To some, the word "hacker" merely describes a person who has a great facility with computers and enjoys solving complex problems; to others, the word suggests a criminal, a daredevil who invades private and sensitive systems for his or her own end. The popular imagination has seized on the second of these definitions, and currently most people - and most significantly the media - think of hackers as technological wizards who break into computer systems to alter or steal restricted information. Hackers: A General Overview - who are they and what have they done? Hacking - a history of hacking. From the Macmillan Encyclopedia of Computers The Hacker's Ethic - the traditional ideals of the hacker, including the belief that "access to computers should be unlimited and total." 2600 - The Hacker Quarterly - a magazine by and for the hacking community. Computer Hackers Cost Big Business $800 Million in 1995 - an article originally appearing in The Wall Street Journal on the financial effects of hackers.