GRAY HAT HACKER

  Gray hat hacker

A Gray hat is a computer hacker or computer security expert we may sometimes violate laws or typical Ethical standards, but does not have the malicious intent typical of a Black hat hacker.

Nothing in life is black and white, and neither is hacking.

Motives: Personal enjoyment.

Aims: Grey Hat hackers have all the skills of a Black and a White Hat hacker. The difference is, they don’t care about stealing from people, nor do they particularly want to help people. Instead, they like to play with systems and enjoy the challenge of finding gaps, breaking protections and generally just find hacking fun.

What That Means for You: Despite their skill set and the fact that they do break into systems, Grey Hat hackers will rarely do anything harmful. They break into things because they can, and then move on. Grey Hat hackers actually make up the majority of the hacking community, even though it’s the Black Hat’s most people know about.

You guessed it, the grey hat hacker is a mix of the white hat and black hat hackers. While the grey hat hacker might break some rules and violate laws, they usually don’t have the malicious intent that the black hat hacker has. The white hat hacker will always hack under supervision or prior consent, but the grey hat hacker will not go to the lengths to receive permission before breaking into systems.

When a grey hat hacker finds a vulnerability, instead of alerting the authorities or the company, they will most likely offer to repair it for a fee – utilizing it as an opportunity to make some financial gain. Grey hat hackers argue that they only violate the law to help others, but because of the nature of their breaking and entering – companies may choose to prosecute rather than appreciate the “help.”

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