The word “hacker” first appeared in the English language at the turn of the 13th century. Today, the most popular definition of hacker is a person who uses computers to gain unauthorized access to systems or data. In tech circles, hackers are described as belonging to one of three categories: white hat, black hat, or gray hat. In the most basic of descriptions, the white hat are the good guys, the black hats are the bad guys, and the gray hats are neutral.”]
Source: https://blog.malwarebytes.com/101/2016/10/debunking-hacker-stereotypes-who-are-the-real-monsters/