Campaigners are demanding The Cambridge Dictionary change its definition of hackers, claiming the world's oldest publishing house is allowing a "negative" stereotype of the title.

The Cambridge Dictionary, published by the 484-year-old Cambridge University Press, states that a hacker is "a person who is skilled in the use of computer systems, often one who illegally obtains access to private computer systems".

Objections have been brought by a global community of “compassionate” hackers, who aim is to “make the world a better place” with their work.

Cybersecurity company HackerOne, who led the campaign to change the definition, recruit these hackers to expose and resolve vulnerabilities in organisations’ online security before they can be exploited by bad actors.

Businesses such as Google, Twitter, Starbucks, Dropbox and Intel have paid these hackers to find holes in their software and malware protection systems.