"White Hat Cracking" involves security testing by arrangement. "Grey Hat Cracking" seeks to identify insecure systems and inform administrators or users of vulnerabilities. "Black Hat Cracking" involves accessing systems.
Counterattacks on phishing servers, spam sources, and malware distributors are held up as "ethical cracking". And "hacktivism" involves cracking for a "higher purpose".
Is it possible to crack systems and still be ethical? Support your position.