If there’s something strange in your IT network, who ya gonna call?
18th June 2024 | Modified: 12th June 2024Categories: Security
This time 40 years ago in June 1984, Ghostbusters was the number one film. Back then, all you had to worry about was running into a 600 hundred pound Twinkie, thirty-five feet long. Luckily, at the time you could call the Ghostbusters to clean up.
Fast forward to the present. Today’s scary monsters are called cyber criminals. But, just like Ghostbusters, some ghosts in the film were benign and some were horribly scary. So, here’s how to tell the difference between a good hacker and a bad hacker.
So, here’s how to tell the difference between a good hacker and a bad hacker”
Hackers, would you believe come in a variety of hats, colours and ethical beliefs? Why Hats? The short version is that’s how you tell the hackers apart. It’s a visual explanation that comes from the old western movies back in the 50’s and 60’s. Remember how the good guy always wore a white hat, and the bad guy wore a black hat? It’s the same with hackers. Here’s who they are, just in case you bump into one in the street.
White Hat Hackers: Like in the movie, these are the good guys, otherwise known as ethical hackers. They essentially use their hacking skills for good, they will help to improve your IT security by finding vulnerabilities and the like, and then help you to plug the gap.
Grey Hats: They sit in between the black and the white hats, a sort of semi-bad if you will. They might enter, but not ruin your infrastructure, or rob you for personal gain.
Red Hats: A more aggressive version of a white hat, when it comes to beating black hats.
Blue Hats: Usually an outside resource that comes to test your system before it goes live.
Green Hats: These are the L-plate learners of the hacking industry, and as such, haven’t decided whether to go good or bad, as yet.
Purple Hats: User-friendly, they practice their skills on kits they may own themselves, to test their skills. Harmless, nothing to worry about essentially.
Black Hats: The villain, the evil-doer. The mindless breaking into a network, looking to disrupt, steal; the worst of all the cyber hackers. These are the ones who cause reputational damage, these are the ones you read about holding companies to ransom until it’s paid. They launch DDOS attacks, send phishing emails, and malware, use identity fraud and everything else to enter a business. These are indeed the worst characters in the cybersecurity landscape.
At CNC, a FluidOne company, we only have Red Teams, so if you need any help in keeping the bad hats out of your IT, now you know who ya gonna call!
Please contact the team at: sales@cnc-ltd.co.uk or call us on 01273 384 100.
