What Are ‘Computer Hackers,’ And Where Did That Name Come From?

With corporations across the world falling victim to cyber-attacks as hackers hold critical infrastructure for ransom, the subject of technological security is arguably more urgent than ever before.

While the term “computer hacker” becomes increasingly common in our news-related vocabulary, it seems important to understand what this term actually means, and where it comes from.

The word “hack” has roots in Old English, with “haccian” meaning “cut in pieces.” The word is of West Germanic origin, relating to Dutch “hakken” and German “hacken.” In English, it is a verb dating back to 1200 C.E.

However, the word “hack” was first given a technological connotation in the 1950s, in the halls of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As The New Yorker explained, “The minutes of an April, 1955, meeting of the Tech Model Railroad Club state that ‘Mr. Eccles requests that anyone working or hacking on the electrical system turn the power off to avoid fuse blowing.’ The lexicographer Jesse Sheidlower, the president of the American Dialect Society, who has been tracking the recent iterations of ‘hack’ and ‘hacker’ for years, told me that the earliest examples share a relatively benign sense of ‘working on’ a tech problem in a different, presumably more creative way than what’s outlined in an instruction manual.”

In the decades that followed, the term moved into general use. The Jargon File, a “glossary for computer programmers that was launched in 1975,” details eight definitions of the word, “hacker.”

1. A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary. RFC1392, the Internet Users’ Glossary, usefully amplifies this as: A person who delights in having an intimate understanding of the internal workings of a system, computers and computer networks in particular.
2. One who programs enthusiastically (even obsessively) or who enjoys programming rather than just theorizing about programming.
3. A person capable of appreciating hack value.
4. A person who is good at programming quickly.
5. An expert at a particular program, or one who frequently does work using it or on it; as in ‘a Unix hacker’. (Definitions 1 through 5 are correlated, and people who fit them congregate.)
6. An expert or enthusiast of any kind. One might be an astronomy hacker, for example.
7. One who enjoys the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or circumventing limitations.
8. [deprecated] A malicious meddler who tries to discover sensitive information by poking around. Hence password hacker, network hacker. The correct term for this sense is cracker.

In the years that followed, the concept of “hackers” has been featured heavily throughout pop culture. Hackers have appeared in some form in numerous blockbuster moves — including Die Hard, GoldenEye, and the Fast & Furious series — television shows — including 24, Doctor Who, and The X-Files, and video games — including Metal Gear Solid, Overwatch, and Assassin’s Creed.

In reality, the impact of “hackers” exists across a similarly broad spectrum of technological outcomes, from altering road signs to warn of an impending Godzilla attack, to the destruction of nuclear power facilities.

What remains certain, though, is that hackers are here to stay, and their influence over the world via cyber-security only continues to grow.

Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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