[iamphilrae]

Technically, I believe that has always been the definition of a hacker, even back in the 80’s. Since then it’s been movies and popular culture that have got it wrong. I believe that what most people think of a hacker, i.e someone who digitally breaks into a system, is actually a ‘cracker’.

[arglebarnacle]

I think it's time to stop fighting this fight--nobody I know, even among the security/tech literate, uses the word cracker. We may just have to live with the fact that "hacker" means two easily conflatable things, at least until another term actually catches on for one or the other.