n. A computer hacker hired to legally infiltrate corporate computer systems for legitimate reasons.
1999
Samurai: ethical hacker for hire; unlike criminal or vandalism-oriented hackers and crackers, true silicon Samurai adhere to rigorous and self-imposed standards of loyalty to employers; often hired to seek out rogue employees within a corporation's technical staff.
1992
The press has associated the word "hacker" in people's mind with the nasty troublemaker who tries to steal secret information from others' computer systems. Certainly there are "dark-side hackers", those who crack into confidential files for criminal or malicious ends. Others — the "samurai" — break into files to steal information for more lawful reasons, perhaps for a lawyer pursuing a privacy-rights case.
1992 (earliest)
The press has associated the word "hacker" in people's mind with the nasty troublemaker who tries to steal secret information from others' computer systems. Certainly there are "dark-side hackers", those who crack into confidential files for criminal or malicious ends. Others — the "samurai" — break into files to steal information for more lawful reasons, perhaps for a lawyer pursuing a privacy-rights case.
But mostly the term "hacker" just means an enthusiastic programmer, who plays with a computer for fun rather than to fulfil a specific task.
But mostly the term "hacker" just means an enthusiastic programmer, who plays with a computer for fun rather than to fulfil a specific task.