I think the diference between hackers and crackers is that a cracker who compromised a system would trash it or damage it (e.g. change passwords, install root kit, etc.) a hacker wouldn't do these things and merley compromises the system to test it or for the fun of it.

Sure... if it's their system they're playing around with. If someone breaks into one of my systems just for the fun of it, and tells me "but I didn't trash anything, so it's okay", I'd treat them with the same kind of hostility as someone who broke into my apartment for the hell of it, and told me "but I didn't steal anything, so it's okay".

And let's not forget that these "for the fun of it" criminals can easily trash stuff by accident (been there, done that, restored my schoolwork from backups, got the perp charged and expelled, and been paranoid ever since).

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The hell with paco, vote for Erudil!
:wq