Hacker != criminal

The media shouldn't use the term hacker as sloppy shorthand for computer criminal

Hacker has become shorthand for computer criminal in the media. In tech circles, there is a lot more subtlety to the term. We use the terms white and black hat hackers or hacker versus cracker to draw a distinction between someone who uses their skills and knowledge of technical systems for illegal versus legal activities. The media don't make and often don't understand the distinction.

We've reclaimed the word to a certain extent. Developers get together for 'Hackdays' to show off their skills, not in breaking into computers or stealing passwords but in coding. As the EFF sticker says on my laptop, "Coding is not a crime."

I'm not going to oversell my skills. Rather than a coder, I'm more of an ethical phreaker, a comms hacker who pushes modern communications networks to do my job as a journalist. As John, a commenter on Current.com, said, "Kevin you are not a Hacker, you are just someone who can surf the net to find 'hacks' someone else has come up with." But as someone who knows and respects real hackers - the people who push the edge of what is possible in technology - I want to do more to challenge the use of the term hacker as a sloppy shorthand for cyber-thug. Hacker! = criminal.

These video blogs are produced by Current TV in association with the Guardian. You can find Current TV on the web, Sky channel 193 and Virgin Media channel 155.

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