A Hacker is a person who is intensely interested in the mysterious workings of any computer operating system. Hackers are most often programmers. They gather advanced knowledge of operating systems and programming languages and discover loopholes within systems and the reasons for such loopholes.
- White Hat Hackers: White hat hackers are the one who is authorized or the certified hackers who work for the government and organizations by performing penetration testing and identifying loopholes in their cybersecurity. They also ensure the protection from the malicious cyber crimes. They work under the rules and regulations provided by the government, that’s why they are called Ethical hackers or Cybersecurity experts.
- Black Hat Hackers: They are often called Crackers. Black Hat Hackers can gain the unauthorized access of your system and destroy your vital data. The method of attacking they use common hacking practices they have learned earlier. They are considered to be as criminals and can be easily identified because of their malicious actions.
- Gray Hat Hackers: Gray hat hackers fall somewhere in the category between white hat and black hat hackers. They are not legally authorized hackers. They work with both good and bad intentions; they can use their skills for personal gain. It all depends upon the hacker. If a gray hat hacker uses his skill for his personal gains, he/she is considered as black hat hackers.
- Script Kiddies: They are the most dangerous people in terms of hackers. A Script kiddie is an unskilled person who uses scripts or downloads tools available for hacking provided by other hackers. They attempt to attack computer systems and networks and deface websites. Their main purpose is to impress their friends and society. Generally, Script Kiddies are juveniles who are unskilled about hacking.
- Green Hat Hackers: They are also amateurs in the world of hacking but they are bit different from script kiddies. They care about hacking and strive to become full-blown hackers. They are inspired by the hackers and ask them few questions about. While hackers are answering their question they will listen to its novelty.
- Blue Hat Hackers: They are much like the white hat hackers; they work for companies for security testing of their software right before the product launch. Blue hat hackers are outsourced by the company unlike white hat hackers which are employed by the (part of the) company.
- Red Hat Hackers: They are also known as the eagle-eyed hackers. Like white hat hackers, red hat hackers also aims to halt the black hat hackers. There is a major difference in the way they operate. They become ruthless while dealing with malware actions of the black hat hackers. Red hat hacker will keep on attacking the hacker aggressively that the hacker may know it as well have to replace the whole system.
- State/Nation Sponsored Hackers: State or Nation sponsored hackers are those who are appointed by the government to provide them cybersecurity and to gain confidential information from other countries to stay at the top or to avoid any kind of danger to the country. They are highly paid government workers.
- Hacktivist: These are also called the online versions of the activists. Hacktivist is a hacker or a group of anonymous hackers who gain unauthorized access to government’s computer files and networks for further social or political ends.
- Malicious Insider or Whistleblower: A malicious insider or a whistleblower could be an employee of a company or a government agency with a grudge or a strategic employee who becomes aware of any illegal activities happening within the organization and can blackmail the organization for his/her personal gain.