Hackers are like thieves. They pry into your computers and steal sensitive information, using various techniques. Hackers are called different names. They are cybercriminals, hacktivists, script kiddies, scammers, and lots more. In this short content, we are going to look at the classifications of hackers we have, and their techniques used to commit crimes.

TYPES OF HACKERS

  1. Black hat hackers: Black hat hackers are also known as unethical hackers or a security cracker. These set of people are self-centered, as their goal is to illegally steal money or to fulfill their own illegal goal. They target banks or other financial institutions with weak security and steal money and credit card information. They also destroy sensible data as well.
  2. White hat hackers: White hat hackers are also known as ethical hackers or a penetration tester. They are often viewed as “the good hackers”. They adopt the same techniques used by the black hackers. They hack the system, but the difference is they hack the system that they have permission to hack with the aim of testing the security of the system. They focus on security and protecting the IT system. This hacking technique is legal.
  3. Gray hat hackers: These are hybrid hackers: A combination of both black hat hackers and white hat hackers. They can hack into any system even if they don’t have permission to test the security, but they never steal or damage the system. In most cases, the administrator of the system is aware. They are termed illegal because they hack into security systems to test, even when they do not have the permission. Grey hat hackers are sometimes termed illegal and non-illegal.

These are the top three classifications of hackers. Its always important to have knowledge of malicious activities happening in your cyber space. These hackers perform their duties using different techniques such as:

  1. Phishing: This is a type of social engineering where an attacker tricks a user into revealing sensitive information to the attacker. Our inboxes are filled with phishing messages daily. It’s always important to be aware of this attack and be smart enough to detect a phishing message from a secured message.
  2. Bait and Switch Attack: This is a popular hacking technique. They use trusted marketing methods such as paid-for advertising on websites, to trick the users into visiting malicious sites. When some websites pay advertising space, it can be bought by rogue attackers. The advertisement can be replaced with a bad link that can be used to install malware and compromise your computer systems.
  3. Clickjacking Attacks: This form of hacking tricks you into clicking on something different from what you thought you were clicking. The clickjacking could be a button or element on a web page that when clicked, performs another function, allowing others to take control of your computer.

CONCLUSION

These are, though not limited to, examples of some popular hacking techniques in the world today. As a user, it is very important to have knowledge of these attacks, to be able to identify, and protect them from occurring in your devices.

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