The Anti-virus Times

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Many words, to which we are accustomed in Russian, came from other languages with completely different meaning.

Hack (English)—cut (e.g. wood). Hacker (English)—one of the meanings is an axeman.

An axeman is dignified occupation. But even axemen can be different: some clear forests from sick trees and thin forest plantations, while others every New Year cut the tops of Christmas trees planted near our houses for children's joy.

In the middle of the last century ‘hackers’ became known as programmers who knew how to fix bugs in programs but did that very quickly and roughly, in one word ‘clumsily’.

This term defines people of contemptible occupation, and today its meaning has suffered changes from a computer hero to a hackneyed criminal.

Not all common people have computer knowledge at the level of a hacker. Not so long ago, such knowledge was available to a very few. That is why, the illusory sense of almighty and impunity as well as the low level of hackers’ social responsibility brings them together with those whom people call ‘dregs of society’.

Hackers like to frighten children in social networks (almighty and impunity), demand ransom for stolen photos, steal medical case histories from hospitals, hack the correspondence and disclose it, drive to suicide, as it happened to several users of Ashley Madisson. Stealing an old woman's pension for them is like a heroic deed.

Only if hackers are responsible for each criminal act, we will be able to live in security.