Have you ever heard of crimes against the machine? Cybercrime attacking computer systems and networks is a crime in its own right – for example, to prevent users from gaining access to a system, or to steal information and ask for a ransom. Who’s behind these types of cybercrimes, and what motivates them? Calling them “hackers” is no longer enough.
Who are hackers?
For many years, hackers have been glorified by the media as young geniuses. However, nowadays, there is a defined distinction between White Hat hackers, who stay loyal to ethical principles, and Black Hat hackers, who are driven by criminal intent, financial or personal gain, or revenge.
The hackers’ panorama, however, is more complex than that. Intermediate categories include Grey Hat, Green Hat, Blue Hat, Red Hat, Purple Hat and even Yellow Hat hackers.
Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like. My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me for. I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto. You may stop this individual, but you can't stop us all... after all, we're all alike.
Ethical hackers
Ethical hackers possess a high level of ethical standards with specialized knowledge and a belief in the freedom of accessing public information. They test systems with the purpose of improving their security and achieve higher quality standards.
Over the past two decades, ethical hacking has developed consistent practices that guide the curriculum for training. Ethical hackers are now integral to cybersecurity.
- White hat hackers are typically employed by a company to test their systems, find vulnerabilities, and harden their security. They also respond to incidents and ensure compliance to security frameworks and standards.
- Blue hat hackers are much like white hat hackers. They are employed by companies to find security holes and vulnerabilities in new products before they are released for sale.
- Red hat hackers act as vigilantes (sometimes even acting on behalf of governments) to attack and destrfy black hats to stop their attacks.
- Purple hat hackers seek to improve and test their skills on their own systems.
Grey Areas
- Gray hat hackers walk a fine line between ethical and unethical hacking. They use illegal methods to find vulnerabilities in someone else's systems without authorization, and then either contact them to sell their findings or sell to the highest bidder.
Unethical hacking
Unethical (or black hat) hackers maliciously and illegally search for vulnerabilities in systems to exploit for their personal gain. They are driven by a range of motivations, from financial or political gain, revenge, or simply to attract peer respect with their skills.
- Green hat hackers, also known as "script kiddies", "wannabes", or "lamers" are junior an inexperienced hackers who are curious and eager to learn black hacking skills. They frequently ask for help in forums, where gurus, wizards, and samurais teach them bits and pieces. Some of their activities include vandalize websites toi increase their reputation. However, they are often ridiculed for their lack of IT skills.
- Yellow hat hackers focus on illegally hacking social media accounts to take them over or distort content to get revenge on a person, idol, or a commercial brand. They are also known as social media hackers but they act at the same level as black hat hackers.
There is a category of hackers that don’t want to be noticed for their skills: cyber-spies conducting political or industrial espionage. Cyber-espionage actors are engaged like mercenaries and can be of different types depending on their scope.
- Cyber-warriors, specialized black-hat hackers selling their skills to the highest bidder
- Industrial spies, skilled at infiltrating and exfiltrating organizations
- Government agents pursuing political goals
- Military hackers, who serve in the military and are after military targets.
Cyber-warfare has escalated in recent years, especially since Russia’s special operations in Ukraine in 2014 and 2022. The groups of hackers involved in these operations are ephemeral, often breaking up and forming again. Nation-state actors take advantage of the specific skills of these mercenary hackers, condoning the crime to pursue tactical objectives.
Cyber-terrorists and information warfare
Cyber-terrorism targets critical physical infrastructure and services. Their purpose is to generate widespread fear and anxiety to manipulate the political agenda of a country. Information warfare is a nuanced version of cyber-terrorism, where the systems and data of a critical organization are held hostage and asked to pay a ransom for their release. A typical case is the Colonial Pipeline Ransomware attack carried out by a Russian-speaking group.
Hacker tactics
Unlike how the media often portrays hackers, attacks follow a methodology. Cyberattacks are not as easy and spontaneous as they are portrayed. Hackers committing crimes against the machine often use one or a combination of the following techniques:
- Social engineering (or people hacking) use psychology to obtain critical information from humans.
- Poisoning (inserting malicious code and software into a file). For example: the Wannacry attack.
- Using spyware and surveillance software.
- Attacking services used by their victims with MITM attacks, ARP Spoofing, SSL Hijacking, or DNS Spoofing.
- DoS and DDoS attacks, which prevent users to reach an online resource.
Computer integrity crimes have been on the rise over the last decade, as more and more private and public infrastructure is digitized. The event of AI and quantum computing will assist the evolution of these techniques in ways that we still cannot imagine.