White Hat Hacker vs Black Hat Hacker

According to Dictionary, Hacking is the act of gaining unauthorized access to data in a system or computer. A Hacker is a person who exploits vulnerabilities in a computer system or network, breach the defenses and plant a virus or steal information. But not all hackers have bad intentions, hackers are someone who hacks into the computer systems bypassing security measures.
Hackers are generally categorized by their motive behind the hacking. Based on the intent they’re classified into “Black Hat Hacker” and “White Hat Hacker”.

Black Hat Hacker

Black Hat Hackers are someone who breaks into computer networks and responsible for writing malware and gain access to these systems. The motivation behind this attack is generally personal or financial gain. Basic crimes include spam emails, implant viruses, steal financial information, and login credentials.

White Hat Hacker

White Hat Hackers are Ethical Hacking professionals who do surveillance on the computer systems and perform threat assessment on the network. They find the security leaks and ensures the safety of network systems. White Hat Hackers employ the same technique as that of the Black Hat Hacker but with good intentions and do it with the permission from the owner.

Grey Hat Hacker

There is also one more category of hackers who are popularly called Grey Hat Hackers. They’re hackers who check the network for vulnerabilities without the permission of the owner and report their findings to their owners in return for a sum of money.