Hacking targets a system and turns it against itself without breaking it. If I smash your car window and hotwire the ignition, that’s not a hack. If I figure out how to trick the car’s keyless entry system into unlocking the car door and starting the ignition, that’s a hack.

Notice the difference. The hacker isn’t just outsmarting her victim. She’s found a flaw in the rules of the system. She’s doing something she shouldn’t be allowed to do, but is. She’s outsmarting the system. And, by extension, she’s outsmarting the system’s designers.

Hacking subverts the intent of a system by subverting its rules or norms. It’s “gaming the system.” It occupies a middle ground between cheating and innovation.