Why Hackers Hack: The Profile

Hackers typically fall into three distinct categories: black hat, white hat, and grey hat.

Black hats are hackers who violate computer security with malicious intent, while white hats test existing internet infrastructures to find loopholes or bugs in the system, typically to improve security. Grey hats fall somewhere in between, often breaking into systems illegally but without malicious intent.

There are also many subtypes of black, white, and grey hat hackers with various means and motives, from the novice script kiddie to the nation-state terrorist.