The good thing about information is that there is so much of it!!!!! And most of it is used for a particular purpose.
ACCORDING to my sources and research, the term "hack" and "hacking" relates back to the American Civil War when, when one side of the other installed telegraph wires along railroad tracks, the opposing sides would "hack" the telegraph wires to destroy communications.
In fact, the American Civil War (as I recall) was the first war to use such new fangled devices (telegraph and railroads) to support military logical operatiions.
So, there might be a lot of people who would like to define "hack" and "hacking' to be congruent with a particular cause or purpose. However, my research on the subject goes back to the Civil War in the US and the cutting of communications lines with tools like bayonets and axes
Neo