Difference Between Hackers and Crackers
Overview
In today's internet-connected world, the news of data breaches and cybersecurity attacks are prevalent. But, most of the sources reporting this news often interchange the terms hackers and cracker freely without realizing that they are both opposites of each other.
While both hackers and crackers have significant knowledge about systems and cybersecurity, there are some major differences between them.
In this article, we are going to understand who are hackers and crackers and the difference between hacking and cracking.
Who are Hackers?
Despite popular belief, hackers are good people who are skilled cybersecurity individuals who attack and find flaws in an organization's network and fix these flaws.
Hackers usually find bugs and vulnerabilities in software and are responsible for the responsible disclosure of new bugs.
Hackers are also known as white hat agents. Nowadays, most companies hire pen-testers who are paid a huge amount to attack the company's infrastructure to determine the bugs in the system and to make their infrastructure more resilient to attacks from malicious actors. Pentesting or red teaming is a highly sought-after job in the hacking field and skilled hackers get paid a lot for providing their services to organizations.
Who are Crackers?
A cracker is a malicious agent who tries to gain access to an organization's network for unlawful gains.
Crackers usually have a motive, like pranking someone or stealing money from an organization. Crackers are also known as black hat agents.
While both hackers and crackers are deemed highly skilled in their field, the biggest difference between hackers and crackers is that hackers are good agents whereas crackers are destructive agents.
Thus, the dilemma of hacker vs. cracker boils down to which side of the law the agent performs their activities and what their intentions are.
The Difference Between Hackers and Crackers
| Hackers | Crackers |
|---|---|
| Good agents who hack into systems to find flaws and report them. | Evil agents who hack into systems for personal gain. |
| They work with an organization to protect its data. | They work to exploit and steal data and money from an organization. |
| Hackers share their knowledge and findings to protect a company from harm. | Crackers do not share any vulnerabilities they find and use them for their gains. |
| Hackers are responsible for maintaining the integrity of an organization's network and its security. | Crackers are responsible for exploiting an organization's network and bypassing its security. |
| They are also known as white hats. | They are also known as black hats. |
| Hackers usually have a lot of certifications to prove their skills. | Crackers may not have certificates since their motive is to stay anonymous. |
Conclusion
- Even though in popular media, the term hackers is used to denote malicious agents in the cyber world, it is the exact opposite. The difference between hacking and cracking is that hacking is a good cause to find vulnerabilities and fix loopholes in an organization's network whereas cracking is the attacking of an organization's network by malicious agents for personal gains.
- The difference between a hacker and a cracker is that hackers are good agents, also known as white hats who use their skills to find bugs and safeguard an organization's infrastructure while crackers are evil agents, also known as black hats who use their skills to find vulnerabilities and exploit an organization's infrastructure for their gains.