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}]