Hi Disofdis, in my experience whitehat hackers usually evolve from black and grey hat hacking practices due to age and the responsibilities that come with it. I've known quite a few spammers and scammers that turned into whitehats after the arrival of a wife and kids. They usually just can't risk being caught doing illegal things anymore.
Did you have a similar journey to becoming a whitehat? Do find that people choosing to dawn the white hat first to be scarce?
Indeed some of them have this darker past. And it is not that i never did something on the edge. I do like the hacktivist side. But never harmed people with my hacking. But i started real hacking only later. I am not sure what jokes i would have pulled with this knowledge when i could back in time and be 16 again ;-)