hackers term

Hacker
A hacker is anyone who enjoys the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or circumventing limitations, primarily in their fields of interest, namely programming or electrical engineering .
The term developed originally in the United States university computing community in the positive sense described above, but as used in the media, it has become synonymous with " software cracker ".
The term hacker is used in four senses in common use:
Someone who knows a (sometimes specified) set of programming interfaces well enough to write novel and useful software without conscious thought on a good day.
Someone who (usually illegally) attempts to break into or otherwise subvert the security of a program , system or network , often with malicious intent. This usage is annoying to many in the developer community who grew up with the primary meaning in sense (1), and would prefer to keep it that way; they would prefer the media used the term cracker . Sometimes this is also called a "black hat hacker", to distinguish it from sense 3 below.
Someone who attempts to break into systems or networks in order to help the owners of the system by making them aware of security flaws in it. This is often called a "white hat hacker" or sneaker . Many of these people are employed by computer security companies, and are doing something completely legal; and many were formerly hackers within sense 2.
Someone who, through either knowledge or trial and error, makes a modification to a piece of software such that it provides a change of functionality. Such change is normally a benefit.
" Script kiddie " is reserved for a cracker of little or no skill who simply follows directions or uses a cook-book approach without fully understanding the meaning of the steps they are performing.
Note*
that while the term hacker denotes competence, the noun hack often means kludge and thus has a negative connotation while the verb hack generally shares the same competent connotations.
Hacker -- Guru
One who knows a (sometimes specified) set of programming interfaces well enough to write novel and useful software without conscious thought on a good day. This type of hacker is respected within the development community for the freedom they represent, although the term still carries some of the meaning of Hack, developing programs without adequate planning. This zug-zwang sets freedom and the ability to be creative against methodical careful progress. Corporate programming environments typically favor only either the good hackers, or the careful computer scientist.
Hacker -- Black Hat, or Cracker
The popular press tends to use the terms "hacker" and " cracker " interchangeably for someone who attempts to break into or otherwise subvert the security of a system or network. This usage is annoying to many in the developer community who grew up with the primary meaning in the Guru sense, and would prefer to keep it that way.
However, within the programming community, "hacker" is generally a term of respect or acknowledgement of skill while "cracker" is used for someone who is skillfully malicious or committing criminal (not simply illegal) acts. Some former hackers and crackers are now employed by companies online to test their security and report on weaknesses.
Software cracking is the process of removing any sort of software enforced protection scheme from a piece of software.
There are several recurring tools of the trade used by hackers to gain unauthorized access to computers:

Trojan horse -- These are applications that seem to do useful work, but set up a back door so that the Hacker can later return and enter the system. These include programs which mimic login screens.

Snooper -- Applications that capture password and other data while it is in transit either within the computer, or over the network

virus -- An application that propagates itself opportunistically by waiting in the background until the user offers it an new medium to infect. Viruses are often confused with worms.

Worm -- An application that actively probes for known weaknesses across the network, then propagates itself through exploits of that weakness. (The original Usenet post describing the MorrisWorm described the distinction between viruses and worms thus: worms do not attach themselves to code. Present usage appears to favour worms being more active than viruses.)

Vulnerability Scanner -- A tool used to quickly check computers on a network for known weaknesses. Hackers also use Port Scanners . These check to see which ports on a specified computer are "open" or available to acess the computer through.

Exploit (computer science) -- A prepared application that takes advantage of a known weakness

Social engineering -- Asking someone for the password or account (possibly over a beer.) Also includes looking over someone's shoulder while they enter their password, or posing as someone else in order to get sensitive information.

Root kit -- A toolkit for hiding the fact that a computer's security has been compromised. Root kits may include replacements for system binaries so that it becomes impossible to see applications being run by the intruder in the active process tables.

Leet -- An English pidgin that helps to obscure hacker discussions and web sites, and paradoxically it simplifies the location of resources in public search engines for those who know the language.

Hacker -- Grey Hat

1) A black-hat hacker turned white-hat

2) A white-hat hacker who uses black-hat techniques to satisfy their employers, for whom they act as white-hat.

Hacker -- White Hat

White hat hackers often overlap with black hat depending on your perspective. The primary difference is that a white hat hacker observes the hacker ethic , a sort of golden rule of computing similar to: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Like black hats, white hats are often intimately familiar with the internal details of security systems, and can delve into obscure machine code when needed to find a solution to a tricky problem without requiring support from a system manufacturer.

How Hackers Define Themselves
hacker n.

[originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe]
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.
One who programs enthusiastically (even obsessively) or who enjoys programming rather than just theorizing about programming.
A person capable of appreciating hack value .
A person who is good at programming quickly.
An expert at a particular program, or one who frequently does work using it or on it; as in `a Unix hacker'. (Definitions 1 through 5 are correlated, and people who fit them congregate.)
An expert or enthusiast of any kind. One might be an astronomy hacker, for example.
One who enjoys the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or circumventing limitations.
[deprecated] A malicious meddler who tries to discover sensitive information by poking around. Hence `password hacker', `network hacker'. The correct term for this sense is cracker .

source of this post:http://www.tutorgig.com/encyclopedia...ftware_Hacking

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