What is The Difference Between Black Hat, Grey Hat & White Hat Hackers

We all know that Hackers are of three types, White hat, Grey hat and Black hat. Let me tell you, these terms define different groups of hackers based on their behavior. If you are confused between White Hat, Black Hat and Grey hat, then this article will clear all your doubts.


If you think the hacker is basically someone who breaks into computer networks or stand-alone private computer systems for the challenge of it or because they want to profit from their natural hacking capabilities, then you are wrong.

Hacking is not a crime unless and until you do it to get unauthorized access. We all know that Hackers are of three types, White hat, Grey hat and Black hat. Let me tell you, these terms define different groups of hackers based on their behavior.

Here in this article, we will talk about different hats, and what do they actually mean. If you are confused between White Hat, Black Hat and Grey hat, then this article will clear all your doubts.

Black Hat

Black Hat hacking is a type of hacking in which hacker is a villain. Unlike all other hackers, black hat hackers usually have extensive knowledge about computer networks and security protocols. However, they use their skills to steal, damage the vulnerable device. For example, if a system has a vulnerability, then black hat hacker will search for it and will break into it to steal the information and then damage the whole system.

In short, Black hat hackers are the bad guys who will never think twice to steal your credit card details to hack into your bank account.

White Hat

White hat hackers are also known as “Ethical hackers” the working procedure of Black hat and White hat are almost same. But, white hat hackers are the good guys who work for the companies as security specialists that get paid for finding security holes with the help of their hacking capabilities.

There is another major difference between a Black hat and White Hat hackers. White hat hackers do everything with permissions from the owner of the system administrator, which makes it completely legal. White hat hacker after finding any vulnerability would disclose it to the developer, allowing them to patch their product and improve the security before it’s compromised.

Grey Hat

Grey hat hackers are a blend of both Black hat and white hat activities but they are less skilled compared to the black hat or white hat. Grey hat hackers are not bad guys, they look for vulnerabilities in the system without the permission. If issues are found, they report it to the owner, sometimes they request a small fee for discovering and fixing the problem if the owner doesn’t respond, they post the vulnerability in the public forum for the world to see.

So, Grey hat hackers are the good guys who become bad if they were not credited for their work. However, Grey hat hacking is considered illegal, since the hacker didn’t receive permission from the owner to find vulnerabilities in the system.

So, these are the actual difference between Black Hat, Grey hat, and White hat hackers. Hope this article has cleared all your doubts. Share it with your friends too!

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