> There is something shameful in being associated with the "l33t h4x0r kr3w" (or Iranian Cyber Army) and those who participate in mass defacements etc.

I think one problem is that there's no other word to describe such people. The media associates any computer related crime to hacking. Last week the guy who broke into Sarah Palins email account, in the media known as the 'Palin Hacker', was sentenced to jail. Is this guy a hacker? If not, what should he be called instead?

In this context, this article is interesting: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2008/11/palin-hacker-de/