the way i think it works, is like this:
There are 2 "rolls" for hacking - success and effect.

The success roll is Your Cloak VS their Scan. This determines who "wins" the hack.
The effect roll is Your scan VS their cloak (IE them hiding their data). A higher scan:cloak ratio will yield more RP, and will increase the crit % by a certain amount, up to X% (I'd guess somewhere between 1 and 5 %)

However, if you "lose" the success roll, they auto hack you back. This is now their cloak VS your scan to see if they succeed, and if they do, their scan VS your cloak for the effect roll.

This is very helpful thank you i'm still kinda new to the game and this has helped a lot.

Successful Hacks 862

If your hack is successful but the enemy has no research points, you get a blue badge, but it doesn't count in your successful hacks count.

My way of thinking is that a Hack is a hostile act and one who hacks isn't living 'the quiet life'. My ship can be disabled and my cargo stolen but that will never cost me a planet.

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!! Ranking is a BAD thing not a good thing, now if I could figure out some way of taking away xp... then you might on to something! Ranking means less time with good npcs/worse pvp targets. The only thing ranking gives you is extra planet slots, all other perks of ranking can be simulated by pullable artifacts .

Draxsiss, you do realize that that suggestion was posted over two years ago, right? It hasn't been implemented yet, so it probably never will. Also, back then, there was a very different outlook on the game. It was all about research, decks, and ranking up. Now, it's all about artifact, crew, slow ranking, and a small damage cap (for a PvP build).
The game has changed, this hasn't, and it never will, so you can set your concerns to rest.

Probably the worst idea I have ever heard...

Oh yeah, well, it's been over three and a half months since these were suggested, and it's not as if you haven't had your share of terrible suggestions. I'm not even sure which suggestion you're talking about there, but it doesn't matter. Neither one is a good idea, but they aren't just flat-out terrible either.