Every hacker has his own set of ethics, a sort of rules that he/she goes by when hacking. The ethics of a real hacker are much different from that of a lamer bent on getting warez or virus spreader. These people are assholes, and they give the true hacker a bad name. They are criminals, pure and simple. Pirating software is stealing. Any idiot can go download some commercial software product, and likewise could get some virus and get some 'enemy' to run it on their computer. That takes no skill or intelligence. The true hacker goes by his ethical code, respecting the computers he works on and hacks. Furthermore, true hackers do not engage in the stupid petty hacker wars you see hacking groups around the net involved in. Those "you destroyed my web page so I'm going to destroy yours" fights are the stupidest most immature things I've ever seen, and the fact that someone can call themselves a hacker and then get into a childish revenge game like that is ridiculous. Here is my code of ethics:

•Never intentionally delete or damage a file on a computer you hack •Respect the machine you hack, and treat it like you'd treat your own system •Notify system administrators about any security breaches you encounter •Do not profit unfairly from a hack •Do not distribute or collect pirated software •Never take stupid risks - know your own abilities •Always be willing to freely share and teach your gained information and methods •Never hack a system to steal money