What are Hackers?
Hackers are experts who can breach the security of digital devices, networks, apps, and online accounts to get unauthorized access to the central dashboard, settings, and functionality of the involved digital components. They know how to find security vulnerabilities in a device, network, app, or program and how to exploit these vents for different purposes. Remember, not all hackers are the same in terms of their intentions and purposes when hacking devices, networks, and online accounts. Some of them hack for malicious purposes, while others use it for non-malicious purposes, which can include improving the present structure and fixing the security patches. So, there are different types of hackers with different names, labels, and levels denoting their skills, work intensity, and impact of their activities. So, our next topic is about the different types of hackers.
What are the Different Types of Hackers?
Broadly speaking, hackers fall into three categories: white hat, black hat, and gray hat. These categories are named after the intentions and purposes of the hacking activities. White hats are safe and ethical hackers who use their skills to find and improve possible vulnerabilities. Black hats are unethical hackers who bypass online security protocols and commit illegal activities such as stealing data, financial fraud, reputation damage, and exploitation. Grey hat hackers fall in between the lines. They hack without permission but do not use it to exploit individuals and organizations for personal gain or commit harmful activities. In addition, there are various subcategories of hackers who are somewhat complex in nature and work intentions. So, let’s discuss each of them to better understand each type!
White Hat Hackers
White hat hackers are legal and ethical hackers who use hacking activities to identify security weaknesses in a device, program, or system. Reputable organizations, software companies, and big IT firms pay these professionals for their services. In return, the organizations get the chance to improve their products and services in terms of security and online protection. They can mend the weaknesses in advance so that in the future, cybercriminals do not have any chance to exploit the vulnerabilities to promote their illicit actions.
Ethical hackers work as penetration testers or pen-testers in a firm. For example, a bank will hire professionals to test the online banking system. These professionals will launch deadly cyber attacks on the existing online monetary system.
In this process, they will find the vulnerabilities that provide ways to access a person’s data, transaction details, and important credentials. After this, they will run mock tests to steal money, commit fraud, and transfer money into unknown accounts. They will do everything that makes the situation worse for online banking services. During this whole process, all the weaknesses and gaps will show up. Now, banks will know how to improve their structures to make online transactions more secure and immune to scams, spam, and fraud. Ethical hackers work as penetration testers or pen-testers in a firm. For example, a bank will hire professionals to test the online banking system. These professionals will launch deadly cyber attacks on the existing online monetary system.
Black Hat Hackers
Black hats are cyber criminals who slip past security mechanisms to access a system and information to commit illegal activities. They exploit system vulnerabilities and protection gaps to infiltrate online devices such as computers, laptops, phones, databases, and other gadgets. After this, they steal all a person’s or organization’s business and personal details. They use this information to commit every type of malicious activity and crime. They can steal money, hijack business processes, spread misinformation, damage reputation, and dismantle the whole work process and structure to nothing. Cybercriminals use every course of action to promote their illicit gains and extract money from their victims.
Cybercriminals use malicious software, viruses, spyware, ransomware, trojan horses, and phishing attacks to bypass system protection. In addition, they can use social engineering tactics and fake names to target their victims and get all the information from them to hijack their PCs and steal crucial information from them. In ransom attacks, they hijack your data and access points, completely blocking you from using the device. In such conditions, they demand a ransom to provide you access to the system. They can use spyware to monitor your online activities and search history. So, you are not safe when you confront black hat hackers in your virtual life incidents.
Grey Hat Hackers
Gray-hat hackers are somewhat ambiguous. They work to find security vulnerabilities in a system, bypass the established mechanisms, and access accounts, data, and systems without consent. But once they are successful, they do not exploit these weaknesses to commit fraud, scam, or promote illicit gain. Instead, they do this to flaunt their skills and abilities in the field. They want appreciation for their qualifications and expertise in hacking to gain public attention.
Some gray hat hackers think that they are doing a favor to the organization or person who is their target. They hack their systems, accounts, and connected end-points to let them know the security gaps in their virtual and digital infrastructure. They offer possible solutions to fix the underlying weaknesses and mend the protection patches to upgrade the organization’s safety. But, they can ask for money from the target company or person to deliver what defenselessness they have found and how to fix it. Although nobody likes anyone intruding on their company’s sensitive databases and systems, they get to fortify their important virtual and digital doors.
Grey hat hackers never exploit any vulnerability or weakness to commit any illegal action or crime that harms the company. Also, once they are done with their hacking and informing the target organization, they never retaliate or break in without the explicit approval of the company; their intentions are good and positive for a company or organization. Over time, they become permanent members of the testing teams of organizations’ protection protocols and mechanisms.
Subcategories of Different Types of Hackers
Some subcategories of hackers do not fall into the straight and squared labels mentioned above. Their work, intentions, and purposes vary in nature, scope, and commitment. Here is a detailed description of each:
Red Hat Hackers
Red hackers work against the malicious activities of black hats and cybercriminals. They pose themselves as the savior of the people from the antisocial and harmful hijackers. They aim to disrupt the malicious activities and establishments of the black hats. The techniques and methods used in the process are similar to those cybercriminals use. But, red hackers utilize these skills for the public good and welfare. They protect people from harmful elements and those who disrupt their normal lives. They often steal from the bad actors and deliver it to those wronged.
Blue Hat hackers
These are professionals who work in an organization or business to constantly test and improve the cybersecurity channels of its network and structure. They monitor suspicious activities and manage information gateways and access points to defend them from lurking dangers. In addition, the blue hats also practice real-time drills and experiments with the existing structure to find the possible vulnerabilities and mend the patches to further fortify the protection against potential dangers.
Purple Hat Hackers
These are self-trainers who focus on hacking their systems to develop a better understanding of online protection in a safe environment. It helps them explore and detect underlying weaknesses without inflicting any harm to others. They use these tactics to learn about ethical and unethical hacking and build measures to fix these issues.
Green Hat Hackers
These are inexperienced and novice individuals who are not well-equipped for security breaches. They use brute force, speculation, and basic tools to perpetrate a cyberattack and steal information. Due to a lack of proper knowledge and expertise in the field, these people can only disrupt and damage the system and devices targeted in the attack. They cannot affect the victim on a large scale or in an intensive way.
Hacktivists
Hacktivists are politically motivated and ideologically driven people who utilize hijacking skills to draw attention to specific issues, challenges, or injustices. They promote their ideology and work to fulfill their hijacking methods. They do various activities, such as dismantling a website and exposing confidential information to the masses. In this process, they use every means available to them, whether it is to violate the law of the state or disrupt the present systems.
Script Kiddies
Script Kids are new and inexperienced hackers who use tools and programs that have already been created and used in previous attacks. Since they lack an understanding of developing complex and powerful malicious codes, they rely on hands-on tools to commit fraud and cause mischief among the security frontlines. They have no aim or purpose behind their malicious activities. They just disrupt and cause mischief for the sake of it.
Botnet Hackers
These individuals launch large-scale online attacks using infected device networks. In these offensives, they promote DDoS, confidential data theft, spam campaigns, and online disruptions. First, they infect multiple devices and then prepare to coordinate attacks to infect target devices. After that, they monitor everything from a secure distance.
Crypto Hackers
These online hijackers target the cryptocurrency industry, illegally accessing accounts and stealing cryptocurrencies. They mostly launch cyberattacks to target platforms that have user wallets or other monetary exchange facilities.
Cryptojackers
These online hijackers target the cryptocurrency industry, illegally accessing accounts and stealing cryptocurrencies. They mostly launch cyberattacks to target platforms that have user wallets or other monetary exchange facilities.
Cyberterrorists
Cyberterrorists are some of the most dangerous hackers who use digital channels to disrupt important infrastructure, spread fear, or propagate ideological messages among the people of a state. In this process, they target government institutes, public utilities, transportation networks, or business supply chains across the country. With all these activities, they try to create confusion and instill fear among the masses. Their aim is to spread a particular ideology and a targeted political agenda, often at the bid of foreign powers and state enemies.
Elite Hackers
Elite hackers are highly skilled and sophisticated individuals who are capable of developing new and lethal malware, and viruses, and utilizing them to launch deadly cyber-attacks. These experts can use their skills to do both ethical and unethical hacking. They can use their skills for wider public goods or attack a public or private facility.
Gaming Hackers
Gaming hackers target innocent children in their cyber attacks. They steal login credentials and confidential data from an individual’s gaming device and illegally access the gaming accounts. In order to do so, they use various tactics such as social engineering, duped calls, messages, and phishing emails. Once they have all the information and credentials, they can utilize them to disrupt gameplay, commit scams, and completely cripple the gaming community.
Malicious Insiders
Malicious insiders are employees, individuals, and team members of an organization who have full access to confidential data and business information. These people can steal the data and sell it to other companies for financial gains, help hackers hack the main system to extract valuable information or disrupt the whole system to avenge personal enmity. These are the most dangerous antisocial elements that can sabotage the whole work process inside an organization.
Whistleblowers
Whistleblowers are often members of organizations or employees of a company who expose the illegal or unethical activities of their establishments. These are people who work at the higher ranks in an organization. As a result, they have full access to all the sensitive information and activities of the company or organization. These are the people who feel a sense of responsibility and higher morality for the good of the general public. So, they bring the issue to the public or state authorities.
State-Sponsored Hackers
These are legal and state-sponsored hackers who target businesses, foreign systems, and organizations that are involved in suspicious activities that go against the national interest of the country. These professionals engage in espionage, cyber warfare, and other covert operations. All these activities are done to safeguard the national interests of a country. These activities play a huge role in local and international politics and develop a country’s safe foreign and domestic policy. The state agencies pay for all the infrastructure, resources, and channels to carry out different operations.
How To Avoid Getting Hacked?
After discussing all the major and minor types of active hackers, the next challenge one faces is how to avoid getting hacked or defend themselves from deadly cyber-attacks. The following write-up outlines the crucial tips and tricks that can help you fortify your device and digital life against cyber attacks and malicious hackers. So let’s start taking them one by one:
Avoid Unsafe Online Sites
Some unsafe and harmful websites are loaded with malicious software and viruses. When you visit such websites using your device, these viruses can infect your PC. You can identify such malicious sites simply by looking at their URLs. It has HTTPS at the start, along with a lock pad. This signifies that the site you are visiting is safe and all the user data remains encrypted while he does any activity on the site. You can download files and do other online transactions with the site with these two signs. If you find them missing, then it is highly recommended that you check and make some inquiries about them before you do any activity with them.
Create Unique, Complex Passwords
Using strong, unique, and complex passwords to protect your device access, applications, online accounts, and important files is highly necessary. It will make them inaccessible to cybercriminals and black hats. Hackers won’t be able to barge into your account, breaching the strong password protection mechanisms. Also, it will help you keep the data secure and safe from malicious insiders who are always looking to harm you by stealing your precious data and disrupting the whole process.
Avoid Clicking Suspicious Links
Cybercriminals target victims by sending them fake emails attached to the phishing links. These links are manipulated to direct the users to an unknown and harmful site where they become victims of scams, frauds, and deadly viruses. Hence, make sure to avoid clicking unknown and suspicious links that come attached to emails from unknown senders. These are traps that guile innocent users to spam and scan them. So avoiding them is highly essential to keep yourself safe from potential dangers.
Use Multifactor Authentication
Multifactor authentication services are another important tip and tactic that can protect your crucial accounts and device access points from cybercriminals. It includes two sets of authentication processes to access your accounts and PC interface. In this process, you get messages, OTP, and email verification notifications along with your primary user ID and password to confirm that you are accessing your information and system. You will get an alert notification if anyone else tries to enter your accounts or system without your consent. You can deny the action by confirming in the email that it is not you. As a result, the stranger trying to access your system will not be able to enter it. Your system will automatically stop them from proceeding further and asking for confirmation.
Do not Connect to Public Wi-Fi Networks
Public Wi-Fi is an easy target for cybercriminals. They can manipulate them and fit them with spyware and ransomware. As soon as a user connects to them, these malware and viruses enter their devices. After that, black hats can get all the information about users’ online activities, important IDs, and passwords. They can lock users’ PCs and demand a ransom in order to decrypt the file. So it becomes a hopeless and vulnerable situation that has harmful effects on the whole business and personal life of a person. Hence, connecting to a public Wi-Fi connection is not safe when doing online activities. If you want to connect to any such service, make sure you connect to a reliable network that comes from the establishment you know well. Otherwise, avoiding it would be the best way to secure your digital doors.
Download Apps From Reliable Platforms
You should choose reliable and authentic platforms to download and install applications, programs, and software on your mobile, laptop, and computers. Using third-party platforms is not a secure option to get your online programs. They can be fake and tampered with malicious software that can damage your device, steal confidential data, and disrupt your common online activities. Hence, make sure you get your apps and programs from recognized platforms such as Google Play and the official websites of the relevant vendors. It will allow you to get original and fully protected solutions to meet your software needs. Even if you have to download anything from any third-party platform, investigate it and learn about its services and products at a deeper level.
Turn Off the Autofill Option
Autofill is not a good thing in terms of security and device protection. It provides a convenient way for malicious intruders to access your system and its crucial data. All the passwords and user IDs remain somewhere safe. Cybercriminals can track such locations quite easily and steal your confidential information effortlessly. Once they have the information, they can manipulate it to promote their malicious acts. Users become highly vulnerable in such situations. Therefore, if you want to avoid this uncomfortable situation, then you should turn off the autofill option. It will prevent cyberpunks from illegally accessing your official accounts and data.
Do Not Comply To All The Third-Party Permissions
Whenever you visit a website, download a file, or install an app on your PC, it asks for various permissions. In most cases, these permissions are not necessary to complete the relevant tasks. It allows unnecessary access to your photos, files, media, contacts, and many other parts of the device. So, deny them and try to complete the tasks without them. If necessary, you should investigate them before you approve them. You can save yourself from a lot of troubles down the line and keep your security intact in most cases.
Delete Temporary Files
Temporary files such as cached data, cookies, backup files, and log files take up a lot of space in your system storage. These files provide a comfortable passage for hackers to enter your system and smuggle all the personal data from it. In addition to this, your system performance slows down and fails to process the data appropriately. So, deleting these temporary files blocks the passage of online hackers and neutralizes their malicious activities. Hence, keeping your PC clean of temporary and unwanted data will help you a lot to enhance overall cybersecurity.
Download And Install Antivirus Software
Downloading and installing antivirus software on your device is one of the most important steps you should take to fend off hackers and protect your digital life from cyber-attacks. It detects and removes deadly malware, spyware, ransomware, and phishing attacks at the very outset. Robust antivirus software comes with all the premium tools and features that fortify your PC against malicious programs and online virus threats. Antivirus software protects your online privacy, secures your device network, and safeguards media files, documents, apps, and programs from hacking malware around the clock.
Final thoughts
In a digital world where threats constantly evolve, by staying informed and adopting strong security practices, you can significantly reduce your risk of becoming a target. Cybersecurity isn’t just a one-time action. it’s a continuous mindset. With the right habits and tools, you can outsmart most cyber threats and take control of your digital life.
