Hacking has become an integral intelligence-gathering tool for governments, but it is more common for black hat hackers to work alone or with organized crime organizations for easy money. Some develop and sell malicious software themselves, but others prefer to work through franchises or leasing arrangements – again, similar to the legitimate business world.

Many get their 'jobs' through forums and other connections on the dark web. Black hat malware kits sold on the dark web occasionally even include warranties and customer service.īlack hat hackers often develop specialties, such as phishing or managing remote access tools. The leading black hats tend to be skilled hackers who work for sophisticated criminal organizations which sometimes provide collaboration tools for their workers and offer service agreements to customers, just like legitimate businesses. Some are trained to hack by bosses eager to make money quickly. What is a black hat hacker?īlack hat hackers often start as novice ' script kiddies' using purchased hacker tools to exploit security lapses. Sometimes their motivation might be ideological, by targeting people they strongly disagree with. They may also release malware that destroys files, holds computers hostage, or steals passwords, credit card numbers, and other personal information.īlack hats are motivated by self-serving reasons, such as financial gain, revenge, or simply to spread havoc.

Black hat hacker definitionīlack hat hackers are criminals who break into computer networks with malicious intent. The terms derive from the old Western movies of American popular culture, where the protagonists wore white or light-colored hats, and the antagonists wore black hats.Įssentially, what determines the type of hacker is their motivation and whether they are breaking the law. If you watch the news and keep up with technology, you know what a hacker is, but you may not realize hackers fall into different categories known as black hat, white hat, and gray hat.

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