An unauthorized user who attempts to or gains access to an information system.
An unauthorized user who attempts to or gains access to an information system.
Someone with a strong interest in computers, who enjoys learning about them, programming them, and experimenting and otherwise working with them. (See: hack. Compare: adversary, cracker, intruder.)
Usage: This first definition is the original meaning of the term (circa 1960); it then had a neutral or positive connotation of "someone who figures things out and makes something cool happen".
"An individual who spends an inordinate amount of time working on computer systems for other than professional purposes." [NCSSG]
Synonym for "cracker".
Deprecated Usage: Today, the term is frequently (mis)used (especially by journalists) with definition 3.