Of course a lot of the time we're just referring to common criminals who know how to download software off of some 'warez' BBS and use it for bank and credit fraud.
I don't know what to call those people, but even 'cracker' gives them too much credit.
Like most invented linguistics, it didn't catch on, and it never will.
By contrast 'phreaker' fits the bill in many aspects.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phreaker
Of course a lot of the time we're just referring to common criminals who know how to download software off of some 'warez' BBS and use it for bank and credit fraud.
I don't know what to call those people, but even 'cracker' gives them too much credit.