The main differences between white hat, gray hat, and black hat hackers are their motivations or intent. A white hat hacker is someone who legally hacks to find security vulnerabilities in software and networks. Black hat hackers are those who engage in illegal cybercrime operations and their intent is malicious. Gray hat hackers are a mix of both of these where they illegally look for vulnerabilities without the owner’s consent but will contact the owner if issues are found and need to be fixed. 

White hat hackers are ethical security hackers usually those who are legally allowed to hack certain things and focus on identifying weaknesses in their systems. Black hat hackers are just hackers who hack others for things like financial gain, they are known to completely disrupt systems. Hacktivists are groups that work together to hack certain things as forms of protest or activism they usually want to inspire change or action.