[rdtsc]

You know why it's called a hat? Cause you can take it off and put another one on. Or even be extra silly and wear two or more at the same time. It's tongue in cheek but there is some truth there.

In this case he was selling malware so I think this about a time when head gear was of a darker color...

[Spooky23]

It's a reference to Spy vs spy, a comic strip in mad magazine. The good guy had a white hat, the bad guy black.

[firebones]

Well, to be honest, both spies in Spy vs Spy were equally nefarious, taking turns in their ups and downs, but deploying identical methods. I always thought it referred more to movie Westerns, where blackhats were consistently the villains, and the whitehat was the studio star who saved the day.