ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

The Secret History of Hacking

Hacking is about using computers to try and get access to things that people didn't mean for you to have access to. A hacker is someone who does this. The secret history of hacking is the story of how people have used computers to break into other people's computers and try to change things or look at information they weren't supposed to. It started with people writing computer programs that exploited weaknesses in other computer programs or networks, so they could do things they weren't allowed to do. From there, more and more hackers started inventing new ways to break into systems, and the techniques they used got more and more sophisticated over time. These days, hackers use all sorts of tricks to try and get access to people's private information or take control of computers, and it's important to know about the secret history of hacking so we can stay safe from it.