I recently received an email from Paypal saying that I need to log-in to their site since there was unusual activity in my account. What was unusual for me was that the email where they sent the message was not the email I used for signing up. Besides, I hardly ever use my PayPal account so I got suspicious right away.

I’ve heard of phishing (sending a fraudulent email to trick people into inadvertently revealing their username and passwords to unscrupulous hackers) but I wasn’t aware of the different types of hackers.

Kunochi Industries lists the different kinds of hackers and gives the differences among them.

PHISHER - He creates a website that looks like a bank’s website. This site is used to steal account passwords from users who enter them thinking they are at the real site.

HITMAN - He’s for hire! He belongs to a new breed of cybercriminals, hiring out his skills to organised criminals for the highest price. Very techie, deep knowledge in terms of Internet server, tracking, manipulating other websites and very professional and worst, it is hard to track these pros cause they are like a "ghost."

KIDDIOT - Also known as a "script kiddie," he finds codes published on the Internet and changes them to launch new variants of published viruses and trojans. He is considered a low-level cybercriminal, but is still capable of scanning for computers that are vulnerable to hacking.

PROFESSIONAL HACKER - He is full time cybercriminal who makes his money from stealing credit card information or hacking into bank websites to steal or blackmail.

SPARE TIME HACKER - Many time hackers have jobs in the IT industry, but the thrill of hacking has led them to take greater risks.

VIRUS WRITER - He creates virus code in his spare time and either publishes it on the Internet or launches an attack via e-mail.

THE ZOMBIES - The most wary hackers of the decade! Capable of controlling the entire network on the Internet as his clones or robots to serve his criminal activities. Very powerful knowledge of PC and Internet server and breaking codes to enter someone PC, firewalls, pop-up blocker or whatever you think of securing your PC while surfing, he
will break it. Very fast and techie entreprises. In depth knowledge on all kind of scripts languages.

NEWBIE - Harmless but still consider as dangerous liaison hacker to be. Hacked PC by manual (by the book). If he succeeds, this PC is very vulnerable to attacks. He will probably try to access his own PC first from other source and then hack his friends and then the "world." Purpose is to prove his experiments and experiences.

IN-HOUSE MAN - He usually enters your apartment or office by installing a high-tech mini camera right infront of your personal PC or place a detector electronic device or micro chips in your server or CPU. Just guess what happen when one day you think you have locked the door and window, arriving home just to find out one is opened but nothing is missing.

DOWNLOADER - Some sort of hacker’s scripts code is embedded in any executable files or PDF files. Mimicking the like of free screen saver, desktop display, browsers or cursors downloads. Purpose is to track where you surf and what you’re looking for. Failing to have any online purchase transaction in a SSL*, will cause your details being establish.

* Secure Sockets Layer - a protocol used for transmitting private files via the Internet

Via My So-Called Ramblings