Supposedly, hackers can think about a computer, take it over, and destroy it. They are the source of all the world's ills, and nobody is safe from their whims. They could crash the world economy if they wanted to.
Individuals have very little to worry about from hackers.
At least that is what movies and the media seem to tell us. Thankfully, the reality is quite different. Let me say up front that individuals have very little to worry about from hackers. First, I think there is a misunderstanding about hackers themselves. Back in the early days of computing, the term hacker was originally coined to refer to people who were interested in computers.