> > > > I think the reason most hackers hack is because of boredom. Why does my dog rip dryer vents out of the wall and chew them up? Boredom. Or that he hates the vent. I've tried hacking, and I just can't get why these people *continue* to hack. Is it for the "rush"? Yeah, right. How much rush do you get from typing all day? Ooo! I'm somewhere I'm not supposed to be! Wow! Others say for the challenge. I guess getting the # is a challenge, but come on. What are you going to do once you're there? Steal tax records? *Excitement!* Maybe they like being feared by the majority of the populace. Oh, sure I would be scared if a hacker could get into my bank account, but is that really possible? How many corporate firewalls would a hacker have to get through, undetected, to get to my account information? Too many. I'm not really scared about hackers right now. Most of them are, like Sam said, immature. People I know who claim to be hackers seem very immature and they flaunt the fact that they can "Hack into my computer and destroy my files!". Losers.
> > > >
> > > > Shadow"This is CNN"Clerk
> > >
> > > Why don't we call those losers cybervandles?
> > > I think I just coined a new term!
> > > Howard
> >
> > I agree with Sam, in that it's really immature. (Personally, I favor "utterly pathetic".)
> >
> > Here these people are capable of closing down Yahoo, (not an easy feat, I think), if only briefly, and they have nothing better to do with their time?
> >
> > I'm sorry, but with those kind of skills used fruitlessly, can you say . . . . . LOSER?! (Apologies for my shouting.)
> >
> >
> > Just think of the money one might make with that knowledge at a company paid to prevent that sort of thing. *shrug*
> >
> > Mage"A waste, IMHO"Lord
>
> The hackers we're hearing about more and more in the news are immature, true. But I'd like to dispute the idea that these people are "supersmart geniuses" with skills far beyond the average user. In fact they are often stupid, amazingly clumsy in technique, and they get CAUGHT. Their immaturity is a reflection of their average age group getting younger and younger... I understand there have been groups of 10 and 12 year olds -- dumb enough to work from school computers -- who've brought down major gateways. And how do they do it? It's pretty brainless: they download ready-made backdoor software, scanners, and other icebreaking tools that require little skill to use, and they start hacking away clumsily...
>
> Once, there were near-legendary myths of some "hero hackers" who worked in the early days of the Internet. These folks, all Unix gurus, had a reputation for social activism such as (for example) breaking into the salary accounts of a major corporation... then emailing everyone to show wage disparity between male and female employees doing the same job... before covering up their tracks and disappearing without a trace. They *were* breaking the law to make their point, but they weren't stupid. Today's hackers, though, are the lamers who fancy themselves "The €l33t d00dz 2B FEARED," who can only show their "power" through wanton destruction and by inconveniencing thousands of users. It's particularly sad when the hackers are children. The thrill of breaking into a network across cyberspace seems pointedly detached from them... like a sort of digital abstraction... and their very immaturity does not allow them to see their acts as crimes.

In your description of the legendary hackers, you've left out one important detail - not only were they smart and good, they had a *purpose.* There was a reason that they were doing what they were doing, and they had something they hoped to accomplish. Today's lot of 733t ahck3r d00dz just don't.