samurai
A hacker who hires out for legal cracking jobs, snooping for factions in
corporate political fights, lawyers pursuing privacy-rights and First Amendment
cases, and other parties with legitimate reasons to need an electronic
locksmith. In 1991, mainstream media reported the existence of a loose-knit
culture of samurai that meets electronically on BBS systems, mostly bright
teenagers with personal micros; they have modelled themselves explicitly on the
historical samurai of Japan and on the "net cowboys" of William Gibson's
cyberpunk novels. Those interviewed claim to adhere to a rigid ethic of loyalty
to their employers and to disdain the vandalism and theft practiced by criminal
crackers as beneath them and contrary to the hacker ethic; some quote Miyamoto
Musashi's "Book of Five Rings", a classic of historical samurai doctrine, in
support of these principles.
See also Stupids, social engineering, cracker, hacker ethic, and dark-side
hacker.
[Jargon File]
Nearby terms:
sample rate « sampling « sampling frequency «
samurai
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