The Seven Types of Hackers

Bruce Schneier's blog links to a nifty article listing the seven types of malicious hackers. The list is: Cyber criminals; Spammers and adware spreaders; Advanced persistent threat (APT) agents; Corporate spies; Hactivists; Cyber warriors; and Rogue hackers.

Missed some

[Capt.DrumkenBum]

Script kiddies. (They believe they are hackers)\
The real pros. (The ones you never hear about)
Probably some others.

Wait A Second

[mattwrock]

I always considered myself a hacker in its original sense. Someone who modded an existing piece of hardware or software to suit their needs, or to work around an existing issue. My latest and most simplest "hack" is getting Froyo on my phone, since my carrier wouldn't send the update. Where am I on the list? Certainly not Hackivist. I guess I am now a "modder" or "homebrewer". I am afraid that the previous terms will be added to the hacker list, with the word criminal added in front.

I've always broken it down by "hats"

[Anonymous Coward]

from good to bad...

white hat, gray hat, black hat, and asshat

I don't remember where I originally heard this, known it for years, so sorry to the source.

Re:Wait A Second

[jgrahn]

I always considered myself a hacker in its original sense. Someone who modded an existing piece of hardware or software to suit their needs, or to work around an existing issue. My latest and most simplest "hack" is getting Froyo on my phone, since my carrier wouldn't send the update. Where am I on the list? Certainly not Hackivist. I guess I am now a "modder" or "homebrewer". I am afraid that the previous terms will be added to the hacker list, with the word criminal added in front.

You're a hacker in my book. Those others are not. And I'm surprised that Slashdot has started using the word *exclusively* to mean criminals.

Re:Wait A Second

[_anomaly_]

Why exactly do those listed not fall under the category of malicious hackers?
"Hacker" is only used as a negative word in this context because of the adjective "malicious".

Re:Wait A Second

[Mister Whirly]

You can't fight city hall indefinitely without just throwing in the towel at some point. I get sick of having a 5 minute conversation every time the subject comes up (sometimes the same conversation multiple times with the same person), so i just let it go now. Language evolves and once a phrase is out there publicly, used correctly or not, you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. Coincidentally, the folks misusing "hacker" also seem to be the ones that call their desktop towers "CPU" or "hard drive" when referring to their entire tower, or refer to any brand of MP3 player as an "iPod".