Grey hat

A grey hat hacker is an individual who operates outside the boundaries of both black hat and white hat hackers. They often act without malicious intent, but may occasionally commit illegal activities or violate ethical standards.

While white hat hackers (ethical hackers) work within legal and ethical frameworks, and black hat hackers (malicious hackers) engage in criminal activities for personal gain or harm, grey hat hackers occupy a middle ground. Their motivations are often less clear-cut.

A grey hat hacker might, for example, discover a vulnerability in a system and disclose it to the system owner, sometimes even demanding a fee for the information. This behavior blurs the line between ethical disclosure and extortion. Alternatively, they may exploit a vulnerability without the owner's permission, but subsequently inform the owner and offer to fix it, perhaps for a fee.

The legality of grey hat hacking is complex and depends heavily on jurisdiction and the specifics of the actions taken. Even if their intentions are good, unauthorized access to computer systems is often illegal. The impact of grey hat activities can range from beneficial (identifying and fixing vulnerabilities) to harmful (causing system disruption or data breaches). Because of the potential for harm and the violation of laws, grey hat hacking remains a controversial topic in the cybersecurity community.