The Jargon File,
an influential but not universally accepted compendium of hacker slang,
defines hacker as "A person who enjoys exploring the details of
programmable systems and stretching their capabilities, as opposed to
most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary."^[2] The Request for Comments
(RFC) 1392, the Internet Users' Glossary, amplifies this meaning as "A
person who delights in having an intimate understanding of the internal
workings of a system, computers and computer networks in particular."^[3] As documented in the Jargon File, these hackers are disappointed by the mass media and general public's usage of the word hacker to refer to security breakers, calling them “crackers” instead. This includes both “good” crackers (“white hat hackers”)
who use their computer security related skills and knowledge to learn
more about how systems and networks work and to help to discover and fix
security holes, as well as those more "evil" crackers (“black hat hackers”)
who use the same skills to author harmful software (like viruses,
trojans, etc.) and illegally infiltrate secure systems with the
intention of doing harm to the system.^[4]
The programmer subculture of hackers, in contrast to the cracker
community, generally sees computer security related activities as
contrary to the ideals of the original and true meaning of the hacker
term that instead related to playful cleverness.^[4]