Itbeganasagame:highschoolandcollegestudentsstudyingcomputertechnologyfiguredouttheycouldusepersonalcomputerstobreakintotelephonecompanycomputersandmakefreelong-distancetelephonecalls.Theseyoungcomputergiftssoongainedthenickname"hackers（黑客）".
Policearrestedafewhackersbutmanywentontoevenmorecomplexhacking.Onehackerwasarrestedformakingillegaltelephonecallsandlaterusedaprisonphonetochangeapoliceofficer'screditrecordstogetbackat（报复）theofficerforarrestinghim.Thehackeralsousedacomputertochangehiscollegerecordstogivehimselfbettergrades.
Ashackersgainedexperiencetheybeganinvadingcomputersatbanksairlinesandotherbusinesses.Inoneplanahackerinstructedanairline'scomputertogivehimfreeairplanetickets.
TheU.S.governmentisworriedhackersmaybreakintoitscomplexnetworksofdefensecomputers.Thegovernment'sclassifiedsecretsarevulnerable（脆弱的）becausethousandsofgovernmentcomputersareconnectedbytelephonelinesthathackerscantapinto.
InNovember1988acollegestudenttappedintoanon-classifiedU.S.DefenseDepartmentcomputernetworkcalledArpanet.Thehackerinjected（输入，注入）acomputerprogramthatleftcopiesofitselfthroughoutArpanet.Somehackersuseeach"virus"todestroyallthedatainacomputer.Butinthiscasegovernmentofficialsshutdownthenetworkbeforetheprogramreachedeverycomputerinthesystem.Shuttingdownthesystemangeredmanyresearcherswhowereusingthecomputers.Thehackerturnedhimselfin（自首）topoliceandtoldthemhowtogethisprogramoutofthecomputersystem.Hewaschargedwithacrime.
TheincidentattractedcomputerhackingintheUnitedStates.Manycompanieshavehiredexpertstoprotecttheircomputersfromhackersandmanycomputerexpertsnowadvisecompaniesonhowtoprotecttheircomputers.
TheU.S.governmentbelievesforeigngovernmentshavehiredhackerstotrytobreakintotop-secretdefensecomputers.Itfearsahackercouldinjectavirusintomilitarycomputersthatwouldcleanupallthedataduringawar.
Expertsdisagreeoverwhetheracomputernetworkcaneverbesafefromhacking.ButinthefuturesomeofthemostbrilliantmindsintheU.S.will