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Discussion on: What does the term 'hacker' mean to you?

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Benjamin Nguyen

For me, it’s when someone breaches your data, takes control of it, and then holds it for ransom purely for financial gain.

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Jess Lee

I get the feeling that's what most non-tech people think of too!

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Benjamin Nguyen

People often assume cyberattacks only come from foreign state‑backed hackers, but the truth is that malicious insiders can be just as dangerous. An employee with access can quietly steal or sell sensitive data to competitors, leak information, or even plant misinformation. Modern attackers also use generative AI to fabricate images, spread false narratives, and damage reputations — making insider threats and AI‑driven misinformation just as real as external breaches.

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Fernando Fornieles

Completely disagree. You should read about the hacker culture and ethic to know what really means to be a hacker.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_ethic

For example, without hacker the free software movement wouldn't exist.

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Jess Lee

That's a great resource for the values and origins of "hacker". What I'm interested in is how the term has evolved (or devolved perhaps) and what the current perception and connotation is for folks both in and out of software.

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Fernando Fornieles • Edited

The negative perception of the term hacker comes from so long. I think that this negative perception comes from the media, that used and still use it, with this negative connotation, even for people like Aaron Swartz that were accused and arrested for downloading academic articles from the MIT (a sad story... 😥).

But being honest, this is the image that comes to my mind when I hear someone using the term hacker 😅