INVITATION TO CYBERSECURITY 44 Hacking hat colors are used to help distinguish legal hacking from criminal hacking. White hat hackers are individuals who hack legally and ethically. This means, ironically, that they gain unauthorized access to computers with authorization! Black hat hackers, on the other hand, are individuals who engage in illegal hacking. Most of this text is concerned with black hat hackers, so the qualifier black hat is usually omitted. There is also a third hat color that is sometimes used: gray hat hackers. Gray hat hackers are individuals who blur the lines between legal and illegal hacking and engage in both kinds. Hacking can be highly stimulating due to the combination of anonymity, social distance, and the pursuit of “forbidden fruit.” This overstimulation can cause hackers to get into a flow state and experience euphoria. This feeling can lead to addiction where hackers keep coming back and pushing boundaries seeking a rush. This desire can ultimately impair their sound judgment and lead to illegal activities. Gray hat hackers may also purposely disregard the law to accomplish what they feel are worthy cybersecurity ends. An example of this is hacking back, which is the practice of trying to hack somebody who has hacked you. It may sound legitimate, but gaining unauthorized access to a computer is illegal, even if the other person hacked you first. Some have tried to argue that hacking back is an act of self-defense, but self-defense does not carry the same weight in cyberspace as it does in physical space. In cyberspace, hackers pose no imminent threat of physical danger. Hacking hat colors are derived from old western films. In those movies, it was often the case that the good, law-abiding, and heroic cowboy, like the famous actor Roy Rogers, would wear a white hat, whereas the villainous cowboys would wear black hats (see Figure 3.1). Figure 3.1 Roy Rogers wearing a white hat in an old western movie poster.
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