The computer attacks has increased in recent years. This phenomenon gave rise to the figure hacker. So much so that now it has become very common to talk about them in the media. However, hackers are not necessarily bad, nor are they the same as a Cybercrime. These are two terms that are often confused and this article will explain them to you differences.

7 years ago the word “hacker” was introduced into the RAE dictionary as “hacker” and, just 3 years ago, a second meaning was introduced as “a person with great computer skills who examines a computer system to report failures and messages. Develop Improvement Techniques”.

Although the meaning is more or less clear on first reading, there has been a long debate on whether the word hacker is synonymous with cybercrime, as the difference between the two concepts is obvious.

For RAE, as mentioned above, hacker and computer hacker are synonymous, albeit experts Cyber ​​protection They prefer to keep the second meaning. Want to know the difference between these two terms? Everything will be detailed below.

Definitions of hacking and cybercrime

– A hacker This is someone who is a security and systems expert dedicated to programming. Companies often hire them to perform security audits or find vulnerabilities in their networks so they can be patched before cybercriminals exploit them.

– and CybercrimeThere are people who will try to take advantage of these problems or security flaws using various techniques such as Social engineering or malware.

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According to Kaspersky, there are 4 types of cyber criminals

1. Qualified students

Those who have just learned how to use a programming language and want to test their skills to prove their skill or intelligence.

2. Young people without experience, with the help of the Internet

There are now many websites that explain how to create and develop computer viruses and how they can bypass antivirus software.

3. Professional developers

Programmers can create very “professional” computer viruses, which are sophisticated programs that use innovative methods to invade data systems domains or use social engineering or a wide range of tricks.

4. Researchers

Users who can create new methods to infect computers, hide the infection and resist the actions of anti-virus software. Their goal is to explore the potential of “computer fauna”.

Terms for classifying hackers according to their ethics

– with white hats

They work to protect, protect and defend systems. They are security experts and use their knowledge to prevent illegal activities.

– with gray hats

They can act legally or illegally. These types of hackers don’t care about ethics, they care about doing their job. If you need to get some information or a tool and you need to turn on a computer system to do so, you do.

In addition, gray hat hackers often test their own intelligence against security systems, which improves the security of systems in the long run.

– Those in black hats

They use sophisticated techniques to access and take over systems, which is why they can sometimes be cybercriminals as well.

Kaspersky also points out that black hat hackers are not helpful or cooperative, that is, they have knowledge of computer programs, but do not use them for a good purpose, because they do what they want, regardless of the consequences or harm that can be caused.

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In addition, there is other kinds of terms Used in the computer world to refer to hackers, without making the mistake of confusing them with cybercriminals. Here are a few:

cracker

There are two ways to define it. On the one hand, a hacker who enters a system for malicious purposes is called a “cracker”, although usually the word “cracker” is used to refer to people who protect programs, modify them to gain certain privileges, etc.

Fraker

This concept is mainly used for phone payments. Phreakers are those who are skilled in cell phones as well as landlines. Its purpose is to damage phone lines, clone mobile phones, unlock and among other things.

Lamer

They use programs created by other hackers to pretend to be hackers and show off what they know. That is, they enter the system with a login and password and format the hard disk.

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