The black hat hacker trap: Why unethical hacking lures young people

Hackers are often thought of as individuals who sow chaos for the organizations they target. However, some hackers put their abilities to good use to become ethical hackers, making up for the damage caused. Despite there being huge growth in ethical hacking and prosperous career opportunities in this area, black hat hacking continues to attract young people due to their fascination with risky online behavior and tech savviness.  

In 2017 the UK National Crime Agency commissioned a report that found the average age of a hacker was 17. Today, this is still true — consider recent incidents, such as when a 17-year-old led the charge on the Uber and Rockstar attacks.

What separates black hat hackers from white hat hackers is intent. Black hat hackers use their technical capabilities to maliciously compromise businesses’ data, while white hat hackers support organizations in finding weak points in their systems. But, at the end of the day, both use the same methods.

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Even though there is a thin line between what ethical and unethical hackers do, young people can easily become more interested in attacking organizations due to peer pressure, or to seek social acceptance. This leaves many considering the attraction of unethical hacking and what organizations and communities can do to put young people’s talents to good use.

A slippery slope into a life of cybercrime

The love for coding and hacking often has humble beginnings. Starting out, young people may innocently taunt friends and siblings by hacking into their personal computers. Once hooked, young people begin to unearth more and more forums that outline organizations’ weak points and access tools, making hacking…