There are two kinds of hackers: White hats and people who can really hack. You are a fool if you believe in "ethical hacking", sometimes you need to throw your ethics out the window if you want to be able to show how much damage an advisory can do to an organization.
At the beginning of what I call hacking, the purpose of a hacker was not to "show how much damage" he can do.. It's all depend of the moral and the will of the hacker. And the firsts hacker do not learn how to make damages to an organization but to build the numeric universe by resolving problems
I won't said that I'm a good hacker but I know the basis and I have 2 good friends who are in master of programming at the university and that I always consult to have their opinion. They don't have either your point of view.
So, for you, a hacker is in all cases someone who act illegally for his own purpose?
Yes I totally agree with you, it's not linked but it can be per moment! And that's always hard for hacker to experience his skills in a legal way and to prove his value in this field... But for me, I prefer to be outside of the mainstream. I have taken the red pill and you?