st22_computer_misuse.md

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title: Computer Misuse
---

# Introduction

In this section, we will look at some examples of the people that hack
and those that have been hacked.  The terms "hack" and "hacker" or, of
course, open to a lot of interpretation. Many computer scientists, for
example, would call themselves a hacker if they enjoyed working with
technology and trying to find new ways to use it. This is the older
meanig of the term.  We also hear about people "hacking" into
voicemail, which in some cases turned out to be no more than calling
the network provider and asking for access - bad behaviour, for sure,
but not the same techniques as someone who takes control of a remote
computer.

When we talk about hacking in the illegal sense, we mean people who
use their knowledge and skill with computers to perform unauthorised
actions on a system, for whatever reason.  This is properly called
"computer misuse".