[magnus]

Originally Posted by Mist

Hackers are people I have zero respect for.

Hrm.. people/businesses pay me to hack into their systems to expose security vulnerabilities. I attempt to hack almost every forum, website, shell, etc.. I come across to uncover unknown exploits so I can report them to BugTraq so the software developers can issue patches and fixes.

Without these "hackers" you have no respect for, the quality of software security would fall into oblivion. These same hackers are the reason vBulletin is as secure as it is today.. something worthy of respect, if I do say so myself.

Hackers help raise the bar for security. Someone brute forced your password? Serves you right.. how many times have you been told/read that you should not use a common word found in a dictionary. Got nailed by a buffer overflow exploit? Maybe you should keep your software updated.. patches/updates are released for a reason.

Of course, none of my hacking tactics are used for malicious intent. I do not deface/delete/modify/etc.. any of the server/site content. I simply inform the administration of the methods used to obtain entry as well as provide a link to a recommended fix.

Lumping "Hackers" into your zero respect clause is naive and insulting to those of us who better your internet-lives.

Just my $0.02.