Re: Counterspy

["Robert G. Ferrell" <root () rgfsparc cr usgs gov>]

> Michael Lyle has no problem stooping to the hacker's level in the
> information war.

This is such an offensive statement that I don't quite know how to
respond.  I can't imagine that Mr. Lyle would approve of being portrayed
as "stooping to the hacker's level."

Sorry if this complaint seems trite and threadbare, but
so long as the popular media continue to abuse the term "hacker"
so egregiously, there will be old purists such as myself who will
continue to object, and vocally.

To put things in perhaps a more revealing light for non-hackers,
imagine how the physical access control profession would react if
the press suddenly started labeling burglars as "locksmiths."  How
would accountants feel if people who committed financial crimes were
habitually called "CPA's?" This is dumptyism at its most insipid.

Language is essentially a formal consensus of its users, not a tool
to be mutated at will merely to accommodate an author's, or
the public's (perceived), paucity of vocabulary.

Now repeat after me: "Hackers are not (necessarily) criminals.
Crackers are not usually hackers. I will stop confusing the two,
because they very definitely ain't the same animal."

I hope this eventually sinks in.

RGF

Robert G. Ferrell, CISSP
========================================
 Who goeth without humor goeth unarmed.
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