Gray hat describes a cracker (or,
if you prefer, hacker) who
exploits a security weakness in a computer system or product in order to bring the weakness to the
attention of the owners. Unlike a black hat, a
gray hat acts without malicious intent. The goal of a gray hat is to improve system and network
security. However, by publicizing a vulnerability, the gray hat may give other crackers the
opportunity to exploit it. This differs from the white hat
who alerts system owners and vendors of a vulnerability without actually exploiting it in
public.
This was last updated in June 2007
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