The first thing we have to establish about the term hacker is its etymological origin. In this case, we can indicate that it is an Anglicism that is used within the field of computing and that it is the result of the sum of two lexical components of English:
-The verb “hack”, which can be translated as “damage” or “break”.
-The suffix “-er”, which is used to indicate the “agent”.
The term hacker refers to a computer expert. The concept has two broad meanings since it can refer to a hacker (a person who illegally accesses a system to take control of it or obtain private data) or to an expert who is responsible for protecting and improving computer security.
Both meanings are accepted by the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) in its dictionary. In any case, the word cracker is often used to specifically name the computer criminal and the use of hacker is reserved for the specialist who analyzes the security of a system to improve it.
Illegal activity aside, therefore, a hacker is a programmer who, thanks to his technical knowledge, can study the security of software . It is common for the hacker to look for bugs or vulnerabilities in the system to report these flaws to the developer or even to users in general.
Hackers, in this sense, are dedicated to solving problems that affect a system . Many times its function is to find an alternative or a way that the developers were unable to discover.
There is a hacker ethic and a hacker attitude that are often cause for reflection. These principles are formed from postulates that indicate how hackers should act morally to avoid causing evil.
When the idea of a hacker is intended for a hacker, there is no longer an ethic that regulates actions. In these cases, the hacker uses his knowledge for personal gain , violating the rights of other people.
It must be established that within the world of hackers there are different names to refer to them based, among others, on the degree of knowledge and skills they possess. Thus, for example, they mention the following typologies:
-The lammer. This other hacker is also known as script-kiddies, who has the distinction of being a novice who boasts of knowledge and skills that he does not yet possess. Hence what it does is “use” or “steal” the ideas and work of others.
-The wannabe, which is a novice who has everything necessary to become a great hacker because, in addition to having knowledge, he learns from the experts and works hard to reach their level.
-The buccaneer. Under such a unique name, other hackers are presented who, more than technological knowledge, stand out for their commercial capacity.
-The copyhacker is a figure that has been growing in recent years and has a very specific mission regarding hardware cracking. Exactly what it does is be close to hackers specialized in cracking and then copy their methods and work. With what objective? Basically to sell it to the so-called buccaneers, already mentioned.