2014-04-26 10:52:28 -04:00
|
|
|
cracking
|
|
|
|
|
2014-04-26 11:54:15 -04:00
|
|
|
n. [very common] The act of breaking into a computer system; what a cracker
|
|
|
|
does. Contrary to widespread myth, this does not usually involve some
|
|
|
|
mysterious leap of hackerly brilliance, but rather persistence and the
|
|
|
|
dogged repetition of a handful of fairly well-known tricks that exploit
|
|
|
|
common weaknesses in the security of target systems. Accordingly, most
|
|
|
|
crackers are incompetent as hackers. This entry used to say 'mediocre', but
|
|
|
|
the spread of rootkit and other automated cracking has depressed the average
|
|
|
|
level of skill among crackers.
|
|
|
|
|