Ethical hacking is a hot topic in today’s cyber world. The latest news regarding the hacking of the twitter accounts of prominent personalities like Barack Obama and Bill Gates has made the topic much more relevant- now, more than ever before. It brings to the specific question- What is ethical hacking? Ethical hacking refers to the particular ways employed by the cyber techies to look into the vulnerabilities of the network systems to avoid fraudulence and breaching of the data. The key point to note here is, ethical hacking, as the term by itself reveals, is an authorized way of hacking with no malicious intentions.
Understanding ‘Ethical hacking’
Having understood the basic framework of ethical hacking, let’s look into the possibilities, risks, and relevance of the same in today’s world.
- One of the primary possibilities is the increasing demand for ethical hackers in cyberspace which also implies increasing job opportunities in the cyber world.
- Most of today’s developing sectors seek the help of ethical hackers-bureaucracy, banks, medical institutions, industries, etc are few examples, who seek the help of ethical hackers, to secure their data and network systems, from the malicious hands. This again widens the scope of ethical hacking.
- Ethical hacking, as one can rightly guess now, is a legal, developed, and approved activity in the cyber world.
- Ethical hackers are employed by organizations to diagnose security threats.
What are the benefits of ethical hacking?
Now, it is pertinent for one to understand the most obvious benefits and pros, offered by ethical hacking in the field of cyberspace. Shall we have a closer look at it?
- To begin with, ethical hacking in the modern world promises the security of confidential data from various sectors.
- Ethical hackers are also trained to deal with the threats and dangers posed by black-hat hackers; that is, hackers with malicious intentions.
- Ethical hacking in an admirable context would mean supporting the increasing network connections of sectors and organizations across the world.
- In the job market realm, ethical hacking opens up a wider world of career opportunities for individuals passionate about hacking and cybersecurity.
- Besides, the career prospects opened by training in ethical hacking, it is also important to keep in mind, the efforts invested by ethical hackers in securing the data and networking of every software company, across various fields.
Are you cautious while performing ethical hacking?
Understanding the possibilities of ethical hacking, as we discussed above doesn't make the picture complete. Isn't it also important to understand what are the dont’s related to ethical hacking? Let us figure out what are some of those aspects one should keep in mind while learning and also performing ethical hacking :
- Any ethical hacker should, right at the beginning, seek the permission and consent of the particular organization for which the task of hacking is performed.
- An ethical hacker, while performing the task should also detail the operation of hacking to the concerned company and not perform anything without their knowledge.
- While doing the hacking, the performer should also keep the data and confidential details of the concerned company/organization/sector extremely secret and sensitive.
- After finishing the task, all details and remnants of the process should be erased with utmost care to avoid the malicious attempts of any third party to manipulate data later on.
Now, to brief up, ethical hacking as we learned is an extremely developed branch in the cybersecurity realm; but one has to be very cautious while engaging with ethical hacking. Professional training under the expertise and coaching of skilled trainers help one explore the possibilities of ethical hacking in the job market—not to forget, with a serious and careful attempt in understanding and performing ethical hacking. Ethical hacking doesn't confine its possibilities to the mere job prospects, but also the securement of data and privacy of numerous sectors across the globe.