"Mom, I Want to Be a Hacker" [VIDEO]

Rogelio Valdes

Oct 21, 2020

See the Video Game Programming Course at robinacademy.com/vg

Many parents have told me that their children say they want to become “hackers.” Let me explain what that really means and what children should actually be learning if this topic genuinely interests them.

Hackers understand the security of a system inside and out. They know its weaknesses. They understand how computers work, how they communicate with one another, and how information moves across the internet.

The term “hacker” became very popular through TV series like Mr. Robot, movies, and video games. In many stories, old spy plots turned into hacker plots. We also hear the word in the news when a company or government is hacked and sensitive user or citizen data is exposed. Sometimes we even hear that a friend or family member had a social media account hacked. All of this makes people think a hacker is automatically a villain or some kind of masked vigilante, but that is not always true, and it rarely looks the way movies portray it.

There are two broad types of hackers: “White Hat” hackers and “Black Hat” hackers. Both groups have deep knowledge of cybersecurity, but one focuses on defending systems and the other on attacking them.

White Hat

White Hat hackers are security professionals who work to defend and protect systems. They study all the possible attacks a system might face, and they often run attacks themselves to test the barriers they have built. Their goal is to prevent user data from being stolen, and that is actually a very challenging job. Some White Hat hackers work independently and participate in competitions. Companies like Apple and Microsoft even offer cash rewards when someone finds a security vulnerability and reports it responsibly so defenses can be improved. In the end, two minds, or hundreds, are often better than one.

Black Hat

Black Hat hackers, by contrast, try to break into systems not to help improve them, but to steal information or gain personal benefit. They may sell sensitive information, passwords, personal files, or government data.

These hackers do not look like they do in the movies, where someone presses a button and suddenly gains access to all the information inside a bank. In reality, they create software, write code that tricks a system, intercept data from a computer or internet connection, and in many cases study users personally. Sometimes it is much easier to talk to a user, ask a few personal questions like “where are your parents from?” or “what was the name of your first pet?”, and then guess their password.

How can you guide a child correctly?

If your children say they want to be hackers, you can explain the difference between these two paths and what the profession really means. Becoming a White Hat hacker can be a fascinating and meaningful career, one where they help protect the information of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people.

To do that, they need to become experts in cybersecurity, and they can start today by learning to program. They can do that through game creation, robotics, websites, or mobile apps.

See the Video Game Programming Course at robinacademy.com/vg