[very common] The act of breaking into a computer system; what a
{cracker} does. Contrary to widespread myth, this does not usually
involve some mysterious leap of hackerly brilliance, but rather
persistence and the dogged repetition of a handful of fairly
well-known tricks that exploit common weaknesses in the security of
target systems. Accordingly, most crackers are incompetent as
hackers. This entry used to say 'mediocre', but the spread of
{rootkit} and other automated cracking has depressed the average
level of skill among crackers.
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {crack root}{cracker}{phreaking}{rootkit}]