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Someone who creates web apps should be intimately familiar with the techniques used by people who break into web apps.

Dafydd Stuttard (book author) / PortSwigger created the Burp Suite web application security testing program, which I've found invaluable in performing security analysis of web apps during development.

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My previous comment is a little tongue in cheek, but it would be cool if they weren't perpetuating the media stereotype that hacker == cracker. A bunch of other sticklers on "Hacker News" bring it up when people misuse the term.

http://searchyc.com/cracker+hacker

As described in the article link, it is hacking.

Kevin Mitnick was not a cracker, he was a hacker.

Hacking has multiple definitions.

Agreed. For instance someone who breaks into web apps but doesn't use this skill to sell user data or steal from users is not a cracker IMO, but a hacker (he could do this to satisfy its curiosity, for fun, or to tell the webmasters how to secure their web app better).

Hacker is a word with many valid definitions.

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