Colonel Toraj Kazemi, the deputy head of the IT crimes task force, told ISNA that it has divided hackers into three groups: “white hats, pink hats and black hats.”

The hackers who illegally enter computer systems to damage or steal something are the black hats. Those who hack into systems to show off are referred to as pink hats, and those who do it to determine the weaknesses of security systems for marketing purposes are referred to as white hats, according to Kazemi.

He said the so-called pink and white hats are not considered criminals, adding that police welcome hackers to share their skills and add to police expertise in the field of cyber information. He added that 50 percent of Iranian hackers are under 25 years of age.

Iran has become a major player in the shadowy cyber world by hacking into opposition websites, penetrating government and private information networks and blocking user access to the web.

The Iranian Cyber Army is a well-known team of hackers widely linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.

U.S. intelligence reports say the Cyber Army has a budget of $76 million, with 2,400 employees and 12,000 reservists.

The Iranian Cyber Army has hacked into a number of American and Chinese websites as well as a number so-called Green Movement news websites, and the Radio Zamaneh website was compromised in February of 2010.

This past September, the Iranian Cyber Army hacked into information on 500 Dutch websites. In the wake of that incident, Iranian media reported that Iranian hackers had attacked “the internet portal of Mossad, the CIA and Israel.”

Source : Radio Zamaneh