A hacker is not a criminal. A hacker is someone who seeks to understand their trade (usually computers). Through this understanding they are able to change how certain things work. They face obstacles by “hacking” solutions rather than accepting limitations. They are simply creative people using their understanding of a given system to solve problems. Unfortunately, the media are trying to hijack the term and turn it into something malicious. We mustn’t let them.

Words actually mean what people think they mean, not what they’re “supposed" to mean. In fact, the very concept of “supposed to mean” is a silly one. A dictionary is little more than a time-sensitive collection of the way words are currently being used.

That being said, we’ve lost the war for the word hacker. It already means something else. It means a computer criminal. The reason it means that is because that’s what most people think it means. It’s really that simple.

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hack (COMPUTING)
verb [I usually + adverb or preposition]
to get into someone else's computer system without permission in order to find out information or do something illegal:
Computer hacking has become very widespread over the last decade.
A programmer had managed to hack into some top-secret government data.

hacker
noun [C] (ALSO computer hacker)
someone who hacks into other people's computer systems

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