Gone are the days when hackers entertained themselves with a bit of all-night geek hijinks and energy drinks. Today’s hacker is a skilled professional with a serious job.
Black hat hackers use their skills to exploit vulnerabilities for malicious purposes. They may also operate as a business, selling zero-day exploits to other hackers.
Harnessing Other People’s Computing Power
Like the cowboys in Western movies, hackers are divided into different types according to their motives. White hat hackers probe cybersecurity weaknesses to help companies improve security; black hats hack into systems for financial or malicious reasons; and gray hat hackers operate in the nebulous area between the good and the bad.
The origins of hacking are in the do-it-yourself counterculture of the 1960s when people tinkered with electronic model trains and switched to computers. Today, hackers are the equivalent of engineers. Still, instead of designing physical objects, they modify software and computer hardware to achieve a particular purpose, such as creating new software features or making their computers faster.
Some hackers, such as the members of Anonymous, are akin to self-styled vigilantes. They believe the government must be transparent to its citizens, so they hack into government websites and publish the results online through sites such as Wikileaks. Although they may break the law, these hackers do not consider themselves criminals.
Hacking for Political Purposes
One of the most disturbing types of hacking involves political or social agendas. This type of hacking, called hacktivism, often leads to the disclosure of confidential information that can lead to protests, civil disobedience, or other forms of social change. This type of hacking is often sparked by an ideology or firm beliefs that hackers feel need to be upheld, such as freedom of speech or human rights.
The infamous hacker group known as Anonymous is a well-known example of this type of activism. This group has been responsible for many hacking incidents to bring about social or political change. These attacks may include website defacements, data breaches, DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks, and leaks of private information about public figures and organizations.
Hacktivists are usually not after monetary gain but rather the satisfaction of exposing injustice or the need to express their views. They also want to earn street cred in the hacker subculture and raise media attention for their cause.
It is becoming more and more possible for criminal groups to blackmail companies through ransomware, cryptolockers, or other types of hacking technology. They can threaten to reveal confidential or proprietary information or even demand a CEO’s firing or a prisoner’s release in exchange for payment.
Hacking for the Thrill
Most hackers have a specific goal: to make money, impress an online community or achieve a political end. But there’s also a class of hackers in it for the thrill. These hackers may break into networks and computer systems to feel the rush of seeing how much damage they can do.
Some of these hackers, known as script kiddies, lack advanced technical skills and use pre-existing tools to attack vulnerable systems primarily for amusement and personal satisfaction. Others, known as “hacktivists,” have a more political agenda, such as preserving free speech or exposing human rights violations. These hackers often target governments, although their nation-states fund them.
Another group of hackers, known as gray hat hackers, has bridged the gap between white hat and black hat hacking techniques. They may not be as skilled as a black hat hacker, but they don’t have the same motivations as a white hat hacker.
These hackers aren’t as common as the other types of hackers, but they still pose a significant cybersecurity threat. Whether they’re trying to make money, impress an online community or prove their hacking prowess, they can cause serious damage by disrupting the security of business networks and computer systems. This can lead to stolen information, unauthorized access and even malware attacks.
Hacking for Profit
As mentioned above, hackers can hack for a variety of reasons. Some hack to make money, usually by stealing sensitive information like passwords or credit card details and then selling them on the dark web or other criminal markets. Others use malware or ransomware to extort money from victims by blocking access to important files until payment is made. These hackers are typically called black hats and can be quite dangerous.
Some hackers hack for political or social change. This is known as hacktivism, and examples include WikiLeaks, LulzSec, and Anonymous. These hackers may try to gain street cred within the hacker subculture by gaining attention for their attacks by publicizing private communications or vandalizing websites that support a particular cause. Other hackers hack for espionage, either from a corporate or government perspective.
Many hackers don’t continue hacking for a living after they get caught, but instead take their skills and expertise and start a security business to test companies’ cybersecurity. This is often a safer and more reliable way to make money from hacking than continuing to commit crimes in the criminal underground. Some hackers also turn to consulting to help organizations protect against cyber threats. This type of consulting can be lucrative as the market for protecting against cyber threats continues to grow and expand.