Hackers and Security

Well, as a computer programmer I like the idea of having a few free spirited people out there doing things a little different. Its interesting to see the Wikipedia article on Hackers, and to see the different types of hackers there are.

• Hacker may mean simply a person with mastery of computers; however the mass media most often uses "hacker" as synonymous with a (usually criminal) computer intruder. See hacker, and Hacker definition controversy.

• White hat:An ethical hacker who breaks security but who does so for altruistic or at least non-malicious reasons. White hats generally have a clearly defined code of ethics, and will often attempt to work with a manufacturer or owner to improve discovered security weaknesses, although many reserve the implicit or explicit threat of public disclosure after a "reasonable" time as a prod to ensure timely response from a corporate entity. The term is also used to describe hackers who work to deliberately design and code more secure systems. To white hats, the darker the hat, the more the ethics of the activity can be considered dubious. Conversely, black hats may claim the lighter the hat, the more the ethics of the activity are lost.

• Grey hat: A hacker of ambiguous ethics and/or borderline legality, often frankly admitted.

• Blue Hat: Refers to outside computer security consulting firms that are used to bug test a system prior to its launch, looking for exploits so they can be closed. The term has also been associated with a roughly annual security conference by Microsoft, the unofficial name coming from the blue color associated with Microsoft employee badges. Also see Big Blue.

• Black Hat: Someone who subverts computer security without authorization or who uses technology (usually a computer or the Internet) for terrorism, vandalism, credit card fraud, identity theft, intellectual property theft, or many other types of crime. This can mean taking control of a remote computer through a network, or software cracking.

• Cracker:
  1. A black hat hacker. Often used to differentiate black hat hackers and the general (positive) sense of hacker. The use of the term began to spread around 1983, probably introduced both due to similar phonetic sound and as construction from the historical slang of safe cracker. Also theorized by some to be a portmanteau of the words criminal and hacker.
  2. A security hacker who uses password cracking or brute force attacks. Related to the term safe cracker.
  3. A software cracker. A person specialized in working around copy protection mechanisms in software. Note that software crackers are not involved in exploiting networks, but copy protected software.

• Script kiddie: A pejorative term for a computer intruder with little or no skill; a person who simply follows directions or uses a cook-book approach without fully understanding the meaning of the steps they are performing.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Looks like a Script Kiddie to me LOL
  
  
  
  
  
  As I look at this list of "hacker types" I see some good, some bad, some I could use as friends, and some I'd hate to have as enemies.
  I could see myself possible being a White or Blue hat if i wanted to. I like the idea of getting paid to do what others go to jail for and being able to say, "Yeah I helped make that system hacker proof, or hacker resistant." These are the kind computer people who love what they do and have strong moral values :-P
  Its those Green and Black hats I'm worried about. In most senses the color green means go, I'd like them to STOP. hehe. Borderline legal, could be good, could be bad, but no moral/ethical code to stand on????? Not sure its better for everyone to have these Green hats. Black hats, The people you buy Norton SystemWorks and Norton Internet Security for. These guys what all your money, all your information, basically they want you AND your identity. Now there are some things that these Black hats do that computer users may like, but is not LEGAL or right.
  
  
  • Cracking Software - breaking the security features of intellectual property and making these programs "free" to use. Usually done for high end software ranging from $150 - $1000. Some times Games too :-) --Logan Taylor
  In the current world we live in all the hats work side by side to give us the online communities we have and things we use everyday. This very blog service for instances was probably tested by a blue hat firm or one that Google has inside its payroll. As I looked for security stories on CNN I had issues using the links. The stories may have gone out of date because the stories i clicked on said,"
  
  
  
  
  The page you requested cannot be found. The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.
  
  
  Please try the following:
  • If you typed the page address in the Address bar, make sure that it is spelled correctly.
  • Open the www.cnn.com home page and look for links to the information you want.
  • Use the navigation bar on the left to find the link you are looking for.
  • Click the Back button to try another link.
  • Enter a term in the search form below to look for information on CNN sites or the Internet.
  
  Maybe a Black Hat changed the links so he wouldn't get caught?!?!?!?!?!?! All things are possible ;-)