A DDoS attack is not a "hack". A hack is "an incredibly good, and perhaps very time-consuming, piece of work that produces exactly what is needed."[2] Remember, hackers are good guys who fix things. Reporters love to mangle language by attributing DDoS attacks to "hackers" when they really mean to say "criminals" or "attackers". I prefer the usage "packet monkey" to describe these bottom-feeders.

Hackers, in their online communities, say the media incorrectly use the blanket term "hacker" when referring to those responsible for the assaults, which don't involve breaking into a secure system. They prefer "packet monkeys," which is a derogatory term for any simple life-form that could download software from the Internet and launch such attacks.

"Macki", a member of the hacker group 2600, told a reporter "we are currently building a consensus among other groups to address the media's misuse of the term hacker as a community, (and) to defend our good name".

Hackers call these sorts of people "crackers", to separate themselves from the cyber vandals, and see them as little more than "packet monkeys", whose only ability is to flood a site with packets of information.