samurai
:samurai: n. 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
modeled 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 sneaker
, Stupids
social engineering
, cracker
, hacker ethic
, and dark-side hacker
Jargon File Version 4.3.1, 29 JUN 2001 =
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