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Hackers are among the most feared of cyber-crimes, and they are responsible for some of the largest breaches in recent memory.
But what exactly is hacking? It can mean different things to different people, but it boils down to taking advantage of security vulnerabilities or mistakes to compromise systems, steal data and cause chaos.
This blog post explores seven of the most common types of hackers and how to use them to your advantage.
1) Dark Web
The dark web is a small part of the internet that cannot be accessed without special software.
It is used for many things, such as storing and sharing sensitive data, trading goods, or talking about topics that are not allowed in the surface web world.
You can also find illegal items like drugs or weapons on the dark web.
2) Black Hat
Black Hat hackers are the most dangerous, with malicious intent.
They want to steal information for their own personal gain or to wreak havoc on the system.
Black hat hackers may not have skills in programming, but they can typically find a way around any security measure through persistence.
Some common methods they use are: brute force attack, social engineering, password cracking, denial of service attack, and man-in-the-middle attack.
Brute force is a simple method that involves trying every possible key or password until it finds one that works.
Social engineering is when an attacker tricks an employee into giving up sensitive information by pretending he's someone else or doesn't need access to certain information because he doesn't work in that department.
3) White Hat
White hat hackers are the good guys. They use their skills for the purpose of providing a service for people.
This includes penetration testing and security audits. In this blog post, you'll learn more about white hats, including what they do, how they do it, and what you can expect from them as clients. What is Penetration Testing? What is Security Audit?
4) Gray Hat
Gray Hat hackers are the good guys. They use their hacking skills for good purposes, like finding security flaws in software before the bad guys do.
These hackers typically don't violate any laws because their actions are ethical, but they can still get you fired or fined if you're not careful.
Be sure to let a company know that you're doing an ethical hack so they don't think you're trying to steal information from them.
5) Watch Dog
The Watch Dog is the most common type of hacker. They simply monitor the actions and behavior of other people, reporting their findings to law enforcement, or just for personal enjoyment.
There are several ways that hackers can watch someone; they can monitor phone lines, emails, bank transactions, or anything else that a person accesses electronically.
6) Lulzsec
Lulzsec is a hacking group that has been around since 2011.
They are most known for their hacks against Sony Pictures, where they released millions of private e-mails, passwords, chat logs, and film scripts.
Their name is derived from the internet slang lol meaning laugh out loud.
Lulzsec's targets have included Sony Pictures, PBS, the FBI InfraGard program website, CIA.gov (albeit only temporarily), 20th Century Fox (again only temporarily) Yahoo!, WWE, Nintendo TVii site for Wii U consoles and more recently EA Sports' Madden NFL 25 website.
This group is considered to be skilled at releasing sensitive data without getting caught by authorities or any other hackers who might try to stop them before they can do any damage.
7) Script Kiddies
Script kiddies are the low-level hackers that don't have the skills, expertise, or know-how to actually write code.
They use other people's code that they find through Google searches or by reading other hacker's blog posts.
Script kiddies are most likely using a script someone else has written in order to break into a system.
These people will usually attempt to download as much information as possible from your site, including your passwords and bank account numbers.
If you see activity like this on your site, you should change all of your passwords immediately.
Conclusion
Hackers are not all the same. There are many different types of hackers, each with their own set of skills.
It is important to understand which type you need before hiring a hacker. Find out more by reading this blog post on what are the 7 types of hackers?