The term 'hack' originally meant to make something work better or to make it do something that it wasn't meant to do. Later, 'hackers' gained a reputation for breaking something or worse, and the industry began color-coding hackers into white, black or grey hats to separate hackers into good, bad and something in between. According to security experts, all hackers use the same hacking tools; it's they way the use them that separates the good from the bad.

White hat hackers, a.k.a. ethical hackers: They are experienced security professionals who are paid by governments and commercial companies to carry out penetration testing of their networks to pinpoint vulnerabilities. They will usually have a background in hacking but they steer away from doing anything illegal or malicious. They keep abreast of hacking techniques by attending hacking conferences and participating in hacking groups. Experienced ethical hackers are often well known in the security sector and share their knowledge by publishing security papers and speaking at conferences.

Black hat hackers: They can be young "joy rider" hackers who like to test their own skills and view hacking as a challenge and a game, but are not out to do damage. They also can be hackers who are out to do real harm, often for monetary gain through phishing attempts or stealing personal identification details. They may be part of a criminal syndicate and are considered by some security experts as highly technical and sophisticated.

Gray hat hackers: There doesn't appear to be a standard definition for gray hats, but according to Shon Harris, president of Logical Security and a former engineer in the Information Warfare unit of the Air Force, gray hats are usually interested in finding vulnerabilities with products. Once they find them they are met with an ethical or moral choice: Should they post the vulnerability on the Web and build an exploit tool, or should they keep the exploit under wraps and work with the vendor and security groups to create a fix? "It's the black hats who put the vulnerability on the Web. Gray hats work with CERT and the vendors directly," Harris says.

Back to Management Strategies: "Hackers for hire"