What is hacking?
Hacking refers to actions that seek to compromise digital devices, such as computers, smartphones, tablets, and even entire networks. And while hacking might not always be for malicious purposes, nowadays most references to hacking, and hackers, characterize it/them as unlawful activity by cybercriminals—motivated by financial gain, protest, information gathering (spying), and even just for the “fun” of the challenge.
Who is a Ethical hacker?
An ethical hacker is someone who follows ethical principles to protect information and systems from the unethical hackers. Recently, many organizations have faced cyber-attacks leading to the growing need of having professional ethical hackers who can safeguard their networks.
Hackers are of different types and are named based on their intent of the hacking system. Broadly, there are two main hackers – White-Hat hacker and Black-Hat hacker. The names are derived from old Spaghetti Westerns, where the good guy wears a white hat and the bad guy wears a black hat.
Types of Ethical Hacking?
Any system, process, website, device, etc., can be hacked. In order to understand how the hack might happen and what the damage could be, ethical hackers think like malicious hackers and know the tools and techniques they are likely to use.
- WEB APPLICATION HACKING
- SYSTEM HACKING
- WEB SERVER HACKING
- HACKING WIRELESS NETWORKS
- SOCIAL ENGINEERING
Phases of Ethical Hacking
Planning and Reconnaissance:
Firstly,define the scope and goals of a test as well as the testing methods to be followed. It also addresses intelligence to understand the potential vulnerabilities and how a target works. The prospective footprinting is made through search engines, web services, social network sites, DNS, email, network, etc. by using footprinting tools.
Scanning:
In the second step, scanning is performed to understand how a target reacts to various intrusion attempts, in two ways – when the application’s code is static and when the application’s code is functioning. The later is the most practical way to understand the application’s performance in real-time.
Gaining Access:
This is a vital step where the web application is attacked using SQL injections, cross-site scripting, backdoors, etc. to find the vulnerabilities and then exploit them by stealing, intercepting traffic, and interfering privileges to understand the amount of damage that it can cause.
Maintaining Access:
In this step of penetration testing, the vulnerability is used as a persistent presence for a long duration in the infected system in order to steal sensitive information or to spread inside the network, quickly gaining access to the server.
Analysis:
The final stage of a penetration test is to compile the result by analyzing and commenting about the vulnerabilities exploited, access to the data, and the amount of time that the tester can remain unnoticed in the system.
Transition to Cloud Increases Demand of Ethical Hackers
The information world is moving towards Cloud where Virtualization and IT outsourcing are major trends. This transition has increased the level of threats and therefore the demand of ethical hackers. Since the advent of cloud computing, security has been a major concern. In order to avail the benefits of cloud and virtualization without harming the security, companies need to go for ethical hackers. The major challenge that today’s businesses face is the fast growing cyber world and the complexities of security requirements. The hacking tactics are evolving every day and only an expert professional can overcome this challenge. Ethical hackers are thus in high demand in today’s business world.
ADVANTAGES OF LEARNING ETHICAL HACKING
The prime benefit of ethical hacking is to prevent data from being stolen and misused by malicious attackers, as well as:
- Discovering vulnerabilities from an attacker’s POV so that weak points can be fixed.
- Implementing a secure network that prevents security breaches.
- Defending national security by protecting data from terrorists.
- Gaining the trust of customers and investors by ensuring the security of their products and data.
- Helping protect networks with real-world assessments.
Why Hire Ethical Hackers?
- To build a computer system that prevents hackers’ access and safeguard system and information from malicious attack
- To manage adequate preventive measures in order to avoid security breaches
- To safeguard user or customer information available in business transactions and visits
- To test networks at regular intervals
- To create security awareness at all levels in a business
INDUSTRIES USING ETHICAL HACKERS
The top companies using ETHICAL HACKERS are:
- Infosys
- IBM
- WIPRO
- UST
