Hacker Business Models 96
wiredmikey writes "The industrialized hackers are intent on one goal — making money. They also know the basic rules of the business of increasing revenues while cutting costs. As hackers started making money, the field became full of 'professionals' that inspired organized cyber crime. Similar to industrial corporations, hackers have developed their own business models in order to operate as a profitable organization. What do these business models look like? Data has become the hacker's currency. More data, more money. So the attack logic is simple: the more attacks, the more likely victim — so you automate ..."
ITYM "cracker" (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm a hacker and I break out of loops, not into computers.
Cracker != Hacker (Score:1, Insightful)
Can Slashdot please be the lone voice of reason that doesn't feed into the newsmedia's misuse of the word "hacker"?
Basic rules of business don't necessarily apply (Score:4, Insightful)
True, but not all hackers/crackers/slackers do it to cut costs and increase revenue. Sometimes, it is just for notoriety.
Losing battle (Score:5, Insightful)
There's some perfectly cromulent words for the... (Score:3, Insightful)
...thieves and vandals that steal data, set up botnets or vandalize websites.
"Thieves and Vandals".
Thank you for your kind attention.
Re:Losing battle (Score:5, Insightful)
The mainstream media has screwed this one up for years, but it's embarrassing to see hacker and cracker ...
The *only* people that differentiate between the two are the Slashdot crowd. To *everyone* else, an hacker is a hacker is a hacker.
Re:Cracker != Hacker (Score:3, Insightful)
I officially give up on the cracker vs. hacker distinction. Hacker is a word with two meanings related respectively to exploration and compromise of computer systems. Crackers are things that go in your soup.
Re:Losing battle (Score:2, Insightful)
I don't know any geek who uses the word "cracker" to refer to bad hackers.
help needed! (Score:3, Insightful)
Seems that kdawson has "hacked" into CmdrTaco's /. account
Re:Losing battle (Score:3, Insightful)
Perhaps it is a losing battle. Then again, in the spirit of "you miss all the shots you *don't* make", please bear with us as we keep repeating this.