As I have mentioned them occasionally in my previous posts, I promised in my post about Hacktivists that I would do a quick explanation of the 'Hats' system for identifying hackers that I recently discovered in the course of my research on interpreting the data from my survey.
White Hat: A white hat hacker is an 'ethical hacker' one that attempts to break into a computer system in order to test it's security while under contract to do so. Often hired by companies or governments who need to make sure security for their data is sufficient.
Black Hat: The quintessential 'hacker' image in popular culture is that of the black hat hacker, someone who attempts to break into a computer system either to damage it or for their own personal gain, sometimes both.
Grey Hat: Grey hat hackers are the most enigmatic of hacker groups. They do their hacking without being initially contracted to do so but once in a system they offer to upgrade said system's security in exchange for a small fee. These hackers have good purpose but less ethical methodology, hence the term 'Grey Hat' being representative of their questionable morality.
Blue Hat: Blue hat hackers do not work trying to get inside of networks but rather work within a system while it is still in development trying to find and remove bugs that could allow that system to be more easily infiltrated upon completion.
With the exception of blue, the hats are largely to represent the moral spectrum of hacking, albeit in a rather loose manner of overall classification. White hats are unambiguously lawful, working for a predetermined payment while Grey hats are more mercenary, working without contract for good cause and requesting payment afterwards. Finally black hats work without contract and against good cause, attempting to create anarchy or do damage, morally incorrect activities.
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