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A white hat (or a white-hat hacker, a whitehat) is an ethical security hacker. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Ethical hacking is a term meant to imply a broader category than just penetration testing. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] Under the owner's consent, white-hat hackers aim to identify any vulnerabilities or security issues the current system has. [ 5 ]
A grey hat hacker lies between a black hat and a white hat hacker, hacking for ideological reasons. [21] A grey hat hacker may surf the Internet and hack into a computer system for the sole purpose of notifying the administrator that their system has a security defect, for example. They may then offer to correct the defect for a fee. [20]
BlueHat. BlueHat (or Blue Hat or Blue-Hat) is a term used to refer to outside computer security consulting firms that are employed to bug test a system prior to its launch, looking for exploits so they can be closed. Their role involves searching for weaknesses or security gaps that could be exploited, and their aim is to rectify and close ...
Black hat (computer security) A black hat ( black hat hacker or blackhat) is a computer hacker who violates laws or ethical standards for nefarious purposes, such as cybercrime, cyberwarfare, or malice. These acts can range from piracy to identity theft. A Black hat is often referred to as a "cracker". [ 1]
A grey hat ( greyhat or gray hat) is a computer hacker or computer security expert who may sometimes violate laws or typical ethical standards, but usually does not have the malicious intent typical of a black hat hacker. The term came into use in the late 1990s, and was derived from the concepts of "white hat" and "black hat" hackers. [ 1]
A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who achieves goals by non-standard means. The term has become associated in popular culture with a security hacker – someone with knowledge of bugs or exploits to break into computer systems and access data which would otherwise be inaccessible to them. In a positive connotation, though ...
Whether they are malicious or ethical, hackers play a large role in cybersecurity. Within that industry, hackers tend to be grouped under three main categories: the white hat, grey hat, and black hat. [citation needed] White hat hackers are also known as ethical hackers or penetration testers. They work within the boundaries of the law.
The newspaper describes white hat activities as part of a "mischievous but perversely positive 'hacker' tradition". When a National CSS employee revealed the existence of his password cracker , which he had used on customer accounts, the company chastised him not for writing the software but for not disclosing it sooner.