Hacking and defacing will always remain something only for da underground. If the Internet was New York, then the hacking scene would be some ghetto like Brooklyn or something. This is our cyber-underground. The real hackers Hacking is almost an elite term, McWilliams said. Hackers tend to be older, gainfully employed and educated.
Most people never see the code running their computer.
But certain computer languages, such as Linux, do not mask their codes behind user-friendly windows. Cracking is where things get subversive. The term refers to cracking into Web sites or cracking software copyrights, like messing with code on programs not designed for it, McWilliams said. Most so-called hackers could easily pull it off if they wanted. Crackers might cause problems and even break the law, but at least they write their own code, or so goes the logic of the scene.