Black hat

For other uses, see Black hat (disambiguation).

A black-hat hacker is a hacker who "violates computer security for little reason beyond maliciousness or for personal gain".[1]

The term was coined by Richard Stallman, to contrast the maliciousness of a criminal hacker versus the spirit of playfulness and exploration of hacker culture, or the ethos of the white-hat hacker, who performs hackerly duties to identify places to repair.[2] The black-hat and white-hat terminology originates in Western films, where heroic and antagonistic cowboys might traditionally wear a white and a black hat respectively.[3]

Black-hat hackers form the stereotypical, illegal hacking groups often portrayed in popular culture, and are "the epitome of all that the public fears in a computer criminal".[4] Black-hat hackers break into secure networks to destroy, modify, or steal data or to make the network unusable for those who are authorized to use the network.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Moore, Robert (2005). Cybercrime: Investigating High Technology Computer Crime. Matthew Bender & Company. p. 258. ISBN 1-59345-303-5.
  2. ↑ O'Brien, Marakas, James, George (2011). Management Information Systems. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/ Irwin. pp. 536–537. ISBN 978-0-07-752217-9.
  3. ↑ Wilhelm, Thomas; Andress, Jason (2010). Ninja Hacking: Unconventional Penetration Testing Tactics and Techniques. Elsevier. pp. 26–7.
  4. ↑ Moore, Robert (2006). Cybercrime: Investigating High-Technology Computer Crime (1st ed.). Cincinnati, Ohio: Anderson Publishing. ISBN 978-1-59345-303-9.
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