The Gack Shack
The biggest mistake people make is putting all hackers in the same group as if they have a single purpose. This is often what the media does, and the public has fallen for this lie. You cannot attempt to categorize a hacker without first knowing why they performed the hack and what their goals were. The hacking community is somewhat divided on how to name different types of hackers, but generally speaking, these are the categories that most people agree upon:
White Hats – Also known as ‘ethical hackers,’ these hackers operate within the law. They stick to the hacker ethic, which states that a hacker should “do no harm.” They also work as cyber security experts and are hired to detect potential vulnerabilities in a system or network, and fix them. This type of hacker works with software vendors to patch any vulnerability in their software. White Hats usually do what they do as a public service. Their intent is to make the public aware of the threats out there so that people know how vulnerable a system is. However, they never publicly publish such data until the vendor of the software has done so themselves.
Black Hats – This type of hacker is often convinced that they are doing a public service, but in reality, their major motivation is power and money. They tend to penetrate networks so that they can steal or cause damage to data. They are driven by malicious hatred or anger against an organization or country. It is interesting to note that they got their name from the fact that villains in most cowboy Western movies wore black hats. Gray Hats – This term was originally introduced by a very famous
old-school hacking group who didn’t want to be associated with Black Hats yet weren’t keen on being branded as corporate security testers.
Gray Hats can be described as hackers who used to be Black Hats but have reformed and are now working as cyber security experts. They are sometimes defined as hackers who consult as well as gain illegal access to networks.
There are specific classes that fall under the Black and White Hat hacker categories mentioned above. These include:
Elite – These are the gurus of the hacking world. They have the skills and knowledge nobody else has. But what makes them extremely rare is their ethics and integrity. They often act as White Hats who know network infrastructure and have the programming knowledge to write their own tools. They aren’t motivated by criminal intentions and are more intent on detecting coding problems or security flaws and informing system administrators. You can only become an elite hacker by performing a well-known hack or exploit or maintaining longevity as a hacker.
Cyber Terrorists – This class of hacker goes beyond just crashing a network using a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. They thrive and love the fact that they can hide behind the veil of the web as they share information with each other. They are able to hide encrypted data in plain view such that only a fellow cyber criminal can find it. Governments all across the globe tend to hire these types of hackers to do their dirty business, ranging from simple spying to cyber warfare.
Script Kiddies – Nobody is as maligned or ridiculed as a script kiddie. This class of hacker is young, inexperienced, and unskilled in creating their own exploit tools. They use tools made by elite hackers, and can only hack systems that others have identified vulnerabilities in. They mostly hack for fun and are the ones whose exploits are commonly mentioned in the media. Their main achievements are usually DoS attacks and web page defacements.
Hacktivist – This is a combination of a hacker and an activist. They carry political, social, or religious agendas and can be quite tenacious. They deface websites and perform DoS attacks to put pressure on governments or organizations they consider are causing harm to a particular group of society.
Angry employees – These are people who have inside knowledge about an organization and use their access to gather information for themselves or others. They are considered extremely dangerous even though the public rarely gets to hear about them. Such hackers are normally quiet and shy but have narcissistic personalities. They turn on their employers whenever they believe that they have not been recognized for their work.
Virus Writers – These are people who take advantage of any weaknesses that a hacker has exposed, and go on to write code to exploit those vulnerabilities.
Classes of hackers
Skills Required for Hacking
As a beginner, there are some basic skills that you will need to develop if you are to progress in the world of hacking. These include:
1. Computer skills – You have to be knowledgeable in computer use and be able to understand written instructions. Browsing the internet aimlessly doesn’t count. Can you use the Windows command module? These basic skills are critical for every hacker worth their salt.
2. Working knowledge of Linux OS – Linux allows you to customize your programs, which is why hackers prefer it over Mac and Windows.
3. Database skills – Learning how to use database management systems like Oracle and MySQL will help you understand how to penetrate databases.
4. Networking skills – As a hacker who will be engaging in a lot of online activity, you should know about concepts like subnetting, DNS, ports, WPS passwords, and so on.
5. Scripting skills – You may not know how to code right now, but sooner or later you will have to learn. Every hacker needs to have their own hacking tools rather than depend on what others have created. Relying on tools made by other hackers leaves your system vulnerable to exploitation. Take time to learn some scripting languages such as Ruby on Rails or Python.
6. Reverse engineering skills – One of the most effective ways to develop a great hacking tool is to take an existing one, take it apart, and find a way to make it better. Such skills are invaluable for a hacker.
7. Use of virtualization software – This type of software allows you to safely test your hack on your own computer before you unleash it on somebody else. A good example is VMWare Workstation.