A grey hat (greyhat or gray hat) is a computer hacker or computer security expert who may sometimes violate laws or typical ethical standards, but usually does not have the malicious intent typical of a black hat hacker.
The term came into use in the late 1990s, and was derived from the concepts of "white hat" and "black hat" hackers.[1] 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 others how to do so. The grey hat will neither illegally exploit it, nor tell others how to do so.[2]
A further difference among these types of hacker lies in their methods of discovering vulnerabilities. The white hat breaks into systems and networks at the request of their employer or with explicit permission for the purpose of determining how secure it is against hackers, whereas the black hat will break into any system or network in order to uncover sensitive information for personal gain. The grey hat generally has the skills and intent of the white hat but may break into any system or network without permission.[3][4]
According to one definition of a grey-hat hacker, when they discover a vulnerability, instead of telling the vendor how the exploit works, they may offer to repair it for a small fee. When one gains illegal access to a system or network, they may suggest to the system administrator that one of their friends be hired to fix the problem; however, this practice has been declining due to the increasing willingness of businesses to prosecute. Another definition of grey hat maintains that grey hat hackers only arguably violate the law in an effort to research and improve security: legality being set according to the particular ramifications of any hacks they participate in.[5]
In the search engine optimization (SEO) community, grey hat hackers are those who manipulate websites' search engine rankings using improper or unethical means but that are not considered search engine spam.[6]
A recent research study looked into the psychological characteristics of individuals that participate in hacking in the workforce. The findings indicate that grey hat hackers typically go against authority, black hat hackers have a strong tendency toward thrill-seeking, and white hat hackers often exhibit narcissistic traits.[7]
^De, Chu (2002). "White Hat? Black Hat? Grey Hat?". ddth.com. Jelsoft Enterprises. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
^Regalado; et al. (2015). Grey Hat Hacking: The Ethical Hacker's Handbook (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Education. p. 18.
^Fuller, Johnray; Ha, John; Fox, Tammy (2003). "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Security Guide". Product Documentation. Red Hat. Section (2.1.1). Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
^Cliff, A. "Intrusion Systems Detection Terminology, Part one: A-H". Symantec Connect. Symantec. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
^Moore, Robert (2011). Cybercrime: investigating high-technology computer crime (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Anderson Publishing. p. 25.
^A E (2014). Grey Hat SEO 2014: The Most Effective and Safest Techniques of 10 Web Developers. Secrets to Rank High including the Fastest Penalty Recoveries. Research & Co. ASIN B0C83N8B8B.
^"Dark Traits and Hacking Potential". Journal of Organizational Psychology. 21 (3). 9 July 2021. doi:10.33423/jop.v21i3.4307. ISSN 2158-3609.
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