I understand your logic. However, there are legit hackers. The work "hacker" is reported to have originated from MIT when they acquired the first PDP-1. Students and faculty worked on developing new software tools, and some of them were writing the first video game,
Spacewar.
http://www.mos.org/exhibits/Computin...acking/3c.html
A white-hat hacker would never try to break into your home, unless you asked them to (btw, I like the show "It Takes a Thief" - an example of legit hacking). When you test security systems for flaws you
are hacking, whether you define yourself as such or not.
If anyone has doubts about this, check out the google group alt.hacker. When I first started reading the newsgroup I expected to find a bunch of pimply, teenagers showing off their cracking skills. Instead I found a great bunch of people, many who are, or were, system administrators who work in improving security and preventing break-ins. I've learned more about computer security from that group than anything else.
It's the media, and folk likes those who take-down websites, spread viruses, etc. who've given hackers a bad image. As an aside, I hope everyone here has anti-virus software, a firewall and doesn't use Outlook/OL Express or Internet Explorer - these programs are security risks (due to Microsoft's lackadasical concern about security) and just invite someone compromising your computer. Use Firefox web browser or Opera, and Thunderbird email client or Eudora.