Grey hat Grey hat The term "grey hat", alternatively spelled as "greyhat" or "gray hat", refers to a computer hacker or computer security expert who may sometimes violate laws or typical ethical standards, but does not have the malicious intent typical of a black hat hacker. The term began to be used in the late 1990s, derived from the concepts of "white hat" and "black hat" hackers. When a white hat hacker discovers a vulnerability, they will exploit it only with permission and not divulge its existence until it has been fixed, whereas the black hat will illegally exploit it and/or tell
Security hacker Security hacker A security hacker is someone who seeks to breach defenses and exploit weaknesses in a computer system or network. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, such as profit, protest, information gathering, challenge, recreation, or to evaluate system weaknesses to assist in formulating defenses against potential hackers. The subculture that has evolved around hackers is often referred to as the computer underground. There is a longstanding controversy about the term's true meaning. In this controversy, the term "hacker" is reclaimed by computer programmers who argue that it refers simply to someone with an advanced understanding of