Hacker Classifications

Most of the people think Hackers are someone who destroys computers. There are different kids of hackers. All aren’t so called Evil They aren’t out to wreak havoc or hurt anyone. Basically Hackers are those people who break the security on application software or break the security of computer networks or create malicious programs like Trojans or viruses. The hackers you see in movies are quite different that real life. Hackers in real life are just average people having strong computer knowledge & Skill. Most of these hackers just try to break into a secure network to prove that they can do it. For them, it is more of a test of their hacking skill rather of a try to steal data. And not to forget there are Hackers who help resisting hacking attempts. There are White Hats, Black Hats, Blue Hats, Elites, Hacktivisms, Neophytes or Noobs, Grey Hats & Scrpt Kiddie,

• White Hat: These are the good guys or so called Heroes. Instead of taking malicious advantage of hacking the White Hats identifies a security weakness in a computer system or network & allow the system’s owners to fix the breach before it can be taken advantage by others. They are also known as Penetration Tester or the Ethical Hacker. There are certifications such as the CNSS 4011 for White Hats. These certifications are provided by National Security Agency.

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• Blue Hat: A blue hat hacker is an individual outside computer security consulting firms who is used to bug test a system prior to its launch, searching for exploits so they can be limited.

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• Grey Hat: The color gray is between black and white. In a similar manner the Grey Hat Hackers are somehow located between these two White Hats & Black Hats. They are like a label for the middle ground & acts as a hybrid between White Hats & Black Hats. They sometimes act in good will & sometimes illegally. They usually don’t have malicious intentions & usually don’t hack for personal gain. These hackers are commonly found hacking into computer networks or systems for the solitary intention of notifying the administrator that their network has been hacked & will offer to repair the network or system for a small fee.

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• Black Hat: These are the Bad guys or villains. These so called Black Hat Hackers or Crackers break into different networks & computers without authorization. These Dark Master minds are behind credit card fraud, vandalism, piracy, identity theft and other types of illegal activities.

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• Script Kiddie: These are like the kids in Hacking world. Lacking into technical expertise these Script Kiddie hackers use pre-packaged automated tools written by other hackers to break into computer systems.

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• Hacktivism: These are hackers who utilize technology to announce a ideological, social, political or religious message. In general, most hacktivism involves denial-of-service attacks or website defacement. In some cases these hacktivism are often used as a instrument for Cyber-terrorism

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• Neophyte: Neophytes are also known as newbie or noobs. As the name suggest, these hackers are new to hacking and has almost no experience or knowledge of the working of the technology.