So .. Hacker. Hacking, Hacked …

all bad words, I know.

But are they really?

Yes, when you think of hacking, the first definition that comes to mind is:

The gaining of unauthorized access to data in a system or computer.

But in a wider definition:

A hacker may alter system or security features to accomplish a goal that differs from the original purpose of the system.

And if we even get really nice about it and remove some key words:

A hacker may alter a system to accomplish a goal that differs from the original purpose of the system.

Alright, so if we are to change the system from it’s original purpose, is that all bad?

No.

What if we are making it better? Can we, in fact by hacking something, actually make it better?

Sure we can.

That’s why all those IKEA hack videos are out there. Because a lot of people love improving things and altering them to do something they were not originally made to do.

Maybe you are doing some hacking while painting your fence. Let’s imagine that the original paint your fence came with was made to act as an insect repellent. And in the course of due time, you stopped caring about the insect repellent capabilities of the paint, and you started caring about it looking nice and fresh, so you decided to repaint it. But your paint is no longer insect repellent, so you are actually modifying the original purpose of the painted fence, therefore hacking it. Congratulations you are a hacker.

Also, there are a lot of legitimate purposes of hacking – such as finding vulnerabilities before the bad guys find them. This is called white hat hacking or “do good” hacking.

White hat hacking is necessary to keep vendors in check and get consumers safer while using the internet. As the word Hacker has such a bad rep, the good guys often call themselves Security Researchers, Penetration Testers, etc.

So when I say, take back the word Hacker … I mean, do not use it in a negative connotation.

If you wish to speak about someone who is a bad actor, it’s more appropriate to call them an Attacker. Or at least a malicious hacker, black-hat hacker, Cyber attacker, Cyber Criminal, etc.

By doing so, you will be giving the deserved tribute to all the good hackers out there working daily to keep us safer in the interconnected world, and I’d like to thank you for it.