His book Takedown was later adapted to a film called Track Down. The founder of Neofocal Systems used his security skills for ethical purposes and played a crucial role in bringing Kevin Mitnick to justice. He was one of the leading researchers who first raised awareness of cell phones' lack of security and privacy. A computational physics research scientist, Shimomura also worked for the US National Security Agency. Following his release, he became a cybersecurity consultant who uses his hacking knowledge for white hat hacking purposes.Īnother well-known example is Tsutomu Shimomura, who is a cybersecurity expert credited with tracking down Kevin Mitnick. He was subsequently arrested and served time in jail. As a black hat hacker, he hacked into over 40 major corporations, including IBM and Motorola, and even the US National Defense warning system. One of the most famous black hat hackers is Kevin Mitnick, who, at one point, was the most wanted cybercriminal in the world. Although authorities sometimes succeed in shutting down a hacking site in one country, the same operation may run elsewhere, allowing the group to keep going. The challenges for law enforcement are that hackers often leave little evidence, use the computers of unsuspecting victims, and cross multiple jurisdictions. In these cases, attack bots roam the internet to find unprotected computers to infiltrate, often through phishing, malware attachments, or links to compromised websites.īlack hat hacking is a global problem, which makes it extremely difficult to stop. Other hacks are swift and automated and don't involve human contact. To add further insult, the victim is typically charged an exorbitant fee for this "help." By granting access or downloading the recommended software, the victim inadvertently enables criminals to harvest passwords and banking information or surreptitiously take over the computer and use it to launch attacks on others. In this scam, the hacker tries to convince potential victims to allow remote access to their computers or download software. Some black hat organizations even have call centers, which they use to make outbound calls, pretending to work for a well-known technology organization such as Microsoft. Organizations boast partners, resellers, vendors, and associates, and they buy and sell licenses for malware to other criminal organizations for use in new regions or markets. Hacking can operate like big business, the scale of which makes it easy to distribute malicious software. Hacking has become an integral intelligence-gathering tool for governments, but it is more common for black hat hackers to work alone or with organized crime organizations for easy money. Some develop and sell malicious software themselves, but others prefer to work through franchises or leasing arrangements – again, similar to the legitimate business world. Many get their "jobs" through forums and other connections on the dark web. Black hat malware kits sold on the dark web occasionally even include warranties and customer service.īlack hat hackers often develop specialties, such as phishing or managing remote access tools. The leading black hats tend to be skilled hackers who work for sophisticated criminal organizations which sometimes provide collaboration tools for their workers and offer service agreements to customers, just like legitimate businesses. Some are trained to hack by bosses eager to make money quickly. What is a black hat hacker?īlack hat hackers often start as novice " script kiddies" using purchased hacker tools to exploit security lapses. Sometimes their motivation might be ideological, by targeting people they strongly disagree with. They may also release malware that destroys files, holds computers hostage, or steals passwords, credit card numbers, and other personal information.īlack hats are motivated by self-serving reasons, such as financial gain, revenge, or simply to spread havoc. The terms derive from the old Western movies of American popular culture, where the protagonists wore white or light-colored hats, and the antagonists wore black hats.Įssentially, what determines the type of hacker is their motivation and whether they are breaking the law.īlack hat hackers are criminals who break into computer networks with malicious intent. If you watch the news and keep up with technology, you know what a hacker is, but you may not realize hackers fall into different categories known as black hat, white hat, and gray hat.
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