> The student admitted to the allegations, saying, "I started using computers when I was in the fourth grade and taught myself everything I know. I happened to be able to access the information and had nothing against the company."

A while back I read the excellent graphic novel Wizzywig about hacking, and my takeaway was that, at base level, a hacker is a lock picker with insatiable curiosity.

The defining feature of hackers and hacking culture is not computers (hackerdom is larger than, and predates, computers), but curiosity. The drive to know how things actually work.