Ryan Castellucci 
Hmm. Is the white hat vs black hat spectrum more like good vs evil or law vs chaos?
(not a poll, I want you to do opinions with words at me)
webhat
Peter
SleepyCatten@ryanc Why not both?
Whilst we dislike the D&D 5E method of player-defined alignment (that's a whole thing we won't go into here unless requested), the idea that good/evil and lawful/chaotic are on sliding scales that intersect is an interesting one.
Ultimately, it's all about perspective though. One person's ethical activist is another's loathed terrorist.
@SleepyCatten a bit of both is certainly a good nuanced opinion, but the "why" is what I find interesting. If I'm putting myself on the D&D alignment chart in terms of how I conduct myself as a hacker, I'd go with "Neutral Good", leaning a little towards "Chaotic Good".
@ryanc nods
We'd agree with your assessment on D&D alignment, and also love how your answer highlights one of the main issues with D&D 5E alignment charts: they're fixed binary categories, rather than unfixed sliding scales 
Maybe life is a bit like a D&D game: players may see their character's alignment as a fixed category, but actually be seen by the DM and other players as something else, or changing over time.
Reminds us of reading about a player making their supposedly "lawful good" character increasingly doing things that were morally questionable, to say the least. When the player crossed a certain line, the DM asked them for their character sheet, crossed out their alignment, and changed it from "good" to "evil".
Within the allegory, maybe what matters less is the description, but the motivations, intentions, and methods behind each action taken.
Mark Bryant@ryanc Law vs chaos. Good and evil are personal. I don’t really see that in day-to-day infosec on either side. It’s more business than personal. To paraphrase a very old movie, “In chaos, there is profit.” That’s what motivates most people on both sides. To paraphrase another quote, “There is only so much profit in the world. Your only choice is to choose how you take it.”