White Hat Hackers
These are the "good guys." They are who legally help organizations find and fix system vulnerabilities through activities like penetration testing and security audits.

Black Hat Hackers
These are the "bad guys." They exploit vulnerabilities for personal gain, financial profit, or malicious purposes, such as stealing data, spreading malware, disrupting services, or causing damage. Their actions are illegal and unethical.

Grey Hat Hackers
These hackers work in a gray area—finding vulnerabilities without permission (illegally), then reporting them, sometimes offering paid fixes. Their intent isn’t always malicious, but their methods often are.

Script Kiddies
These are amateur hackers using pre-made tools for fun or attention. Though less skilled, they can still cause disruptions.

Green Hat Hackers
are beginners like script kiddies, but they're focused on learning and improving their skills—sometimes with the goal of becoming white hat hackers. They might cause harm unintentionally while experimenting.

Blue Hat Hackers: can refer to two types

1. External Security Professionals: Hired security testers brought in to find bugs before a product launch.
2. Revenge-Motivated Hackers: who attack targets for personal retribution, not profit.

Red Hat Hackers
Red hat hackers are ethical hackers who use offensive tactics to actively hunt and disrupt black hat threats.

Hacktivists
Hacktivists use hacking to promote political or social causes by defacing websites, leaking data, or launching DDoS attacks to protest or raise awareness.

State-Sponsored Hackers
These are skilled government-backed professionals conducting cyber espionage, warfare, or intelligence gathering, often targeting other states, critical infrastructure, and major corporations using advanced techniques like APTs.

Malicious Insider/Whistleblower
An insider is someone within an organization who misuses their access to exploit vulnerabilities or leak confidential data, often driven by dissatisfaction, personal gain, or moral reasons.

Phreakers
While less common today, phreakers specifically focus on exploiting vulnerabilities in telephone networks.

Gaming Hackers
These hackers specifically target online games to gain an unfair advantage (e.g., using cheats, exploiting glitches) or to disrupt the gaming experience for others.