EC- Ethical vs Unethical Hacker Lesson

Ethical vs Unethical Hacker

You have probably heard of the term hacker. A hacker  is used to refer to an intruder that breaks into a computer system. On the other hand, hackers can break into computer systems legally to identify vulnerabilities in computer systems. .

In this lesson, you will learn about the ethics and legality around hacking, specifically the differences between black hat and white hat hackers and the potential impact.

Technology has rapidly changed in the world. Bringing new innovations and resources to help us navigate through the technological world. Although a lot of the evolution of technology has resulted in resources that help us work and navigate in a modern world with ease, technology has also opened up the door to security vulnerabilities that can easily be exploited by cyber criminals.

Those cyber criminals are referred to as hackers. A hacker can be defined as a person who uses computers to gain unauthorized access to data. When you think of the image of a hacker, you may think of a dark web cybercriminal, but that can be misleading. In addition to the unethical or malicious hackers, there are also ethical hackers who use their skills to test and improve cybersecurity.

Let’s put a little perspective behind hackers.

Ethical hackers are referred to as a White Hat hacker and the unethical hacker would be referred to as a Black Hat hacker. The terms White Hat and Black Hat refer to the motives and practices of a  hacker. I know you may have seen some pictures or movies of the Old Westerns where symbolism was apparent to small details like clothing, like their hats. In those Old Westerns the good guys would wear a white hat and the bad guys would wear black hats. Due to those comparisons, people apply the two with ethical and unethical hackers.

Dive a little deeper by understanding the differences in the two types of hackers.

Take a moment to review what you have learned about hackers in this lesson.

Read the Hackers Learning Object below.

Complete the Hackers Self-Assessment learning object below.

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