Types of Hackers
Table of Contents
Introduction
A hacker is a person skilled in cybersecurity and computer stuff, who can identify vulnerability within systems and potentially exploit them according to his goal.
There are various types of hackers, depends upon different aspects. Some classifications are following :
Classification by Intent
Most common classifications of hacker is by their intent either they are malicious, ethical or both. In this classification 3 types of hackers are following:
Black hat hacker
Black hat hacker are those hacker who does things illegally, they do not care of any laws. Black hat hackers performs illegal hacking activities for their personal profit. These are generally considered bad for societies. They exploit vulnerabilities for financial gain, data theft/leakage, and destruction. They conduct malware attacks, ransomware attack, develop malware, launches DDos and other harmful cyber attacks.
White hat hacker
White hat hackers are those hackers who are generally works for making security more strong, they works individually or in a company and tests the systems and applications for improvements. They have the permissions to test and find the vulnerabilities and suggest the best fixes.
Grey hat hacker
A grey hat hacker generally have the both intentions of white & black hat hackers. They do not care of the permissions, and pushes their testing boundaries but may not with any malicious intent. But still they breaks the laws that makes their work theoretically illegal.
Classification by hacking skills
Each hackers have different types and levels of skills, some are beginner some are experts with unique expertise. Classification of hackers by skills are following :
Script kiddie
Script kiddies are the beginners who uses pre written scripts/tools to launch attacks without understanding underlying technology and how that works technically. It is the first stage of every hackers, it is the starting point nowadays.
Intermediate
As the name, Intermediate hackers are more skilled in systems and networking, and have solid understanding. They can modify the existing tools/scripts, understand/adopt the new technology and launch complex attacks.
Elite hacker
Elite hackers are the skilled professionals having extensive knowledge and experience. They can find zero-day vulnerabilities, write new exploits, and are very respected in the community. They have advanced/deep skills in may arias such as: programming, networking etc.
Classification by motivations
Every person have some thing that inspire him to do something, hacker launches different types of attack to fulfil their desire. Motivation can be differ such as Money, revenge etc.
Hacktivist
Hacktivist are those who perform hacking because of any political, social issues that they think is not going well and need some changes. Their targets are generally those organizations which hacktivist believe that they are unethical and need public exposer. They can leak sensitive data to expose wrongdoings.
Cyber terrorist
Cyber terrorist are those individual or group who uses politics, ideology and cyber attacks to spread their fear, cause damage, disruption etc. They want to make people panic or believe in their ideology.
Cyber criminals
Cyber criminals are generally motivated for financial or personal profit. They do ransomware attack, social engineering, stealing data/identity/credit card, online frauds etc.
State sponsored hacker
State sponsored hackers are hired by the governments to run cyber espionage, sabotage or warfare against rival country or organization.
Corporate hacker
Corporate hackers are hired by organization to disrupt rivals business, espionage , or damage the competitors to capture the market/customers. These hackers can be an insider threat.
Cybersecurity roles
A cybersecurity role describe about that individuals strong area of interest. In which field of cybersecurity that person is more proficient. Following three are major roles:
Red teamer
Red teamer have to simulate the actual cyber attack inside the organization to find the potential vulnerabilities so that they can be fixed. Red teamer have full authorization and permissions to perform attack and improve the overall security.
Blue teamer
Person in blue team have to continuously monitor the security, traffic, systems and detect possible threat/intrusions and have to respond against them. They implement security measures to keep the defense strong.
Purple teamer
Purple teamer are generally contains knowledge of both red and blue teamer. They understand both and act as a bridge between them. They can work with both teams, conduct trainings and other programs.
Professional
Following are some of the most popular professions in cybersecurity :
Security researcher
A security researcher conducts in-depth research on vulnerabilities, methodologies, techniques and created proof of concepts, publish it and do priceless contribution in cybersecurity field.
Penetration tester
A penetration tester is the skilled profession who have the authority to test the system, application and networks. They provide detailed reports on potential vulnerabilities and its remediation.
Bug bounty hunter
A bug bounty hunter individually search for vulnerabilities into application and systems and report them to companies through various bug bounty programs. In return they got prizes in form of bounty.
Specialized
Hacker with a strong grip in specific field are generally called related to that field. Such as following :
Crypto hacker
Crypto hackers are specialized in cryptocurrency and blockchains, they targets digital wallets, exchanges and smart contracts to get profit or disruption.
Hardware hackers
A hardware hacker keeps expertise in hardwares, they find hardware vulnerabilities, develop custom hardwares and do reverse engineering on physical devices. they understand hardware level protocols, circuit design, embedded systems etc.
Malware creator
Malware creators are specialized into creating malware like: viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware etc. They generally sell these tools to cyber criminals or use for attacking others.
Wifi hacker
A wifi hacker is expert int wireless communications, protocols and encryptions. They attack on wireless networks, break encryptions, intercept and manipulate communications.
Social engineer
Social engineer are very professional in tricking people. They play with people psychology, believes and somehow manipulate them to reveal the secrets. It is actually called phishing.
Insider hacker
In the world of information security, insider attacks are carried by authorized entity, it can be an employee, contractor or any partner itself.
Reverse engineer
A reverse engineer analyze compiled software or hardware to understand its functionality without reading source code. They can find vulnerabilities, create bypasses, and modify its main functionality. Reverse engineer is that person who create game & software mod.
Phreakers
Phreakers are specialized in telecommunications, telephone systems and networks. They are generally famous for doing phone frauds. Nowadays these are known for attacking VoIP systems and telecommunications.
Whistle blower
Whistleblower exposes the illegal activity or unethical activities inside the organizations. They believe in transparency and may leak sensitive data to public to expose wrongdoings.
Summery
A hacker is generally a cybersecurity professional who are interested in cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is a very vast field in itself where each field is very interesting. And you can do various thing with it. Here we covered a very vast category of hacker (aka cybersecurity professional). We categories hacker by their intentions, skills, motivations, carrier etc. We explored each category in detailed, how they do is why they do.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between black hat, white hat, and grey hat hackers?➕
Black hat hackers perform illegal activities for personal gain, white hat hackers work ethically to improve security with proper authorization, and grey hat hackers operate without permission but may not have malicious intent, making their activities technically illegal.
What is a script kiddie in hacking?➕
A script kiddie is a beginner-level hacker who uses pre-written scripts and tools to launch attacks without understanding the underlying technology or how it works technically. It represents the entry point for most hackers.
What does a penetration tester do?➕
A penetration tester is an authorized professional who tests systems, applications, and networks for vulnerabilities, then provides detailed reports on potential security weaknesses and their remediation strategies.
What is the difference between red team and blue team in cybersecurity?➕
Red teamer simulate actual cyber attacks to find vulnerabilities with full authorization, while blue teamer continuously monitor security, detect threats, and implement defensive measures to protect systems.
What motivates hacktivists to hack?➕
Hacktivists are motivated by political or social issues they believe need change. They target organizations they consider unethical and may leak sensitive data to expose wrongdoings and raise public awareness.
How do bug bounty hunters make money?➕
Bug bounty hunters independently search for vulnerabilities in applications and systems, then report them to companies through official bug bounty programs. In return, they receive monetary rewards (bounties) based on the severity of the discovered vulnerabilities.
What is a social engineer in cybersecurity?➕
A social engineer is a hacker who specializes in manipulating human psychology and beliefs to trick people into revealing secrets or sensitive information, commonly through phishing and other deceptive techniques.
What are state-sponsored hackers?➕
State-sponsored hackers are professionals hired by governments to conduct cyber espionage, sabotage, or cyber warfare against rival countries or organizations as part of national security operations.
What does a reverse engineer do in cybersecurity?➕
A reverse engineer analyzes compiled software or hardware to understand its functionality without accessing source code. They can discover vulnerabilities, create bypasses, modify functionality, and are known for creating software and game modifications.
What is the difference between cyber criminals and cyber terrorists?➕
Cyber criminals are motivated by financial or personal profit through activities like ransomware, identity theft, and online fraud, while cyber terrorists use cyber attacks to spread fear, cause disruption, and promote political or ideological agendas.