Way back last year, we wrote a post about the 7 types of hacker you should know about, and what the terms for them all mean. That post has been one of the most popular things we’ve ever published, and we’ve been asked a lot of follow up questions about it. So in the spirit of giving our readers what they want, we thought we would use this post to dive into 3 types of hackers that businesses will come across most often, and what each of them could mean to your business.
Black Hat Hackers
The single most common hacker type a business will come across, mainly because businesses represent a huge chunk of the black hat hackers target base. Black hat hackers are the stereotypical lurking-in-a-dark-room-stealing-all-your-money kind of hacker, and are all about profit and destruction. For a business, a black hat hacker represents a few different risks. They will look to steal valuable information such as credit card details, bank account access or customer data, and either use them for personal gain or sell them on the black market. They will try to root out sensitive information and use it to publicly defame your business, or they will simply execute DoS attacks and viruses to stop your business from functioning properly. The methods they use tend to be varied, but often fairly basic, preferring to exploit holes in systems rather than crack them directly. They represent the biggest threat to businesses, and the one your systems need to be most prepared to deal with.
Blue Hat Hackers
Blue hat hackers, while usually new to the hacking world, are more likely to target businesses. Blue hats are all about revenge, wreaking havoc and damaging those they feel have wronged them. For businesses, this could be someone who’s been fired, who’s been damaged by your company’s products or services in some way, or someone who simply has strong feelings against what you’re doing. This usually means that businesses in the public eye, potentially carrying out controversial work, are the most at risk. For example, environmental activist groups may try to hack the systems of businesses who test their products on animals, or who knowingly spread pollution. Blue hat hackers will set out to destroy or damage the business that has angered them, by leaking information, denying access to their resources, stealing funds or any other methods that might be damaging to your business.
White Hat Hackers
Businesses who come across white hat hackers only do so because they have sought them out. White hat hackers are people like us, who help you create secure IT systems and put protections in place against data breaches and cyber attacks. White hat hackers come in all shapes and sizes, from individuals, all the way up to complete organisations full of them (like us). For businesses, employing a white hat hacker means security and protection for your data, advice about how to operate and a highly qualified team to help you manage the fallout if there is a breach. Think of us like your own, personal security blanket, keeping your business safe from criminals.
At Bridewell, we are the good guys of the hacking world. As white hat hackers, we help businesses protect themselves against cyber risk on all fronts. Using a combination of cutting edge technology and years of industry best practice and knowledge, we identify the weaknesses in your business, fix and maintain them.
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