Hats

Question

What are white hats and black hats

Answer 1

'Black hat' is a stylish way to describe their malicious motivations. Black hats are gifted but unethical computer users who are motivated by feelings of power and petty revenge. They are electronic thugs in every sense of the word, and they share the same personality traits as emotionally stunted teens who smash bus stop windows for personal satisfaction.

Different from the classic black hat hackers, white hat hackers are either driven by honorable motivations, or they are mercenaries working on honorable agendas. Also known as 'ethical hackers', white hats are talented computer security users often employed to help protect computer networks.

Some white hats are reformed black hats, like former convicts who take on work as store security guards. While they themselves may have been unethical in the past, their current vocation is considered a white hat.

Ethical hackers are motivated by a steady paycheck. It is not surprising to see ethical hackers spending those paychecks on very expensive personal computers in their personal lives, so they can play online games after work. As long as they have a good-paying job to support their personal habits, an ethical hacker is usually not motivated to destroy nor steal from their employer.

Special note: some white hat hackers are 'academic hackers'. These are computer artisans who are less interested in protecting systems, and more interested in creating clever programs and beautiful interfaces. Their motivation is to improve a system through alterations and additions. Academic hackers can be casual hobbyists, or they can be serious computer engineers working on their graduate-level degrees.
source: https://www.lifewire.com/black-hat-hacker-a-white-hat-hacker-4061415

Answer 2

Some white hat hackers aren't employed by anyone but try hacking to find security holes (they enjoy strengthening security and helping others). Note, that if you try to find security holes in someone's system without asking them, some people take that badly and may still prosecute!

Imagine if I tried testing your home security, and then told you "I managed to get into your bedroom, you should definitely buy more secure doors"! ☺

Answer 3

White hat hackers are hackers that get employed by companies like Google to hack into their systems/apps to expose vulnerabilities.
Black hat hackers are hackers which usually attack big company server systems illegally to for example leak user data.