Hackers do not create viruses or worms. They might, on the other
hand, create a new operating system (Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson??”Unix), found the Free Software
Foundation (Richard Stallman), or design a new computer (Steve Wozniak??”Apple I).
In the past, the word hacker also meant a technically sophisticated person who used their skills in sometimes
illegal ways. Robert Morris unleashed a computer worm in 1988 from Cornell University. Kevin Poulsen got
control of the telephone lines going to a Los Angeles radio station in 1990 in order to insure himself of a win
of a Porsche in a contest to be the 102nd caller. Vladimir Levin managed to trick Citibank computers out of
$10M in 1995 (Hackers Hall of Fame, http://tlc.discovery.com/convergence/hackers/bio/).
Even though today ???hacking??? may be seen as a positive and creative attitude combined with exceptional
skills, it may also be true that a certain technical arrogance among hackers may lead to inappropriate behavior.
There may be a tendency among hackers to feel that the rules governing ordinary users should not apply
to them, and that authority need not be respected in the technical domain of hackers. Hackers may also see
bypassing the rules, without being caught, as a kind of on-line game.
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