Hacking Arena

Hackers and Culture? True Indeed!


Hacker culture has existed for many decades, although the majority of us may have become recently aware thanks to movies like The Matrix. Nevertheless, hacking culture has been out there, and has been constantly influencing our society and the way we view the world. From anime to computer knowledge, hacker culture has, steadily, made its way to our lives. What Is Hacker Culture?

Hacker culture is composed by all those experiences and human manifestations that are related to the exploit of hardware and software. Right now there are three kinds of hackers. The first and most known kind of hacker is the black hat hacker, or the individual who uses his knowledge for obtaining a personal benefit. Usually, it means stealing information that can be sold in the black market.



The most daring black hat hackers are able to crack bank accounts, leaving no trace behind. Fortunately, bank security and worldwide cooperation has been able to place some restrictions and control over these individuals.



On the other side of the balance is the white hack hacker, a computer security expert who works with organizations and helps them with their computer network security problems.



Finally, there are the grey hat hackers. This kind of hackers is composed by people who walk the thin line between white hat hackers and black hat hackers. Usually, their tendency will be influenced by their need of money or their lust for recognition among the hacker community.

Which Are The Origins Of Hacker Culture?

It could be said that hackers have existed since immemorial times. Although the Merriam-Webster dictionary portrays a hacker as a computer expert, in reality, a hacker is any person who looks for weaknesses in the system and tries to exploit them in their own benefit.



Under this definition, Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, was a hacker. How so? He noticed that there were a series of weaknesses in the armies of ancient Greece. In order to exploit them in his favor, he decided to implement a series of improvements to his own army. As history has showed us, these improvements worked in his favor and in favor of his famous son.



The same could be said from Napoleon, who noticed that mobility and artillery could be used in such a way that no army in Europe would be able to withstand him. Unfortunately for him, he forgot to consider that logistics were an important thing to consider when he mobilized hundreds of thousands of men into the Russian Empire.

Know where you belong in the Hacker Culture


However, it wasn't until the advent of the industrial revolution, and the appearance of the phone network, that the first hackers of the modern era appeared. In those days, the operators of this network were men. Unfortunately, many of them had a knack and a desire to exploit this system in their own benefit. Due to this fact, all men operators were fired and new, women operators were contracted (a practice that continued for many decades).



The next revolution in hacker culture came with the appearance of the first computers in the universities around the country. Groups of students at the MIT were paid for developing the operating software of the giant computer mainframes. In order to make their work easier, these young men created hacks, or shortcuts, to determined sensitive areas of their programming.

Are There Any Subcultures?

In computer hacker culture there are two divisions. The first one is known as the Academic hacker subculture, composed by the students, engineers and professionals who had the ability to use the machines provided by universities. These people worked in computer science and had the latest in technology. Many of them were able to use their knowledge and expertise in the second division.



The other hacker subculture is the one which has its origins in hobbyists; people who built computers in their garages (ala Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the founders of Apple) or were quite good with electronics (many of the were subscribed to specialized magazines). This subculture had its first golden age with the advent of personal computers and the first computer games.


Thousands of people across America looked for ways to hack computer game passwords and copy-protection schemes (in those days there was no internet, so the computer game companies weren't able to check online if your copy was an original). However, the true revolution came with the internet.



Now, hackers from around the world could hack, literally, millions of computers thanks to the weaknesses found at Microsoft Windows products and the lack of knowledge of computer users (only a small percentage makes constant software upgrades, and has a firewall, an antivirus and a spyware installed).



Finally, if you wish to learn hacking culture, or embrace it, start with some movies and literature! The Matrix is an excellent place to begin, but there are also excellent science fiction and non-fiction books that can transport you to a world you never imagined. One of the most popular ones is Neuromancer, written by William Gibson.



For many, hacking culture has become their way of life. Bored with the standardized lifestyle of the western civilization, hackers and it millions of new followers have created their own niche among our technological society. Hacker culture, once considered part of the underground, is now part of us.