Types of hackers

White hats: Ethical hackers hired by companies to test their IT systems and search for and fix potential vulnerabilities.

Grey/red hats: Operate in both ethical and criminal environments. Depending on who pays them and how much, they will either hack a system to steal data or to detect vulnerabilities.

Black hats: Deliberately attack and hack IT systems to steal data or hold it for ransom. Anonymous group: A mixture of hackers who operate to take down criminal networks.