Good discussion and interesting to read everyone's thoughts.

I agree that the sys admin has the tougher job if for no other reason than the hacker, in theory, has one target to shoot at. The sys admin HOLDS the target with many guns pointing at him/her.

Hackers, crackers, virus writers, etc... comprise the "guns" on a daily basis.

As others have said, sys admins also have the ever-changing variables of users, the ever changing technology and all newly discovered vunerabilities to try and keep up with. Can anyone tell I oversee a MS network?

I guess I see hacking as focusing on one task and having to try, I'm sure, many, many times to achieve the desired result. I'm sure it is not, in any manner, "easy".

But I don't think it holds as many challenges as a sys admin.

Delyn