First, as you point out most of the criminals are really not up to 'hacker' standards. They're not smart enough, they are 'script kiddies'!

Second, hackers, who explore the edges of technology, trying to break it to make it better, trying to clarify the faults--do something that most of the criminals cannot do.

Then, why the rush to publicize the faults to the world? If the criminals are incapable of finding the faults, at least as well as 'hackers' find the faults, it would seem to me that there is plenty of time to let the software developer or the company whose network is vulnerable make the needed correction(s) on their own schedule, not the do-gooder hacker's schedule. Why the necessity for speed? To make the world safer, to help rid the world of bad software or poor administration--all of which do exist and getting rid of them are probably excellent goals?

No, I think the fact is that the only people who would discover the faults (assuming your argument about the criminals capabilities are true) are other hackers. Now, if I as a hacker go to the company and say 'hey, I found a flaw in your software or operations and here's how to fix it...,' and then leave it at that. What if some other hacker finds the same flaw and doesn't go to the company, but broadcasts 'look what I found.' Who gets the credit for the 'hack?' And, I think that is what this is all about--credit for the discovery, credit for the hack, credit for the exposure.

Whistleblowers, more often than not, have tried many routes within an organization to get some information out. Having been frustrated time and again, they choose the not-so-pleasant road of whistleblower. Very few gain benefits for their efforts. They are often ostracized because they often, end up bringing harm to an organization, of which they are a part, and to people with whom they work.

Hackers, on the other hand, often gain, at least in terms of reputation among those who honor what they do. If a hacker attacked other hackers--again, specifically referring to those special creative people your article refers to, for doing unethical things or setting up an unethical system, that hacker would be like a whistleblower.

Making software better, making society better, improving computing for its own sake. Maybe a few, but, surely, a good number are in it for the rep, don't you think?