I am here because I know what a hacker is. Hackers are my best bet (and many other newbies) to get help learning new stuff related to computers, networks and programming. To typical users, "hacker" is practically a dirty word and even I only learned the terminology "hacker", "cracker", "script kiddie", "white hat", "black hat", etc. myself not long ago.

Crackers scare the bejeesuz out of most average users who don't understand what is and what is not possible to do with a computer and internet access.

Not long ago, I got thrown out of a chat room on MSN (and I don't go back there now) for referring someone to a website that would help them with security issues (the person I was helping claimed a hacker broke into their computer). The moderator warned me by saying discussion of hackers was taboo and then bounced me out. I couldn't believe it.

But to the hackers who specialize in security for the good of everyone else, just keep fighting the good fight. From what I read about cyberterrorism...security is critical to more than just computer users...you never know, one day someone might thank you for defending national security.