Are Hackers Good?

 

Are Hackers Good?

Hacker: Just hear the word to think almost immediately of something bad, dangerous and illegal. The associations that our mind makes in these cases are usually due to the way in which the word is commonly used in the media, that is, linked to cybercrimes, attacks on systems and the breach of information. However, not all hackers are bad. To understand it, we have to analyze why they act and how they do it.

Brief History of the Word Hacker

In the 1950s, when used in the context of technology, the term hacker had a rather ambiguous meaning. It was used to identify both tech geeks and people who solved problems differently and creatively, and were actually trusted. At that time, it also acquired the negative connotation from which the idea that we have today derives, in part. In the 1980s, the word was used to identify a group of young people who managed to infiltrate government computer systems. They called themselves hackers and as the word was perceived aggressively, the media adopted it as well. It is interesting to note that many of these hackers’ pioneers now have consulting services in the information security sector.

What Is A Hacker?

In general, we can say that a hacker is an experienced computer programmer: for him, a computer has no secrets. Although the term can refer to anyone with excellent programming skills, today it is mostly used with a more limited meaning. A hacker is a person who uses their computer skills to break or bypass the security measures of a computer, device or network, often for criminal purposes. Even in a "profession" like hacking, you always have to differentiate between good and bad hackers.

How Many Types of Hackers Are There?

There are two factors that determine the type of hacker:

1.  Their motives for acting, and

2.  The legality of their actions.

According to this, there are three types of hackers:

1.  The white hat,

2.  The black hat, and

3.  The gray hat.

The names of these categories are inspired by the old western movies, in which the characters wore a black or white hat depending on whether they were good or bad.

The Hackers Black Hat

These hackers have extensive knowledge of computer security protocols. Its objective is to break these security measures to gain unauthorized access to systems and databases. In addition, they also produce different types of malicious software that are often used to enter these systems. The hackers black hat can be both fans start practicing spreading malware as hackers much more skilled and experienced aimed at stealing personal information, login credentials or banking information. Their reasons for doing this may be different. The main intention of hackers black hat is to make money through their illicit actions, but they can also participate in computer espionage activities or simply modify or destroy data for fun. To stay safe from this hackers you should have an installed good antivirus to fight against them.

The White Hat Hackers

Unlike the first category, white hat hackers never intend to steal or destroy. Rather, they try to identify weak points in a computer or network system by performing various tests and thereby be able to prevent malicious attacks. They are also called ethical hackers and companies often hire them to test and improve the network defense system.

The Gray Hat Hackers

In this case, the name does not help us much to understand the nature of the hacker we are dealing with. The hackers gray hat are neither black nor white, but an average, i.e. gray. Most of the time they act without malicious intent, since they look for weaknesses in computer systems, but without warning or without permission from administrators. The intention is to warn of existing problems in security systems and obtain recognition or financial rewards from system administrators.

The hackers gray hat not necessarily evil ends. However, despite identifying and warning of problems, their actions are still illegal, as they access systems in an unauthorized way.

Although the term hacker has a negative connotation in general, it is important to know that not all hackers act in the same way. Surely, without white hat hackers there would be many more cyberattacks and data losses, as they continuously search for vulnerabilities to identify them before black hat hackers find them.