How it works
On the computer terminal screen there is a list of passwords to choose from within other computer characters. You guess which word it might be and and after a choice is made, feedback will be given on how many letters are shared between the picked option and the correct answer. Keep in mind, that if you fail, the correct password might show wrong letters, and eventually the terminal gets locked and the only way to unlock it is to have a correct ,password so start looking. Overall the game can be compared with the popular board game, Mastermind.
Here is an idea, if your on a hard or very hard terminal then when you use 3 of 4 tries, just back out of the terminal and try again. This will reset the password to a different word, but it will prevent being locked out. Note, the higher your science skill, the less wrong word choices appear.
Using Logic
These word choices can sometimes help you with the hacking minigame. For example, selecting a word that ends in -ing or -ned is usually a good choice. If the result is 3/N, then you probably have to choose another word that ends in -ing.
Imagine it like this: You select the word HACKING. This is not the correct password, but the result was 3/7. You then select another word that ends in -ing, such as MELTING. Note that the first 4 characters do not match, but the remaining three do. Typically, only a few words will contain the same ending letters.