A threat is a situation or condition that has the potential to harm a system or asset. An attack is an intentional activity designed to harm a system or asset. About vulnerability once it is discovered, an attacker’s playbook moves on to exploit. Hackers use exploits to take advantage of vulnerabilities for their malevolent purposes. What one would consider ethically acceptable is subjective. It would be helpful for the government and other organizations to utilize these attacks to retrieve critical information and successfully carry out any active missions. So, as far as the government using these attacks, I think it’s acceptable in a lot of situations.