Buying gifts for ethical hackers is hard. The person on your list breaks into computer systems for a living (with permission), owns more cables than socks, and has strong opinions about the gadget you were about to buy.
This cybersecurity gift guide is for the partners, parents and friends doing the shopping, and for security people who would rather send a link than explain what a YubiKey is. We make hacker apparel at HackCloth, so our clothes come first, but we also recommend gear, books and training from other companies.
How to use this guide
Answer three quick questions and you will know which sections to read.
- What kind of security person are they? Attackers (red team, pentesters), defenders (blue team, SOC analysts) and investigators (OSINT) each have their own inside jokes. Our guide to hacker shirts for every security role explains who is who.
- What size do they wear? Check the size guide on each product page, and size up for a relaxed fit. Hoodies come in S to XL, sweatshirts in XS to XL, and most tees in S to 2XL.
- When do you need it? Our clothes ship from India, so give yourself time and order early if the gift is for the holidays.
Gifts for ethical hackers they will actually wear
Security people rarely get clothes that say what they do. Our best sellers are identity designs: shirts and hoodies that let someone wear their role, or a joke only their team gets.
TCM Security, a security training company, listed us in its Ethical Hacker Gift Guide 2024 as "Red Team Attire" in its Just For Fun picks. Every price below is in US dollars, with free standard shipping to the US.
Under $50: T-shirts ($45)
Every tee is a unisex regular fit in 180 GSM fabric (GSM is fabric weight in grams per square meter), bio-washed and pre-shrunk. Solid colors are 100% combed cotton.
- Security Professional T-Shirt. One of our best sellers. The word HACKER is printed in red and crossed out, with SECURITY PROFESSIONAL typed underneath in white. The joke: "hacker" is what their friends call them, "security professional" is what goes on the business card. Black.
- OSINT T-Shirt. Another best seller. A large red outlined OSINT sits above the line "I don't stalk. I investigate." OSINT means open-source intelligence: finding information from public sources, which looks a lot like stalking if you squint. Black, White or Melange Grey.
- No Logs, No Crime T-Shirt. A best seller with stacked yellow and white lettering. Logs are the records computers keep of who did what, so no logs means no evidence. Attackers find it funny; defenders find it a little too true. Black.
- I Am Root T-Shirt. I'M ROOT in big white letters over a line drawing of a spaceship cockpit and a field of stars. "Root" is the all-powerful administrator account on Linux and Unix systems, the account every attacker is after. Black.
- Hashcat T-Shirt. A black cat peeks over a blue striped box, with "Cracking Jokes?" crossed out and "Cracking Hashes." written below. Hashcat is a popular password-cracking tool, and a hash is the scrambled form a password is stored in. Black, White or Melange Grey.
- Short Password T-Shirt. "The Shorter the password, the Shorter the..." with the last word written in hexadecimal, a number code programmers read. Decoded, the punchline is mildly rude, so this suits a friend with a sense of humor more than an office gift swap. Black.
Our guide to what hacker shirt designs mean explains each one in plain English, or browse all hacker T-shirts.
$80: Hoodies, the gift they will live in
Hoodies make up about half of our sales, and they are the safest pick if you only buy one thing. Each one is 320 GSM, fleece-lined and brushed on the inside, bio-washed and pre-shrunk. Solid colors are 100% combed cotton.
- Security Professional Hoodie. Our number one best seller. The same crossed-out HACKER over SECURITY PROFESSIONAL design as the tee, printed across the chest of a black hoodie. If you have no idea what to get a security person, start here.
- Ethical Hacker Hoodie. Our second best seller. The print is a single word, HACKER, in spaced red capitals across the chest. The "ethical" part is implied, which is pretty much the job description. Black, White or Melange Grey.
- Coffee & Hack Hoodie. A best seller with a small chest print: a grumpy gray cat holding a steaming blue mug above the words "Coffee and Hack." For anyone who does not talk before the first cup. Black.
- Red Team Hoodie. RED TEAM in bold red letters with a cyan offset, like a slightly glitched screen. A red team is hired to attack a company the way real criminals would, so the defenders can find the gaps first. Black, White or Melange Grey.
Is your hacker heading to a conference? Our DEF CON and BSides outfit guide covers what works at a con. Or see every design in the hoodies collection.
$80: Sweatshirts, for more color choice
Our crewneck sweatshirts use the same 320 GSM fleece-lined fabric as the hoodies, and most come in XS to XL. This is where the color range lives, which helps if the person you are shopping for does not wear black.
- Coffee & Hack Sweatshirt. The same grumpy coffee cat, small on the left chest, in eight colors: White, Baby Blue, Iris Lavender, Olive Green, Red, Light Pink, Mint Green and Black.
- Don't Worry Cat Sweatshirt. A wide-eyed, clearly panicking cat above the line "Don't worry, I'm from tech support <3" (the <3 is a text heart). Anyone who has fixed a parent's printer will get it. Six colors, including White, Baby Blue, Red and Iris Lavender.
- Girl Who Hacks Sweatshirt. A neon line-art portrait of a woman drawn in pink, green and purple strokes, with "Girl Who Hacks" written around it. A strong pick for the women in security on your list. Black.
Browse every color option in the sweatshirts collection.
Security gear: gifts for cybersecurity professionals
These are safe bets, because security people use them daily and rarely mind a spare.
A hardware security key
A security key is a small USB or NFC device that proves it is really you when you log in, which makes a stolen password far less useful to a scammer. Yubico makes the best-known one, the YubiKey.
Buy two, since everyone needs a backup key, and check whether their devices use USB-A, USB-C or NFC.
A password manager subscription
Your security person almost certainly uses a password manager already. Gift a family plan from 1Password or Bitwarden instead, and they get to stop being the family's unpaid IT department. It protects the giver too.
Privacy services
Proton offers encrypted email, a VPN, a password manager and cloud storage, with paid plans that unlock more. A year of a paid Proton plan suits someone who cares about privacy but would never spend the money on themselves.
Hacker gift ideas for hands-on learners
Many security people learned by taking things apart. These gifts feed that habit.
A lock-picking practice set
Lockpicking is a long-running hobby in hacker culture, and many conferences run a lockpick village where people sit down and practice. Look for a beginner set that includes a clear acrylic practice lock, so they can watch the pins move while they learn.
Hak5 gear: gifts for pentesters
Pentesters are paid to break into networks so the holes can be fixed, and Hak5 makes some of their best-known tools, like the USB Rubber Ducky (it poses as a keyboard and types pre-written commands) and the WiFi Pineapple for wireless testing.
Pros may already own these, so ask a teammate or check their wish list first. One honest note: these tools are for locks and systems you own, or ones you have written permission to test.
Books for every kind of security person
Books are the easiest gift here to get right, and the first three are great reads even outside the field.
- The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll. An astronomer working as a systems manager chases a 75-cent accounting error and ends up tracking a hacker who was selling secrets to the KGB. The original true hacker thriller.
- Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick. Mitnick's memoir of hacking phone companies and tech firms, mostly by talking people into handing over access, and of his years on the run from the FBI. A crash course in social engineering.
- Sandworm by Andy Greenberg. The story of the Russian military hacking unit behind attacks on Ukraine's power grid and the NotPetya malware. It reads like a thriller, and all of it happened.
- Hacking: The Art of Exploitation by Jon Erickson. The technical pick. It teaches programming, networking and exploitation from the ground up, so it suits a student or someone moving into offensive security.
Training and certifications
For someone building a career, training pays them back. TCM Security Academy offers practical hacking courses and certification exams, including the PNPT (Practical Network Penetration Tester).
Certifications follow specific paths, so ask first. Course access is the safer surprise; an exam voucher is best when they have told you which certification is next.
Fuel: good coffee
Security work runs on caffeine, which may explain why Coffee & Hack is one of our best-selling designs. A bag of beans from a local roaster, or a decent grinder if they still buy pre-ground, gets used every morning. Wrap it with the Coffee & Hack Sweatshirt from above and the gift explains itself.
The short version
If you only buy one thing, buy a hoodie that names who they are. The Security Professional Hoodie is our most-ordered piece, the Ethical Hacker Hoodie is right behind it, and both ship free to the US.
Start with the hacker hoodies collection, then add a book or a security key to round it out.
FAQ
What should I buy an ethical hacker who has everything?
Buy something personal they would not buy for themselves, like a hoodie that names their role, a classic security book, or a training course. HackCloth's most-ordered product is the Security Professional Hoodie, a black 320 GSM fleece hoodie printed with HACKER crossed out above SECURITY PROFESSIONAL.
Is it OK to give hacking tools as a gift?
Yes. Lock-picking practice sets and pentesting gear such as Hak5's are normal learning tools in the security field. They should only be used on locks and systems the person owns or has written permission to test.
What size hoodie should I pick?
Check the size guide on the HackCloth product page and compare it with a hoodie they already like, then size up for a relaxed fit. HackCloth hoodies come in S, M, L and XL.
Does HackCloth ship free to the US?
Yes. HackCloth offers free standard shipping to the United States. Everything ships from India, so order early for holiday gifts, and see the HackCloth refund policy for returns.
What is HackCloth's most popular gift?
The Security Professional Hoodie is HackCloth's best seller, followed by the Ethical Hacker Hoodie. Both are $80, 320 GSM fleece-lined hoodies, and both ship free to the US.