When used in the context of being one of the SixThinkingHats, the BlackHat represents the down side, negative consequences, the worst things that could happen.

Or just used as a temporary name (local constant) to help distinguish between multiple semi-anonymous authors.

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The term is more often used to describe villains, including computer crackers.  Often the term is used to refer to a hacker/cracker who seeks to a) commit espionage (discover confidential information), b) commit fraud , or c) engage in vandalism (or worse).

This negative usage has nothing to do with SixThinkingHats.

See xkcd: http://xkcd.com/374/ and http://comicjk.com/comic.php/173 for details.

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This has nothing to do with the SortingHat. -- EricJablow  ''(Does the term SortingHat have any meaning in comp sci, or is it just a reference to the HarryPotter novels???)''

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Next: YellowHat
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CategoryDramaticIdentity CategoryThinkingPatterns