Working and going to school is not an easy balancing act but it can be done. I worked full time through my degree programs and was even tempted to drop out when, following an internship, I was offered an IT position (I accepted the position and completed my last year on-line). Fortunately you have the distinct advantage of entering into an InfoSec related degree program. Hopefully this will keep you interested and engaged.

I with you the best of luck.

-Steven (@ITSecurity)

As for jane smith above, that is Evans hiding behind his keyboard again.

The dictionary.com definition:

hack·er1 Pronunciation Key (h k r)
n. Informal
1. One who is proficient at using or programming a computer; a
computer buff.
2. One who uses programming skills to gain illegal access to a
computer network or file.
3. One who enthusiastically pursues a game or sport: a weekend tennis
hacker.

Historically, the definitions of words in a language changes over time. I’m
sure there is someone out there who is educated and can provide me with the
term for this phenomenon; and whoever you are, you can go fuck yourself. I’m
not bragging to be a scholar, because that is something that I’m not. However,
I am a hacker, and because of this I can make the following statements.

1) A hacker is someone who hacks.
2) Hacking is comprimising computers/computer networks.

A hacker is not someone who writes socalled “useful code” (operating systems,
applications, etc). Hackers write tools to aide with the comprimise of computer
networks. And hackers _use_ those tools; they do not sell them to the highest
bidder, and they do not use them to make a name for theirself so that they can
then become a “security consultant”.

Silly rhetoric aside — the important point is this: Hackers hack.

If you do not hack, you are not a hacker. That simple.

On a semi-related note. . .

Anyone who claims to be an “ethical hacker” is a moron. Hacking has nothing to
do with ethics. There is no “ethical hacking” or “unethical hacking”; there is
only hacking. If you have to dance around the definition of what a hacker is,
or you have to dance around the definition of what hacking is, then what you do
is not hacking, and you are not a hacker.

-a PHC member

You’re right when you outline the sociological angle : we’re a community with great diversity, from business people to “hippies”, ex-mil to gifted teenagers, you get the drift. It’s pretty hard to think of us as sharing an identity. As I said before, that’s a blog post on its own that has been cooking for a long time.

>But for some reason I failed to approach social structures as logical puzzles in my youth.
I think the reason is youth.

>I’d love to see a hacker culture in which belittling someone is seen as poor skillz
hacker culture is supposed to have humanism at its roots. [insert here rant about young people not respecting anything anymore these days]

But I think this social phenomenon is easy to understand: hackers often are social outcasts, and lack social skills. So when they finally become part of a community, and gain respect and status, they are most likely to imitate the people who cast them out earlier. It’s wrong and self-destructive, but understandable.

I am intrigued by the idea of “social engineering” as a way to fix this problem. If a brilliant techie is unhappy at school or work, why not hack the social structure? Getting respect and status is not harder than getting root. But for some reason I failed to approach social structures as logical puzzles in my youth.

My sister teaches social skills to medical students at Alverno college, and they have an excellent formula that intrigues me. Students practice skills like listening, following a leader, taking leadership, giving and accepting criticism, and are scored on these skills, and improve them. I’d love to see a hacker culture in which belittling someone is seen as poor skillz