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Hackers are classified into different categories based on their purpose of hacking a system such as white hat, black hat, and grey hat.. They were classified based on old Spaghetti Westerns, there was a bad guy wearing a black cowboy hat and the good guy wearing a white hat.
In order to prevent and detect hacking attempts, it is also important to determine which type of hacker behind the attacks as well. Hackers come in different shapes, sizes, and intentions, so never judge a hacker by their cover, because attackers must use different methods for succeeding his attack. We’ll give you the brief about different types of hackers you may come across online.
The White Hat Hacker
White Hat hackers are also known as Ethical Hackers, white hat hackers use different techniques to the protected systems to test the security of the system or conduct vulnerability assessments for a client. Most of the time, they work on the security field of a company and check the security software or product and find security weaknesses or vulnerabilities in the software before releasing it for open or business usage.
While they may use many tools and methods to find vulnerabilities, white hat hackers do not use the data that they have found for any illegal activities. Simply the white hacker does what he or she does for ethical reasons, and there are similar classes and certifications available to become a white hat hacker.
The Black Hat Hacker
A black hat hacker is the same as what the general public thinks when they hear about the word “hacker.” The black hat hacker is the inverse of the white hat hacker, where their aims are always for personal gain rather than public security. Black Hat also known as “crackers,” they gain enjoyment from cracking into systems and bypassing security. A black hat hacker usually targets to get profit from exploiting systems or does so simply to satisfy a goal for mischief.
The Grey Hat Hacker
The grey hat hacker is a mix of both white hat and black hat hackers. While the grey hat hacker might crack some rules and break laws, they usually don’t have a malicious objective or target like the black hat hacker. The white hat hacker will always hack under inspection or prior consent, but the grey hat hacker will not go to the lengths to gain permission before gaining access into systems.
When a grey hat hacker discovers a vulnerability, before alerting the authorities or the company, they most commonly offer to repair it for a fee – utilizing it as an possibility to make some financial gain. Grey hat hackers proving that they only break the law to help others, but because of the nature of their violating laws and testing companies, –companies may focus on prosecution rather than accepting the “help.”
Miscellaneous Hackers
Apart from the above well-known types of hackers, the hackers can be categorised based on what they hack and how they do it −
Red Hat Hackers
Red hat hackers are also a combination of both black hat and white hat hackers. They are generally on the level of hacking government agencies, most of the top-secret information centers, and usually anything that falls under the category of sensitive information.
Blue Hat Hackers
A blue hat hacker is a person outside cyber security firms who is used to bug-test a system initial to its launch. They look for the security loopholes that can be exploited and try to close these gaps. Microsoft also uses the term BlueHat to display a series of security breaching events.
Elite Hackers
This is a position among hackers, which is used to describe the most skilled hackers. Newly discovered vulnerabilities and exploits will propagate among these types of hackers.
The Script Kiddie
A script kiddie is an unskilled person who breaks into computer systems by using existing automated tools created by others, usually with little understanding of the basic concept, hence the term Kiddie is used to represent them.
Neophyte/Green Hat Hacker
A neophyte is also known as “n00b”, or “newbie” or “Green Hat Hacker”.This is someone who is fresher to hacking or phreaking and has almost no knowledge or experience of the workings of cyber security and hacking.
The Hacktivist
A hacktivist utilizes the entire world of computing and network technologies for a political action. Whether it is related to free speech,and sometimes freedom of information, or otherwise proving a stratagem theory, hacktivists spam many goals and issues. Most of the hacktivists work towards the same goal without reporting to a boss or an organization.
The people unfamiliar with the computing and network world have heard of hacktivist groups such as Anonymous, who have been actively engaging in their political movement over the past decade. Whether it is combating terror groups or calling for protests of retaliation, hacktivist groups hope to smash change in the real world through their programming skills in the cyber world.