Information Security: Principles and Practices 2nd Edition by Jim Breithaupt, Mark S. Merkow

Exercise 6

Researching Hackers

Open disclosure of software vulnerabilities is often associated with gray-hat hackers, described as security researchers who aren’t particular about who learns about their findings. Research the three types of hackers (white hat, gray hat, and black hat), and try to determine their typical positions on full disclosure of software problems before patches or new versions of the software are made available in the marketplace. Use Google or your favorite Internet search engine with a query of “Open Disclosure of Software Vulnerabilities” to help you formulate your answers.