Cracker Hats

A black hat (also called a cracker or Darkside hacker) is a malicious hacker or criminal. This term is rarely used outside the security sector and by some modern programmers. The general public uses the term hacker to mean the same thing. In computer jargon the meaning of "hacker" can be much broader. The name comes from the opposite of white hat hackers.

Usually a Black Hat is a person who uses their knowledge of vulnerabilities and exploits for private, rather than to reveal either the general public or manufacturer for correction. Many Black Hats promote individual freedom and accessibility over privacy and security of the summons [edit]. Black Hats may seek to enlarge the holes in the systems, any attempt to patch software are generally done to prevent others from also compromising a system they have already obtained secure control over. A Black Hat hacker may have access to 0-day exploits (private software that exploits security vulnerabilities; 0-day exploits have not been distributed to the public). In the most extreme cases, Black Hats may work to cause damage maliciously, and / or make threats to do so as a means of blackmail.

Black Hat hacking is the act of compromising the security of a system without permission of an authorized party, usually with the intent of accessing computers connected to the network (activity somewhat similar circumvention devices prevention of copying of software - which may or may not be legal depending on the laws of a given country - is actually software cracking). The hacker term was coined by Richard Stallman to provide an alternative to the use of the existing word hacker for this meaning. The use of the term "cracker" is mostly limited (as "black hat") to certain areas of computing and security on the ground and it is even considered controversial. A definition of a group that calls themselves hackers refers to "a group that consists of skilled computer enthusiasts". The other, more common usage, refers to those trying to gain unauthorized access to computer systems. Many members of the first group attempt to convince people that intruders should be called crackers rather than hackers, but common usage remains the same.

Techniques for breaking into systems can involve advanced programming skills and social engineering, but most often will simply use semi-automatic software, developed by others - often without understanding how software itself works. Crackers who rely on the technique of the latter are often called script kiddies. common software weaknesses exploited include buffer overflow, integer overflow, memory corruption, the string format attacks, race conditions, cross-site scripting, request forgery Cross-site, code injection and SQL injection bugs.

The reference to colored hats comes from Hollywood's use of hats old black and white movies from the West to help the public the difference between good (white hats) and bad guys (black hats). The terms "hat" does not fall within the common usage. Even within the field of computers, they are very controversial.

A gray hat commonly refers to a hacker who disseminates information or any exploits security holes they find open to the public. They do so without worrying about how the information is used at the end (whether to patch or exploitation).

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