This is why calling it war is a problem: Are Hackers a Killable Target in a Cyber-War?

More than one internationally renowned cyber-security expert has warned against applying the vocabulary of war to the world’s current uneasy state of the Internet. Now that nations have begun creating destructive malware (which I hereby dub “warware”), anyone who considers themselves a hacker has to feel a tightening in the belly.

A big part of the problem is the meaning of the word “hacker,” a term originally coined to describe the fabricators/electronics tech/coders who beat on hardware, components and code to make the damn things DO something. Now it’s been hijacked by its use for “cyber criminal.” That’s a shame, but it’s a done deal.

But the real issue is, who gets to decide who’s a “war hacker?” Should we be calling them “whackers?” And should we all fear a Hellfire missile from above if we’re tinkering with the wrong project? God forbid, for instance, that you’re trying to teach teenagers how to tinker with the guts of their computers.

Don’t take my word for any of this. Start here instead:

http://slashdot.org/topic/bi/are-hackers-a-killable-target-in-a-cyber-war/

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