A hacker is a white hat, a good person who hacks to find vulnerablities for companies and then reports what he finds to the companies.
A cracker is a black hat, a person who hacks into people's and companies' computers to cause harm, defraud, etc.
Did anyone see Ellen's show with Larry B? Should be on now, but I do not have access to a TV at the moment.
Normally that reference requires adding an “s”. Crackers.
I remember from the around the late 80’s maybe?
Hacker carried a negative connotation. Hackers within their own small groups (IT depts mostly) used to consider themselves crackers. The ones at my work in those days were offended by hacker titles and the destructive goals of delinquents to hack. Cracker, to them was truer to what they considered a fun challenge. Cracking the code or access but nothing hacked in harmful ways like today’s virus creators.
Cracker (without the ‘s’) used by blacks is not a compliment. It is a very derogatory word used for whites by blacks. None of the my black friends think it would be acceptable for a boat in the Bahamas. They said it would be considered offensive, not humorous. A slap in the face to homeland blacks. “The Cracker” is the exact term used by slaves. The white boss that would crack the whip, meaning whip blacks.
We also have the foreign TV series
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105977/releaseinfo
“Cracker” (1993)
TV series 1993-1996
An abrasively eccentric forensic psychologist aids in the solving of difficult police cases.