 1970s, some of these students formed what they called the "Tech Model Railroad Club of MIT" to share their programming skills. (As for the name, apparently they were into designing switching systems for model railroads.) They believed in sharing source code (the internal commands that make a computer do its thing) for the betterment of society. Computer programs were created, then the code was made available to all so other programmers could try to tweak or hack it, to make the program work better.

Some Hackers Stopped Sharing

Life was good for these benevolent hackers as they puttered away on their Altair computers. Then, in the late 1970s, a few hackers came up with some very good hardware and software systems that had commercial potential.

On the West Coast, two hardware guys created a brilliant personal computer in their garage out of spare parts. Eventually, they decided that the computer could be sold. However, they decided to close the operating system to other hackers and keep the profits for themselves. Who were they? Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

Today that company is Apple Computers.

Meanwhile, on the East Coast, two software programmers came up with an operating system that they licensed to IBM, the computer giant. They kept the original rights to the operating system, closed it to the world and began a company. Who were they? Paul Allen and Bill Gates.

I don't think I have to mention the name of the company they started.

Both of these companies are very successful today, in part because they have kept the source code closed, stymying would-be rivals.

But the operating systems are still buggy -- in part because they have kept the source code closed. Because they are closed systems, the only programmers who are able to fix glitches are employees of the company, which is, of course, a limited number.

On A Different Track

Meanwhile, the true hackers around the world continued refining another, entirely different operating system that adhered to the open-code ideals of the early days. Today that system is UNIX, and it forms the basis of the world's largest computer network, the Internet. Most Web servers (computers that carry Web sites) are UNIX-based.

UNIX demon from www.geek-girl.comUnlike Apple and Microsoft operating systems, UNIX has always been open source, and many hackers and programmers have been able to suggest fixes. It is much more stable and less buggy than the closed systems.

The Internet's precursor in the 1980s was ARPANET, shorthand for the U.S. Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency. In those days, many systems were cracked into, and it was fun for the hacker community to share exploits. Nothing was stolen, because there were no businesses conducting e-commerce. It was simply the world's largest playground, if you were a hacker (a term that then was still associated with computer crimes no more serious than virtual trespassing).

However, in the 1990s, the term began to take on a sinister connotation as the public became aware that some techno-buffs were sneaking into computer systems to steal or damage data, information that was starting to have real value. The MIT crew lost its rights to the term and a subculture of young cyberpunks germinated.

"Good" hackers insisted that, when referring to nefarious computer sneakery, the term "crackers" should be used to label the bad guys. the Jargon File, an online hacker encyclopedia, gives this definition of cracker: "One who breaks security on a system. Coined (in) 1985 by hackers in defense against journalistic misuse of hacker." (Like the hacker ethic, the Jargon File site is a volunteer-supported reference guide that is open to any hacker to add their two cents to it.)

Hack, Crack -- What's The Diff?

But some would argue that even "cracking" is not always malevolent or frivolous. For some elements in the wired generation, Web site vandalism is a way to protest organizations that they believe are evil.

Sites operated by the Ku Klux Klan and the rebellion-quashing Colombian government have been hacked as a show of force against those whom hackers view as bad guys.

This is part of the message that appeared on the KKK site, after it was hacked:

"Your Webpage And All Accounts Associated With It Have Been Compromised, And Deleted, For Crimes Against The Human Race, by S C R E A M of the OLM (OnLine Mafia) and H.A.R.P (Hackers Against Racist Parties) Read it and weep you racist f--- ... for this will not be the last time that you hear the names of S C R E A M, the OLM and H.A.R.P."
You can see more hacked sites by visiting the hacker 'zine 2600 Magazine.

On one hand, it's not hard to smile if you hear that the KKK Web site has been hacked.

pro-Kevin Mitnick bumper stickerOn the other hand, how do you feel when you learn that hackers defaced the sites of the U.S. Library of Congress and the charity UNICEF in an attempt to pressure the U.S. government to release hacker hero Kevin Mitnick?

This is nothing more than vandalism.

Some Can't Even Hack On Their Own

Most of today's hackers are not even really good programmers; they are called "script kiddies." These are non-technical types who use programs created by skilled hackers to get into sites or cause the infamous denial of service that recently kayoed Amazon.com and the like.

Good hackers have always seen themselves as superheroes fighting for better computer programs.

In a sense, the Internet is the ultimate computer in which hackers play. It is their virtual sandbox.

Most hackers are not evil vandals, though, much to the chagrin of headline writers and Hollywood scriptwriters. Most hackers are decent people who enjoy working with computers and see them as a force for improving society. It is the minority of them who can wield immense power on the Internet who get all the headlines.

Be nice: Take a hacker to lunch.

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