White is associated with purity and goodness, while black is associated with evil in some cultures. In Western films, the hero wears a white hat and the villain wears a black hat. “White hat” has come to mean a good person, ethical hacker, or SEO practitioner who follows guidelines.
In some, but not all, cultures, white has long been associated with purity and goodness and black with evil. The term white originates from the Western genre of film and television where this black/white dichotomy is sometimes reproduced in costumes. In films and shows of this type, for example The Lone Ranger, the hero would wear a white hat, while the villain would be seen in a black hat. This cultural emblem has given rise to different expressions and meanings for “white hat”.
First, the phrase “boys with (the) white hats” or “good guys with (the) white hats” is often used to mean that the people referred to are each like a “white knight” or a ” knight in shining armor,” that is, a good person, a rescuer, a savior, or just someone who abides by the law and does the right thing. The image was popularized outside of Westerns in Dodge automobile advertisements in the 1960s. In these ads, Dodge sales associates, “the Dodge Boys,” were referred to as “nice guys in white hats” and described as friendly, approachable, and customer-focused, as well as being able to “beat the competition to a break even.” .”
More recently, the white hat has developed two meanings in the realm of cybersecurity and search engine optimization (SEO) practices, respectively. White hat SEO follows the guidelines proposed by search engines and does not try to beat the system to improve listings and/or make money. White hat hackers, also called “ethical hackers,” perform many of the same hacking techniques as other hackers or crackers: They identify security weaknesses in computer systems and networks. Instead of maliciously exploiting the weakness, however, white hat hackers expose the weakness to help system owners fix it before a destructive security breach occurs.
Several means are taken to signal weakness. In some cases, a phone call or email can convey the discovery, while in others, the cracker can leave an “electronic phone ticket” notifying the webmaster that the security has been breached. This depends in part on whether the white hat hacker is hacking for the hobo as a paid service, as an employee of a company, or as a security consultant. Many former black hat hackers who hacked for malice or for profit have turned into “white hat” and have become computer security experts who specialize in testing system security. Some even have a certification from the National Security Agency.
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