Distinguish Ethical vs. Unethical Hacking

In the world of hacking, the tools and techniques are often the same for both the heroes and the villains. A white hat (ethical) hacker and a black hat (unethical) hacker might use the exact same software to probe a network's defenses. So, what's the difference? It all comes down to one critical word: permission. Ethical hacking is the authorized, legal practice of testing security defenses to find and fix weaknesses before the bad guys can exploit them. Unethical hacking is breaking into systems without permission, with malicious intent to steal, damage, or disrupt.