Hacking and Cyber vandalism

A hacker is an individual who intends to gain unauthorized access to a computer system. Within the hacking community, the term cracker is typically used to denote a hacker with criminal intent, although in the public press the terms hacker and cracker tend to be used interchangeably. Hackers and crackers gain unauthorized access by finding weaknesses in the security procedures of websites and computer systems, often taking advantage of various features of the Internet that make it an open system.

In the past, hackers were typically computer aficionados excited by the challenge of breaking into corporate and government websites, sometimes satisfied merely by breaking into the files of an e-commerce site. Today, hackers have malicious intentions to disrupt, deface, or destroy sites (cybervandalism) or to steal personal or corporate information for financial gain (data breach).

Cybervandalism is the intentional disruption, defacing, or even destruction of a site. It is a deliberate act of digital damage — to harm an organization's online presence, reputation, or operations.

Hacktivism adds a political twist. Hacktivists attack governments, organizations, and individuals for political purposes, using the tactics of cybervandalism, distributed denial-of-service attacks, data thefts, and doxing. Notable hacktivist organizations include Wikileaks, LulzSec, and Anonymous.