Question: What is a ‘Hacker’?
You’ve heard of “hackers”, and you’ve seen sensationalized versions of hackers in movies. But what exactly is a hacker?
Answer : A hacker is a computer user who, for either negative or positive motivations, will manipulate and break into computer systems.
Originally, a hacker of the 1980′s was strictly evil and dishonest: a criminal who would illegally and unethically take control of computers and networks. And indeed, that criminal definition still applies today in the 21st century. However, the term hacker has also broadened to include non-criminal computer users. Today, “hacker” encompasses both “black hat” and “white hat” computer users with special systems knowledge:
There are four modern types of hackers:
Black Hat : Criminal Hackers
White Hat : Ethical Hackers
White Hat : Computer Artists/Academics
White Hat : Hobby Tinkerers
1) Classic “Black Hat” Hackers = Lawbreakers
This is the classic definition of a hacker: a computer user who willfully seeks to commit theft on other people’s networks. This classic hacker is also known as a “black hat hacker“ because of his malicious motivations. Black hats are gifted but unethical computer users who are motivated by feelings of power and petty revenge. They are electronic thugs, in every sense of the word, and share the same personality traits as punk teens who smash bus stop windows for personal satisfaction.
Black hat hackers are renowned for the following common cybercrimes:
Different from the classic black hat hackers, white hat hackers have honorable, or at least benign, motivations. A white hat “ethical hacker” is a talented user computer security user who is employed to help to protect computer networks. These white hats are very much like former convicts who take on work as store security guards. While they themselves may not be completely ethical, their vocation is considered white hat. These ethical hackers perform very technical security work in exchange for money. It is not surprising to see ethical hackers spending their paychecks on very expensive personal computers in their personal lives, so they can play online games after work. As long as they have a good paying job to support their personal habits, an ethical hacker is usually not motivated to destroy nor steal from their employer.
3) White Hat “Academic Hackers” = Creative Computer Artists
An “academic hacker” is not interested in vandalizing or stealing, but rather in creating clever programs and beautiful interfaces. If you are an academic hacker, for example, you will take existing programmatic code, and improve upon it through clever alterations and additions. “Academic hacking” is about obsessively innovating computer code so that it becomes more beautiful or more efficient as a program. Academic hackers, in general, are harmless and do not seek to hurt other people’s networks. Academic white hats are often graduate students in computer programming.
4) White Hat “Hobby Hackers” = Home Tinkers
There are many white hat “hobby hackers” out there. These are users who like to disassemble and modify their own computers for hobby pleasure. Many hobby hackers are gamers who want to extract even more performance from their gaming computers. These individuals will often spend thousands of dollars on custom computer cases and liquid cooling modifications. But hobby hackers also like to do small “white collar crimes”, like downloading pirated movies and music. By this definition, yes, millions of p2p downloaders are hobby hackers. And indeed, if you have ever modified your router and firewall to allow faster p2p downloads, you could describe yourself as a hobby hacker. Gratefully, only a small percentage of hobby hackers ever escalate into becoming unethical hackers.
Now share this information and enjoy Learning Ethical Hacking. Keep reading and keep Hacking.:)
You’ve heard of “hackers”, and you’ve seen sensationalized versions of hackers in movies. But what exactly is a hacker?
Answer : A hacker is a computer user who, for either negative or positive motivations, will manipulate and break into computer systems.
Originally, a hacker of the 1980′s was strictly evil and dishonest: a criminal who would illegally and unethically take control of computers and networks. And indeed, that criminal definition still applies today in the 21st century. However, the term hacker has also broadened to include non-criminal computer users. Today, “hacker” encompasses both “black hat” and “white hat” computer users with special systems knowledge:
There are four modern types of hackers:
Black Hat : Criminal Hackers
White Hat : Ethical Hackers
White Hat : Computer Artists/Academics
White Hat : Hobby Tinkerers
1) Classic “Black Hat” Hackers = Lawbreakers
This is the classic definition of a hacker: a computer user who willfully seeks to commit theft on other people’s networks. This classic hacker is also known as a “black hat hacker“ because of his malicious motivations. Black hats are gifted but unethical computer users who are motivated by feelings of power and petty revenge. They are electronic thugs, in every sense of the word, and share the same personality traits as punk teens who smash bus stop windows for personal satisfaction.
Black hat hackers are renowned for the following common cybercrimes:
- DOS/DDOS attacks that overload Internet servers.
- Defacing websites by hijacking control and replacing the main page photos with rude slogans.
- Performing identity theft by stealing private information of individuals.
- Botnetting: taking remote control of dozens of personal computers, and programming them to “zombie” as spam broadcasters.
Different from the classic black hat hackers, white hat hackers have honorable, or at least benign, motivations. A white hat “ethical hacker” is a talented user computer security user who is employed to help to protect computer networks. These white hats are very much like former convicts who take on work as store security guards. While they themselves may not be completely ethical, their vocation is considered white hat. These ethical hackers perform very technical security work in exchange for money. It is not surprising to see ethical hackers spending their paychecks on very expensive personal computers in their personal lives, so they can play online games after work. As long as they have a good paying job to support their personal habits, an ethical hacker is usually not motivated to destroy nor steal from their employer.
3) White Hat “Academic Hackers” = Creative Computer Artists
An “academic hacker” is not interested in vandalizing or stealing, but rather in creating clever programs and beautiful interfaces. If you are an academic hacker, for example, you will take existing programmatic code, and improve upon it through clever alterations and additions. “Academic hacking” is about obsessively innovating computer code so that it becomes more beautiful or more efficient as a program. Academic hackers, in general, are harmless and do not seek to hurt other people’s networks. Academic white hats are often graduate students in computer programming.
4) White Hat “Hobby Hackers” = Home Tinkers
There are many white hat “hobby hackers” out there. These are users who like to disassemble and modify their own computers for hobby pleasure. Many hobby hackers are gamers who want to extract even more performance from their gaming computers. These individuals will often spend thousands of dollars on custom computer cases and liquid cooling modifications. But hobby hackers also like to do small “white collar crimes”, like downloading pirated movies and music. By this definition, yes, millions of p2p downloaders are hobby hackers. And indeed, if you have ever modified your router and firewall to allow faster p2p downloads, you could describe yourself as a hobby hacker. Gratefully, only a small percentage of hobby hackers ever escalate into becoming unethical hackers.
Now share this information and enjoy Learning Ethical Hacking. Keep reading and keep Hacking.:)
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