Hacking & Hackers : Defining and undestanding them.

This article is to provide you with an insight of what hacking is, what hacker means and what a hacker does.

Hacking can be thought as an art of exploiting the computers in motivation to gain access to the unauthorised information.

I would refer a hacker to be someone with an advanced knowledge of computer systems and computer networks who uses his skills to seek and exploit weaknesses in computer systems a computer networks.

Hacker is not a negative term as it is considered now, an original hacker must have a positive intention to learn about the computer system they are exploiting, but not to destroy them or steal the valuable information. A hacker should embrace learning how the computer system works, their flaws, their strengths and interesting functions of the system’s design.

If you want to learn hacking then you must get these three basic hacking ethics crammed in your head:

1. Do not make any damage to the system.

2. Make no one pay for your actions.

3. Get permission to carry out the hack on the system from the owner.

The hackers are classified into spectrum of different categories, such as white hat, grey hat, black hat, elite hacker, script kiddie, hacktivist. Let’s now study each of them in a brief detail:

1. White hat – Such hackers break into systems for non-malicious purposes, perhaps to test the security of their own systems or while for a company. The term “white-hat” is internet slang for ethical hacker. These hackers perform penetration testing and vulnerability assessments. Some greatest white hat are Linus Trovalds, Steve Wozniak.

Linus Trovalds

Steve Wozniak

2. Black hat – Such hackers break into secure systems for malicious purposes, to destroy, modify or steal data or to make the system/network unusable for who are authorized to use them. The “black-hat” is also known as crackers in the security industry. Some popular black-hat groups of the present times are Lizard Squad & LulzSec.

Logo of LulzSec

Logo of Lizard Squad

3. Grey hat – Such hackers lies between a black hat & white hat. A grey hat may break into a system for the sole purpose of notifying the administrator of that system that their system has a defect. He may sometimes charge a fee to patch the defect.

4. Elite hackers – Such hackers exploit systems to gain a social status, an elite refers to the most skilled. All the latest exploits and vulnerability circulates around these elite hackers. The most popular elite hackers are Masters of Deception.

John Lee from MOD

Mark Abene from MOD

5. Script kiddie – Such hackers are unskilled and they use automated tools written by other hackers (usually other black hat) in order to break into systems. These type of hackers have little or no understanding of the underlying concepts of hacking.

6. Hacktivist – Such hackers hack for a cause, either to publicize a social, religious, ideological or a political message. One of the greatest hacktivist group of present time are The Anonymous.

Logo of Anonymous

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