A person skilled with the use of computers that uses his talents to gain knowledge. Tere are three classifications of hackers:

White-hat (hacking for the enjoyment of exploration)

Black-hat (hacking to find exploits and system weaknesses, see cracker)

and Grey-hat (someone who is a little of both)

A person (usually possessing thorough knowledge in no single field), who is talented at devising superficial "fixes," which are nothing more than auxiliary work-arounds for problems which eventually have to be solved "correctly" by a "trained professional."

Hackers are self-motivated, and learn through experimentation and persistence, as opposed to through "traditional" means.

Computer hackers do not completely fit this definition. Due to the high artificiality of computer technology itself, computer hackers must be highly knowledgable before they can implement their first successful "hack." For them, "hacks" are the product of brilliant insight and thorough investigation, rather than the talent and natural law that go with hacking in more humanity-driven fields, such as entertainment or sports.

Chess masters have a similar level of mental discpline, although many hackers tend to lack the attention span necessary to be good at chess :')

Many people would tend to disagree, but then again many people are not skillful enough to be called a "hacker."

An individual capable of solving complex non-intuitive problems in a seemingly intuitive manner. The processes and techniques used are not necessarily methodical to the observer, but yet achieve results significantly and consistently faster than known experience would predict. A hacker is not defined in terms of intention or purpose, but rather by the talented single-mindedness of method. A hacker is not a hack.

Hackers are not limited to computer hacking.

Commentary: The movies "Tron" (1982) and "War Games" (1983) significantly influenced the common use of "hacker" (by non-hackers) in reference to computer hackers. The widespread use of the Internet beginning around 1993 made millions of unwitting parents concerned that their adolescent child was turning into a hacker. Some of the twit kids even believed it themselves. Please see reference to "lacker" for a more appropriate name for these individuals.

Back in the 70's, hacker was a term given to those fortunate enough to know how to code. During the 80's and 90's it was a term meant for those who worked their way through systems, without approval. Now, its meaning has been completely replaced by cracker, and hacker means nothing more than any idiot that can decipher a small page of HTML. Those who are computer illiterate still widely use the word in its 80s/90s sense. Not to be confused with hax0r, meaning a person who dreams to one day know how to hack, or another name for l337sp33k.
Of the 80s/90s version, there were three primary denominations:
The casual Hacker-hacks to learn information for his own curiosity.
The White Hat Hacker-hunts down and destroys malicious code.
The Black Hat Hacker-designs and releases malicious code;gathers dangerous information;brings down sensative systems.

A term broadly used to describe hardware and software research and development, and modification. "To hack" essentially means "to plow," and refers to assembling and modifying computer systems and programs. Programmers with high technical capabilities are given the honorary title of hacker.
The word can also refer to invading another person's computer, but the correct term is "cracking." Programmers who are adept at cracking refer to themselves as hackers. As a result, hacking is often taken to mean a criminal act.

There are three forms of hacker. There is White Hat Hacker, a Black Hat Hacker and a grey hat hacker.

A white hat hacker will often be someone who is working for a company to find exploits and security issues with the companies system. Any security issues will be passed on by the hacker to the person responsible for managing the system. A white hat hacker can also be someone who is hacking just for fun and a challenge without causing any damage or doing any malicious acts. They may even contact the person they have hacked to tell them about these security issues they have found.

A black hat hacker is almost definatly a person who is hacking with further intent of criminal acts. They will deface websites, steal data and perform many other malicious activities involving the data and information they have received via hacking.

A grey hat hacker is generally someone who performs a bit of both. They ofter do not perform extremely bad acts and may just deface a website rather than steal data and information such as credit card details, etc.

The motive behind hacking can often be more mischievous than sinister. For example: Someone may hack just to prove that they can.

/hækə(ɹ)/ • orig. "hack" + "-er"

1 A person educated or especially self-taught in the use of computer hardware, software and networking, as well as other electronic and/or telecommunications devices, information technology and computer science.

2 a polymath specializing in technology, especially that dealing with computers and communications. A (computer) geek.

3 Someone with the skills to crack (i.e., gain electronic access to) another computer or node on a computer network, but chooses not to use them, unless in the capacity of a penetration testing technician for the purpose of informing the system's owner/administrator of a security hole.

4 Synonym for white hat or grey hat. (a black hat would be a cracker).

5 Often used incorrectly to mean a cracker (i.e., a hacker who uses his skills for mailicious and/or usu. illegal purposes or monetary gain. An Internet cowboy.

6 Someone who hacks. A hacktivist.

Someone who makes furniture with an axe

One who enjoys or is profecient at using a computer. A hacker may occasionaly curcumvent security measures out of curiosity, but becomes a cracker when he starts destroying data or causing trouble.