Black Hat Vs. White Hat: Taking A Glance At Ethical Hacking

In the old Western movies, it usually was easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys — the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys wore black. On the modern frontier of the online world, that color scheme has carried over to identify which computer experts are working to help strengthen cybersecurity, and which ones are working to undermine it. Although the popular conception of a “hacker” is of a cybercriminal using his or her skills for nefarious purposes, many organizations and networks today have hackers working on the side of angels.

These “white hat hackers” use many of the same techniques as their criminal counterparts — trying to break into networks, looking for weaknesses to exploit, bypassing security measures, etc. — but their goal is ultimately very different. Whereas malicious “black hat” hackers want to steal information and damage websites, white hat hackers work with network administrators and owners to identify security flaws and strengthen them. White hat hackers have become increasingly important for helping many organizations in the private and public sectors shore up their online security and protect against data breaches and other types of cyber attacks.

The accompanying guide contains some important facts about black and white hat hackers to help you understand the difference and what makes white hat hackers so vital to security.