Quick Answer
How many hackers are in the world in 2025?
The exact number of hackers worldwide remains unknown since many hackers with malicious intentions are unidentified.
However, there are more than 166,000 registered ethical hackers worldwide.
Hacking is one of the most common cyberattacks worldwide.
45% of data breaches worldwide were caused by hacking in 2019.
The people who execute hacking are called hackers.
They have technical knowledge in accessing sensitive data and systems and enjoy the challenges of creatively exceeding limitations.
People need to know that not all hackers want to damage or make money.
Some want to do good or learn techniques. The types of hackers depend on their motivation.
There are White Hat Hackers, Gray Hat Hackers, and Black Hat Hackers. Find out more in this article.
How Many Hackers are in the World in 2025?
The exact number of hackers worldwide remains unknown since many hackers with malicious intentions are unidentified.
However, some hackers join the ethical hacking community.
Based on the 2018 Hacker Report, there are more than 166,000 registered ethical hackers worldwide.
Among the hackers in the HackerOne hacker community, India and the United States were the top countries where hackers were located, with 43% combined representatives.
Russia, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom follow, with 14% combined representatives.
According to a report, cyberattacks happen every 39 seconds, and more than 2,200 attacks were recorded daily.
Hacking costs many businesses and companies trillions of dollars per day. In 2021, hacking attack costs an estimated $6 trillion, up from around $2 trillion in 2019.
Research reveals that the average number of stolen records every second is around 75.
Hackers from Russia are known to be the fastest hackers. They can access a computer network in just 18 minutes.
While Korean hackers gain access in 2 and a half hours, and Chinese hackers need 4 hours.
Statistics show that 71% of people in the United States are wary of hackers that might steal their private financial information and credit card, considering the number of cyberattacks happening daily in the country.
More than 715,000 cybersecurity experts were hired, and 314,000 job opportunities opened for cybersecurity specialists in the US in 2018.
White Hat hackers earn approximately $19 million.
Most Popular Hackers in the World
All hackers played various roles in the evolution of cybersecurity and the internet worldwide. Most popular hackers have different reasons why they hack.
The majority wanted to learn tips and techniques, some wanted to improve the world, and others wanted money.
Below are some of the most-popular hackers in the world:
Kevin Mitnick
Stole Pacific Bell’s computer manuals in 1981 and hacked NORAD in the following year.
After seven years, he hacked the network of the leading computer manufacturer, the Digital Equipment Corporations, and created copies of their software.
He was later on sent to prison. After he had a conditional release, he hacked the voicemail system of Pacific Bell.
A warrant was issued for Mitnick’s arrest for the incident, but he hid for over two years.
When he was caught, he was imprisoned for multiple computer and wire fraud counts.
In 2014, “Mitnick’s Absolute Zero Day Exploit Exchange” was launched, selling critical software exploits.
Albert Gonzalez
Was identified as the “troubled pack leader of computer nerds” back in high school.
Gonzalez was active and one of the intellectual hackers in the criminal commerce site shadowcrew.com.
At the age of 22, he steals data from millions of debit card accounts. He became a Secret Service Informant, helping other shadowcrew members.
He continued his hacking and criminal activities and stole payment card accounts from Boston Market, Office Max, and Dave and Buster’s, with over 180 million accounts.
In 2005, his attack on TJX, a US retailer, was the first serial breach of credit data and information using SQL injection.
They stole approximately $256 million from this US retailer.
Michael Calce
Was a 15-year-old hacker named “MafiaBoy”. He discovered how to access and take over computer networks in a university.
He was able to disrupt Yahoo, eBay, eTrade, Amazon, Dell, and CNN using a DDoS attack. Calce impressed the community of hackers.
Ages of Hackers
Many hackers start learning at an early age. Most of them learned hacking without formal training and instruction. They learned by themselves.
According to the 2018 Hacker Report, the majority of the hackers in the HackerOne hacker community are aged 18 to 34 years old, accounting for almost 83%.
Let’s take a look at the age distribution of hackers in the hacker community:
- Hackers aged below 13 years old account for 0.4%
- Hackers aged 13 to 17 years old account for 1%
- Hackers aged 18 to 24 years old account for 45.3%
- Hackers aged 25 to 34 years old account for 37.3%
- Hackers aged 35 to 49 years old account for 9.2%
- Hackers aged 50 to 64 years old account for 0.5%
How Many Hours Per Week Do Hackers Spend Hacking?
Based on statistics, more than 44% of hackers spend less than 10 hours per week hacking, while over 13% spend at least 40 hours per week.
Here is a breakdown of how many hours per week hackers spend hacking:
- 44.2% of hackers spend 1 to 10 hours per week hacking
- 22.4% of hackers spend 10 to 20 hours per week hacking
- 13% of hackers spend 20 to 30 hours per week hacking
- 7.3% of hackers spend 30 to 40 hours per week hacking
- 13.1% of hackers spend 40 hours and above per week hacking
Why Do Hackers Hack?
Hackers have different motives why they hack.
According to the surveyed hacker community, their main reason is the opportunity to learn techniques and tips on how to hack and fix.
Other hackers wanted to be challenged and have fun. While some wanted to show off.
Below were the motives of hackers why they hack:
- 14.7% of hackers were motivated to learn some tips and techniques
- 14% of hackers were motivated to be challenged
- 14% of hackers were motivated to have fun
- 13.1% of hackers were motivated to make money
- 12.2% of hackers were motivated to advance their career
- 10.4% of hackers were motivated to protect and defend
- 10% of hackers were motivated to do good in the world
- 8.5% of hackers were motivated to help others
- 3% of hackers were motivated to show off
Conclusion
The majority of hackers in the world have been hacking for at least one to five years.
More than 71% of hackers have been hacking for the said duration, while 18% have been hacking for 6 to 10 years.
Almost 11% were hacking for more than 10 years.
In 2022, an estimated 3.5 million job opportunities related to cybersecurity were opened.
