Just the way as we say that not all that glitters is gold, something similar is applied when we talk of hackers. Not all hackers want to get into your account to steal your confidential information. Some actually want to protect and safeguard it from any malicious incidents in the future by enacting the same methodologies of a real hacker. So this is where we actually differentiate between an ethical and unethical hacker. Let us see more about different types of hackers and their roles.
Green Hat Hacker
Green Hats are just the ones that are one step behind towards being a script kiddie. They are new to the field of cybersecurity and unskilled hacker. But, they’re also a potential threat to the organizations because of their lack of knowledge. Moreover, they might know how to damage a system, but there are no known steps of recovery for them and they might also not know where to stop during a potential exploit. It is always suggested to proceed only when you know all the steps and processes while performing hacking.
Blue Hat Hacker
The only thing that a blue hat hacker seeks is vengeance. They often are not doing attacks on some software because they’re interested to display their capabilities. The only motivation towards their bad intentions on defaming a particular website is revenge. Due to this, they might land up in legal troubles further.
Red Hat Hacker
The Linux system targeters and often the law troublers lie in this category. They often want to blame the government laws and pursue hacking with an illegal way to bring justice in the society. They can be called vigilantes of the society, but being this kind of a hacker is a criminal act in every way. So try not to take the law in your hands in any way if you’re an enthusiastic and aspiring hacker.
White Hat Hacker
These types of hackers are the ones with legal permission to perform vulnerability assessment and penetration testing on your digital assets. For the same process, both parties need to sign a non-disclosure agreement and then proceed with the scanning to generate a report. This executive report is a list of the security patches that need to be implemented by an organization to make it difficult to hack by the cyberpunks.
Black Hat Hacker
The real bad people of the cyberspace come under this category. These people seek to hack and exploit your websites and networks either for fun, for a motive, or to gain a common and group benefit. They can even go up to the extents of hijacking or locking out your sessions just to extract some priceless data or money in return. At such scenarios, your data, software, digital platforms, and everything are at a potential risk of being crushed, damaged, and modified forever.
Grey Hat Hacker
Grey Hat hackers are defined as the ones that act maliciously with no malicious intent. All they want to do is get the attention of the authorities towards the underlying flaws of a secure-looking website. The only difference between these types of hackers and white hat hackers is of ‘permission’. They haven’t been provided the authority of doing so and yet even then, their acts are undeniably similar to black hat hackers.
Now that you’ve got a fair description of almost all the types of hackers, next time try not to call judge someone when their job profile is hacking! They are simply trying to protect your networks and websites from intruders. These ethical hackers are the virtual army for the cyberspace and a deep token of gratitude for them.
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Author’s Bio: This article has been written by Rishika Desai, B.Tech Computer Engineering Student at Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology (VIIT), Pune. She is a good dancer, poet and a writer. Animal love engulfs her heart and content writing comprises her present. You can follow Rishika on Twitter @ich_rish99.