The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):
script kiddies
pl.n.
1. [very common] The lowest form of cracker; script kiddies do mischief
with scripts and rootkits written by others, often without understanding
the exploit they are using. Used of people with limited technical
expertise using easy-to-operate, pre-configured, and/or automated tools to
conduct disruptive activities against networked systems. Since most of
these tools are fairly well-known by the security community, the adverse
impact of such actions is usually minimal.
2. People who cannot program, but who create tacky HTML pages by copying
JavaScript routines from other tacky HTML pages. More generally, a script
kiddie writes (or more likely cuts and pastes) code without either having
or desiring to have a mental model of what the code does; someone who
thinks of code as magical incantations and asks only ?what do I need to
type to make this happen??