the two thousand and eight cyber attack on one of the world's biggest payment processors the hackers in that case wrote their own software smuggled it into the payment firms computer system and made off with up to one hundred thirty million credit card numbers. but distinguishing the color of a hackers hat isn't always easy when it comes to hacking what's right and what's legal is not always clear cut. sometimes illegal behavior can end up revealing other illegal behavior. a good example of this is the panama paper scandal in it gray hat hackers accessed millions of documents illegally. then they used them to expose tax evasion and fraud by well known and influential people. back in one thousand nine hundred two with the four one forced hacking was in its infancy now it's become a massive it's you in a digital networked world. and in a virtual world just as in the real one the dividing line between good and bad is