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Good and Bad Hackers

Not all hackers have malicious intentions. Some hackers work for companies to secure their systems, and some contribute to security by notifying software vendors when they spot a vulnerability.

"Breaking things ... is easy," says Syke, a 23-year-old security professional and member of the hacking group New Hack City. "Building a solution ... is difficult, but arguably more fulfilling."

But for every hacker who swaps his black hat for a white one, dozens of others continue to keep governments and companies on their toes. In February, hackers protesting free trade broke into the World Economic Forum's system and stole credit card numbers for at least 1400 government and business leaders--including, reportedly, Bill Gates and Bill Clinton.

Moss says that hacking will get worse. "I used to say the problem was going to get worse before it would get better. Now I just think it's going to get worse. Bad software is being written faster than vulnerabilities are exposed. The trend is toward more features [in applications], and the more features you have, the less security you get."

Face it: Hackers are not going to go away. So it's worthwhile to know who they are and why they do what they do.

Idle Hands

People see movies like War Games and think hackers are going to start World War III," says Deth Veggie, a member of Cult of the Dead Cow, one of the oldest hacking groups (since 1984). "The truth is that computer hackers for the most part are smart, bored kids."

[Editor's note: Most hackers adopt a nom de hack; we've used these in place of some real names when requested to do so.]

It's true that the majority of hackers getting attention these days are bored kids. Hackers usually start in their teens and stop by the time they're 30. But anyone can be a hacker--from the 16-year-old who defaces Web sites to the 36-year-old who sabotages a former employer's server. For their part, people in the underground say that not all hackers are true hackers.