Hacker

"Hacker"

The term "Hacker" has evolved significantly and no longer accurately represents the current landscape. Therefore, I won't use it anymore. It carries outdated connotations that don't align with today's reality. Instead, I'll use terms like "attacker" or "external actor" to describe those who pose threats to cybersecurity. The "Golden Age" of hacking, with figures like Mark Abene, Kevin Poulsen, and Kevin Mitnick, was tame compared to the cyber risks we face today—risks that are more unsettling than the cyberpunk fiction of the 1980s, which inspired many early hackers.

In the past few years, we've witnessed significant shifts in the tech industry's approach to security, spurred in part by the Snowden revelations. These revelations shook the world and triggered changes in how technology companies view and implement security. In 2013, I had a discussion with a client that would have been unimaginable before these leaks—where the NSA was seen as a threat to guard against. And this was a well-established Fortune 500 company, not a shady organization. Intellectual property theft is on the rise, and the scale of attacks is growing. From my vantage point, I can confirm that the cyber incidents you hear about are just a fraction of what truly occurs. The unreported attacks are far more numerous, and I encounter them daily.

Unfortunately, for the broader tech community, breaking into systems—even for ethical reasons like penetration testing—is often easier than securing them. A single mistake by one person in a large company can open the door to significant vulnerabilities. Thus, the gap between secure and vulnerable can be dangerously thin, demonstrating the critical importance of robust cybersecurity measures.