samurai: n. A hacker who hires out for legal cracking jobs,
snooping for factions in corporate political fights, lawyers
pursuing privacy-rights and First Amendment cases, and other parties
with legitimate reasons to need an electronic locksmith. In 1991,
mainstream media reported the existence of a loose-knit culture of
samurai that meets electronically on BBS systems, mostly bright
teenagers with personal micros; they have modeled themselves
explicitly on the historical samurai of Japan and on the "net
cowboys" of William Gibson's cyberpunk novels. Those interviewed
claim to adhere to a rigid ethic of loyalty to their employers and
to disdain the vandalism and theft practiced by criminal crackers as
beneath them and contrary to the hacker ethic; some quote Miyamoto
Musashi's "Book of Five Rings", a classic of historical samurai
doctrine, in support of these principles. See also sneaker,
Stupids, social engineering, cracker, hacker ethic, and
dark-side hacker.
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