What exactly is hacking?

[M]

I read about a 15 yr old who hacked into Nasa & the Pentagon's computers.
I don'y know if that particular case is true or not & then I realized if heard of hacking but I'm not exactly sure what it is. How would someone do that ?

[Harry]

There are many ways it could be achieved, from installing a virus on their computer system to sneaking in and planting a small computer called a pwnplug to deliver them information sent through an internal network such as (if youre lucky!) decrypted passwords. It could even be as simple as him looking over someone's shoulder and watching them enter the password.

[elk]

That kid most likely did not hack into there entire central database. He most likely got into a small unprotected subsection that holds nothing more then phone numbers. Anyways, hacking is when you purposfully infiltrate a secured database (Facebook account, NASA, Website) and have the potential to alter thing within it. Hacking can be done simply by guessing a password, or by altering MANY types of codes to access a small database that may house the password to the larger one.

[K.C.]

I have to warn you before I get started, this is borderline rant because I have strong opinions on this subject, here goes:

HACKING IS NOT BREAKING INTO COMPUTERS!!!

OK, got that out of my system. Hackers are people who use objects in ways they were not intended to accomplish a task, eg; the original hackers, MIT model train club who used phone relays to build model train sets. People who use computers to break into things are either Script Kiddies or Crackers. Script Kiddies are uneducated people who use prebuilt programs to "hack". Crackers are criminal hackers. The person you read about was a Cracker.

[landd]

Repeatedly hitting a tree with an axe with the intention of braking it