Those individuals who create not destroy. They enjoy cracking computers and making them crash. Some are troublemakers and anti-establishment revolutionaries. Crackers use their computer knowledge to perform illegal activities such as unauthorized use of computer related assests, introduction of fraudulent records or data in a computer system, alteration or destruction of information or files, or theft by electronic means or otherwise, of money, financial instruments, property, services, or data. Some might even be considered violent.
Crackers believe that if they can get into someone's system, then whatever they find is fair game.
Cracker believe the fault lies with the owner of the system, for not having adequate security. The art of exploring computer systems began in the early 1970's among computer programmers at M.I.T., as well as the computer science and electrical engineering departments of various other universities. These people only wanted to explore the inner working of computers, and learn how they could be manipulated, altered, modified, or broken. Their basic philosophy was to take nothing, break nothing, and learn everything. They loved the challenge of circumventing layers of security measures, gaining access and going as deeply into the innards of a system as possible, looking around and then departing.