white hats
Ethical hacker types
White hats are the good guys—people who use their skills ethically, especially in cybersecurity.
A white hat hacker breaks into systems to find vulnerabilities before malicious actors do, working with organizations rather than against them.
The term comes from old Western films where heroes wore white hats and villains wore black: The company hired white hats to test their security.
Contrast with black hats (malicious hackers) and gray hats (somewhere between).
Morally righteous characters
- heroesAdmired courageous figures
- defendersThose who shield others
- protectorsThose who guard others
- guardiansThose who protect others
champions · saviors · rescuers · allies · advocates · knights · paladins · vigilantes
Authorized security vulnerability assessment
- bug bountyReward for finding vulnerabilities
- ethical hackingAuthorized security vulnerability testing
- firewallNetwork access control system
- encryptionConverting data into code
intrusion detection · forensics · reverse engineering · risk management · compliance · security consultant · red team · blue team
good guys
Morally righteous characters
- heroesAdmired courageous figures
- defendersThose who shield others
- protectorsThose who guard others
guardians · champions · saviors · rescuers · allies · advocates · knights · paladins · vigilantes · crusaders
penetration testing
Authorized security vulnerability assessment
- bug bountyReward for finding vulnerabilities
- ethical hackingAuthorized security vulnerability testing
- firewallNetwork access control system
encryption · intrusion detection · forensics · reverse engineering · risk management · compliance · security consultant · red team · blue team
cowboys
Ranch hands tending herds
- sheriffsElected county law officers
- lawmenOfficial crime fighters
- gunslingersFast-drawing frontier fighters
frontier · outlaws · Lone Ranger · posse · deputized · marshal · ranchers · rodeo · Stetson
- cybersecurityantivirus, malware, firewall, firewalls, encryption
- cyber sleuthshackers, fraud investigators
- techiesgeeks, nerds, techies, coders, programmers
white hatsblack hats
Malevolent digital trespassers
crackers · cybercriminals · cyberattackers · bad actors · gray hats
white hatsblack hats
Malevolent digital trespassers
villains · bad guys · outlaws · bandits · antagonists
white hatsblack hats
Malevolent digital trespassers
bad actors · villains · evildoers · wrongdoers · malefactors
white, hat, hats, whiter, whitest, whiten, whitens, whitened, whitening