Hacking Arena

Outlaws of Technology! Hacker or Cracker


In order to study the comparison the between the hackers and crackers, it is important to understand the respective definitions. While apparently the words hacking and cracking seems synonymous, yet there exist certain points of distinctions between the two and the meaning of the words will always be heated topics of debate. Since the very dawn of the civilization, man's hunger to attain the unattainable have went on opening new horizons in almost every aspects of life, and the technology is of no exception to this nature of human.

Aims of Hackers and Crackers

The computer hackers actually trespass or circumvent artistically, yet scientifically into the other computer system with a hunger to know the programmable systems, how they perform and their internal structures, while cracking is slight different in sense. Cracking means to break off the computer's security system. This is a subject matter of hard-core science with an aesthetic undertone of artistic skill that has attracted a few millions of teenagers and young adults all over the world.

Who Is A Hacker And What Is His Aim?

Delving deep into the concepts, we can compare the hackers and crackers. A hacker is a person who commits the fraudulent act or the penal offense of exploring into the other computers in order to know the details of the programmable system and how they work. On the other level, a cracker is a person just more secretive as compared to the hacker. The cracker breaks through the system's security and proves to be far more dangerous than the hackers who just quench his or her thirst by simply discovering the workings of a system.



Hence the crackers can potentially be much more perilous as compared to the hackers. While it is often believed that the hacking is simply exploring into the other computer system with an intention to know how the programmable system works, which is not a fraudulent task unless any sort of vandalism and theft is done by this, another huge section stands strictly against the view and look at the act from the view point of a crime.

Who is A Cracker and What Is His Aim?

A cracker is a technical person who has mastered the art of breaking systems, often not for acquiring knowledge, by the dint of few programs and softwares used as tools. They are more interested in the system's security without the need of great deal of knowledge, thereby not benefiting much.



On the other hand, a hacker who cracks and hacks systems is not only interested in breaking the security of the system but also in knowing about the system's details, by which he gains much more than by simply cracking systems. Unlike a cracker, a hacker generally does not have intention destroy data maliciously or to steel things.



A cracker who is often termed to be a cyber burglar brings out significant harm to the network or steels the information like passwords or credit card numbers. A Trojan is capable enough to recognize and record even every single keystroke that you make. Hence even if you do not store any personal or financial records in your system, the hackers can still be able to obtain the information by recognizing the keystrokes.

Prerequisites of Hackers and Crackers


Hacking and cracking are not as easy as they apparently appear to be. These need serious endeavor to the exhaustive studies and thorough understanding of the computer languages. Both the hackers and crackers must be highly dedicated programming experts who must have sound grips of the language C, as this language has the utmost flexibility and is the widely used ported language all over world's hackers' communities.

Other helpful languages are C++, java and pearl. By the dint of such technical know-how the hackers becomes smart enough to compel another computer system or a program or any other piece of hardware to perform such things that they actually were not wanted to do. The crackers tries to gain a hassle free access to a system or a server with the help of certain methodical tools that bypasses the security, giving the crackers immense privileges with the server or the system they have targeted.

The Legal Aspect

Whatever the terminology may be - an act of hacking or cracking, both the ideas have been brought to the severe penal action irrespective of the reasons. Although it seems to be an enjoyable task of exploring out to visit into the other computer systems by breaking off the system's security, yet computer hacking is treated to be a fraudulent and a criminal offense that has been covered under the serious legal section of Title 18:



Crimes and Criminal Procedure: Part 1: Crimes: Chapter 47: Fraud and False Statements: Section 1030: Fraud and related activity in connection with computers. However needless to say that, hacking and cracking are such acts that is illegal in some ways but to view from the certain other platform the act has been found to serve some agencies and departments with certain awfully useful functions - beyond mere pleasure. Though illegal, the hackers and the crackers are sometimes used by the nations' top ranking departments for hacking and cracking networks to get the information that may be required to save the nation from any anticipated danger.