[Ads-l] "Cracker" (Malicious Hacker) Not Yet in OED

Fri Mar 22 22:39:40 UTC 2024

Here is a supplementary citation with a later date than some citations
in my previous message. This cite closely matches the modern sense.
The phrase "system cracker" was employed as a self-label. This WSJ
article referred to the same event discussed in the citation given by
Fred, but this article appeared earlier.

Date: April 13, 1983
Newspaper: Wall Street Journal
Newspaper Location:
Article: For Fun or Foul, Computer Hackers Can Crack Any Code
Author: Erik Larson (Staff Reporter)
Quote Page 1, Column 4
Database: ProQuest

[Begin excerpt]
When their computer started talking dirty, the computer staff members
at U.S. Leasing International Inc. knew they had a problem.

The company’s typically well-behaved machine had this to say to one of
the machine's operators: "The Phantom, the system cracker, strikes
again, . . . Soon I will zero (delete) your disks and your backups on
System A. I have already crashed your System B. Have fun trying to
restore it, you (obscenity)."
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Fri, Mar 22, 2024 at 5:14 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Interesting topic, Fred.
> Fred’s citation is for  "system cracker".
> I conjecture that "password cracker",  "system cracker", and "cracker"
> (with the desired sense) all evolved from "safe cracker". The OED has
> a citation for "safe cracker" in 1873.
>
> There is some ambiguity because "password cracker",  "system cracker",
> and "cracker" have been used to refer to both computer programs and to
> the people who break computer security.
>
> In 1974 the computer journal Communications of the ACM published an
> article about passwords which were used to control access to early
> time sharing computer systems. The author George B. Purdy proposed the
> use of a one-way cipher to store encrypted computer passwords.
>
> Purdy used the term "cracker" when he referred to a person attempting
> to compromise the password system. Hence, this might be considered an
> early use of "cracker" with the desired sense. Admittedly, one needs
> some expertise to recognize what the "cracker" is attempting to
> accomplish in this computer journal article.
>
> Purdy used the pronoun "he" when discussing the "cracker"; thus, Purdy
> was referring to a person and not a computer program.
>
> Date: August 1974
> Journal: Communications of the ACM
> Volume 17, Number 8
> Article: A High Security Log-in Procedure
> Author: George B. Purdy (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
> Quote Page 443
>
> https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/361082.361089
> https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/361082.361089
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> We assume that the cracker has a list of all the assigned Yi and that
> he keeps trying values of x chosen at random from 1 to P, possibly
> trying the same x several times, until he finds an x for which f(x) =
> Yi for some Yi.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Here is an example from January 1983 in which "password cracker"
> referred to a computer program and not a human.
>
> Discussion Forum: Usenet
> Subject: PASSWD CRACKER CONTEST
> Newsgroup: net.general
> Poster:allegra!ran
> Timestamp: Jan 6, 1983, 3:02:37 AM
>
> https://groups.google.com/g/net.general/c/ZeultBaryvw/m/Y6k9WvNFRCcJ
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Submit your ingenious /etc/passwd password cracker program (source
> code) to the undersigned by January 31, 1983.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Here is an example from April 1983 in which  "password-crackers"
> referred to humans who could have heart attacks.
>
> Discussion Forum: Usenet
> Subject: HACK Magazine
> Newsgroup: net.jokes
> Poster: floyd!trb
> Timestamp: Apr 1, 1983, 11:48:33 PM
>
> https://groups.google.com/g/net.jokes/c/YqzxiyFp_LE/m/vjxlZZkvQYMJ
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Drive password-crackers nuts! Install a null shell that just prints
> prompts which gets exec'd after 5 unsuccessful password attempts.
> Guaranteed to cause heart attacks and early death.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Here is an example from June 1983 in which  "sys-crackers" referred to
> humans. This date is later than Fred's excellent citation.
>
> Discussion Forum: Usenet
> Subject: Unix Security & Randoms
> Newsgroup: net.unix-wizards
> Poster: edhall%r... at sri-unix.uucp
> Timestamp: Jun 20, 1983, 8:00:00 PM
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> In my experience most sys-crackers are 18 or under, and are out to
> 'prove' themselves or to engage in a cat-and-mouse game with an
> 'authority'. Many are very intelligent and talented; I can only shake
> my head over the incredible waste of their mis-directed efforts.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Fri, Mar 22, 2024 at 6:29 AM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:
> >
> > The word "cracker" in its meaning of a malicious hacker is not yet in OED.  Below is the earliest citation I have found in a few minutes of research.  I am sure that people on thie list can push it back further.  Is Hugo still on the list?
> >
> > cracker (malicious hacker)
> >
> > 1983 _Albany_ (Ore.)  _Democrat-Herald_ 1 June 8/3 (Newspapers.com)  When a computer operator tried to check on company investing, the terminal replied only, "The system cracker strikes again."
> >
> > Fred Shapiro
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org