On the flip side, there are Black Hats, malicious hackers with intentions to steal, exploit and sell computer vulnerabilities and data. Hackers' motivations also differ wildly.

Former Black Hat hacker on cyber attacks says US ‘needs outside help’ with cyber security. ... We do have the computer emergency response teams and all sorts of organizations," Monsegur said.

Although Black Hat was all-online this week, plenty of hacker mayhem ensued. Satellite internet communications were proved easy to intercept using only $300 of off-the-shelf equipment.

Midnight Protocol is noir cyber-crime by way of turn-based roleplaying games and spatial puzzles. When you log into its slightly airspace-looking simulated computer desktop, you’ll learn that ...