Ethics of Hacking | Is Hacktivism White, Black or Gray Hat?

Running Head: HACKING ETHICS
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Ethics of Hacking
Is hacktivism white, black or gray hat?
(Student Details: )
3/21/2020

HACKING ETHICS 1
Hacking: white hat, black hat, grey hat
This paper is focused on different types of hacking from the perspective of the moral and
socio-political lens. The discussion will include types of hacking include a grey hat, black
hat, and white hat hacking. In this paper, the main subtopic will be discussed as “Is
hacktivism white, black or gray hat?”. While covering different types of hacking, the
discussion will focus on identifying the type of hacktivism from the three types of hacking
include a black hat, grey hat, and white hat hacking.
In general, hacking refers to an unauthorized intrusion into any computer or network;
typically carried out by the hackers including one or more (Lucas). It has been noted that
hackers can always work single or be employed by a particular organization which is having
the motive of disrupting something. The hacking when attempted wrongly then it may cause
havoc unnecessarily (Mihai). It is because, while doing the hacking, hackers usually look for
altering security systems in order to accomplish their motives or goal (Polat). When hacking
is being done, security systems are usually modified for purposes that differ from the real
purposes of the designated system (Mihai).
In order to define hacktivism, it can be said that it refers to the act of altering as well as
misusing a network or a computer system for the reasons include social and political majorly.
It is worth knowing that people who perform these hacking acts are known as hacktivists
(Polat). As per the subtopic of this discussion, the research is depicting that hacktivism comes
under black hat hacking and it is not at all beneficial for the society (Ogochukwu).
“Is hacktivism white, black or gray hat?”, it can be better explained with the help of
definition and meaning of three types of hat hacking such as black, grey and white hat
hacking (Ogochukwu). Here, white hat hacking is always considered authorized and hence
acceptable by society. It is because white hat hackers follow the rules and never enter the
systems without the permission of the administrator. Besides, grey hat hacking may have bad
or good intentions as grey hat hackers often prioritize their perceptions of hacktivism. It
means grey hat hackers consider the hacking right or wrong as per their priorities over what
the set law might depict (Putnik and Bošković). Lastly, black hat hacking is always
considered illegal, unethical and wrong. The reason behind this is that these black hat hackers
are known as cybercriminals and they do not care about the fact that whether something is
wrong and illegal.