Hacker facts for kids

A hacker is a person who understands how computers work and explores their limits. Today, the word has two very different meanings. To many people, it means a digital trespasser who enters private systems without permission. But to computer programmers, it means a clever inventor who creates new tools and solves hard puzzles.

The Meaning and History of Hacking

The word originally had nothing to do with digital technology. Long ago, it meant cutting wood with rough chops.

How the Word Started in Tech

Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) were the first to use the word for technology. In 1959, members of the Tech Model Railroad Club loved to build complex track controls. They called a clever technical trick a "hack". Soon, these students began working on early mainframes like the TX-0 and the PDP-1. They wrote playful programs, invented text editors, and even made Spacewar!, one of the earliest video games. The journalist Steven Levy described their shared values as the "hacker ethic".

Growing Beyond Universities

Black Hat, a computer security conference that brings a variety of people interested in information security, including hackers.

Computers became smaller and cheaper during the 1970s. In California, people gathered at the Homebrew Computer Club to design their own machines and share tips. Digital message boards like Community Memory let everyday citizens send information back and forth.

As personal computers spread, early hobbyists shared software code. Microsoft founder Bill Gates asked people to pay for programs like Altair BASIC instead of copying them. Soon after, programmer Richard Stallman started the GNU Project in 1984. This project helped build a free operating system based on Unix. Developers later combined it with the Linux kernel, creating free software that anyone could study and modify.

Rules and Changing Views

During the 1980s, people dialed into distant machines using telephone networks, a practice related to phreaking. The hit 1983 movie WarGames showed a teenager accidentally breaking into a military supercomputer. This story caused the public to view hackers as threats. In 1986, the United States passed the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Two years later, the Morris worm created by Robert Tappan Morris shut down large sections of the early Internet. Groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation soon formed to protect online privacy and user rights.

Different Kinds of Hackers

Not all hackers do the same type of work. People divide security hackers into several groups.

White Hats and Digital Defenders

A team competing in a capture-the-flag security contest at DEF CON 17 in 2009

A white hat hacker is an ethical hacker who helps organizations protect their networks. These experts use penetration tests and vulnerability assessments to discover software flaws before bad actors find them.

Companies run a bug bounty program to give rewards to researchers who discover security bugs. Ethical testers practice careful vulnerability disclosure by notifying companies quietly so engineers can fix the flaw. Major conferences like DEF CON and Black Hat invite white hats to share their research. In 1998, famous security experts from L0pht even spoke to the United States Senate about Internet safety.

Black Hats and Rule Breakers

A black hat breaks into systems without permission to cause damage or take private data. A person who does this to break laws is a cybercriminal.

Some people call these intruders a cracker to keep them separate from constructive coders. A beginner who copies tools made by others without understanding how they work is called a script kiddie.

Other Modern Hackers

• A gray hat explores systems without permission, but does not intend to cause harm.
• A hacktivist uses digital tools to support political or social causes.
• Free software builders create programs with public code under open licenses or Copyleft rules.
• Hardware tinkerers gather at a hackerspace or build open electronics through "bending".

Clever Hacks in Everyday Life

The word "hack" now describes any creative solution. At a hackathon, computer programmers team up over a weekend to make fun apps. In civic hacking, citizens build tools that make local public services run better. Outside of computing, a life hack is a handy trick that makes a daily chore much easier.

Images for kids

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  A DIY musician probes a circuit board to modify sound.

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  Hacktivists marching together at a public rally.

See also

In Spanish: Hacker para niños

• Hacker Manifesto
• List of hackers
• List of security hacking incidents