script kiddie

jargon

hackingsecurity

An attacker who runs other people's exploit tools without understanding how they work.

Dismissive but useful: script kiddies are the background noise of the internet, scanning everything with downloaded kits. The insult hides a serious point - automation means even unskilled attackers find unpatched systems, so 'nobody would bother attacking us' has never been true.

Also known as: skiddie, skid

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