Next time you want to say things like "hackers broke into this system" or "hackers stole credit card numbers", please replace the word "hacker" with "cyber criminal".

Let's stop exacerbating the mainstream media's misunderstanding of the word "hacker".

In my last presentation, I almost wrote the sentence "Centralized systems are honeypots for hackers" and then replaced "hackers" with "cyber criminals".

#hacker #hacking #CyberCrime

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@njoseph To be fair hacker was first used in a negative sense (as in, to break into a system). Some people adopted it in a positive way, and thats great, but I see no need to change the word. Worrying about euphemisms is such a waste of time IMO.

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@hakui
Interesting. I can say this (as someone who grew up in the 80's). Despite what a dozen or so people originally called themselves the first time the **public** was introduced to the word hacker it was used to mean "to break into computers". So in terms of the **public** use of the word it was, in fact, negative from the get go. I'm not sure what a few dozen people used it as first should be the dictated usage for the public.
@njoseph

@freemo @njoseph growing up in the 90s i was already aware of the distinction, even if i don't always use the correct definition

what the public goes by has so far turned out to be of minimal importance (are fats good or bad for your diet?

@hakui
i am not sugesting you need to use the same language as the public. I am only saying it is silly and pointless to try to convince the public to use the same language as you.

@njoseph

@freemo @njoseph i'm not saying you have to use the definition that's different from the public, i can't make you do anything after all

i was just clarifying your "first used as" statement; just going "no that's not how it went"

@hakui
I should point out when I use "hacker" i sometimes mean whitehat or black hat. I use the "hat" part to make the distinction (as most of the programming public does). I myself am a hacker.
@njoseph

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