J. Random Hacker

Why Trust Techopedia

What Does J. Random Hacker Mean?

In IT parlance, J. Random Hacker is a mythical figure, a
kind of “Joe Sixpack” or “John Doe” of the IT world. The name has been used as
a pseudonym for authors, a cliche in talking about IT security, and in certain
types of placeholder situations, for example, in name or title fields in a
database.

Advertisements

Techopedia Explains J. Random Hacker

Some attribute the emergence of the term “J. Random Hacker” to scientists at MIT in the 1960s. As for the “J” at the beginning of the title, some point to that notoriety of J. Fred Muggs, a chimpanzee who was the mascot for NBC in the mid-1950s, and J. Presper Eckert, one of the original makers of the Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer or ENIAC.

The Jargon File, a stock source for IT lore, includes an appendix called “A Portrait of J. Random Hacker” with all sorts of organized characteristics attributed to this imaginary person.

Advertisements

Related Terms

Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.