Nowadays, the term ‘hacker’ among people is popular. The term was introduce to describe people who use their intelligence and skills for maintenance and increasing the efficiency of mainframe systems. However, the meaning of the term among the people is a skilled programmer who unauthorizedly gains authority over someone’s system for doing some malpractice. Even many of them are fascinat by the hacking course and how the hacking procedure is executing.
The main motive behind unethical hacking is to steal someone’s password or valuable information for mischief or financial gain. This is most people’s perception. However, the hacking isn’t bad at all. There is another side of hacking named as- ethical hacking. In this blog, we will learn what ethical hacking is, how it works, and more.
In today’s highly digitalized business environment, there has never been a bigger need for cyber security and ethical hacking. As more businesses go online, cybercrime is becoming a more serious issue. After China and the United States, cybercrime would be the third-largest economic power in the world if it were a country.
Costs associate with cybercrime are anticipated to increase by 15% annually to $10.5 trillion by 2025. Over $3 trillion more than in 2015. The greatest transfer of wealth in human history has occurred, endangering the incentives for investment and innovation. The annual damage caused by natural disasters around the world is ten times greater than that caused by cybercrime, which will soon be more profitable than the total global trade in all major illicit drugs put together. To put it another way, skilled cyber security professionals and ethical hackers are in high demand.
What is Ethical Hacking?
Many readers have heard the term ‘ethical hacking’ but didn’t know its meaning up to the core. Ethical hacking is an authorize procedure where system and organization infrastructure vulnerabilities are detecte by bypassing the system’s security. By doing this, an ethical hacker can easily find out about the threats, data breaches, security issues, etc., in the network. The main objective of an ethical hacker is to determine a system’s weak points, which can be exploite by malicious hackers, and secure them.
An organization appoints ethical hackers to detect the system’s vulnerabilities and develop a solution for its system to prevent data breaches. The ethical hacker checks the system for different vulnerabilities, including exposure of sensitive data, injection attacks, a breach in authentication protocols and tools, changes in security settings, etc.
What Are a Different Kind Of Hackers?
Most people consider the term ‘hackers’ as bad, as they believe a hacker is someone who will steal their sensitive data or information for their use. However, it is wrong. However, a hacker is categorize into different categories according to their intention of breaching data.
White Hat Hackers
White hat hackers are also ethical hackers who an organization hires to detect the vulnerabilities in the organization’s system or infrastructure by bypassing the organization’s security system. This kind of hacking is legal, as they have permission from the organization to find out the vulnerabilities. Although white hat hacker works with the mentality of a malicious hacker, they intend to secure and protect the system from attackers.
Black Hat Hackers
As their name depicts, these hackers try to gain unauthorized access to someone’s system to breach their data or information, intending to cause personal and financial harm. The objective of these hackers is to steal personal information, harm the data within a system, or get access to personal data (which can be sold illegally). This kind of hacking and the activities associated with it are punishable offenses.
Grey Hat Hackers
You can say that grey hat hackers reside between black and white hat hackers. This is because the grey hat hackers gain access or bypass the security system without having permission from the owner. However, their intent isn’t malicious at all. Instead, this hacker attacks the system for fun or learning purposes. However, after successfully accessing the system, they inform the owner about the weakness and the bugs. Although these hackers exploit a system’s bugs and weaknesses without malicious intent, this is a punishable offense too. Therefore, someone interested in hacking should enroll in an ethical hacking course to get in-depth knowledge about what hacking is and how hacking works.
How does Ethical Hacking work?
There are a total of five phases in ethical hacking. The phases ensure all the bases of ethical hacking are cover while an ethical hacker tests the organization’s system. Moreover, the five phases of ethical hacking are mention below-
- Reconnaissance
- Scanning
- Gaining Access
- Maintaining Access
- Clearing Tracks
The Competencies Required for Ethical Hacking
The ethical hacking criteria must be thoroughly understand by those who want to become ethical hackers. Additionally, they will require the necessary certifications, which are part of an ethical hacking security package. Being an Advanced Penetration Testing Specialist (APTS), Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), or EC-Council Licensed Security Analyst is examples of this (ECSA).
Not every ethical hacker chooses to go through this certification process. However, it greatly helps those who wish to advance their careers and get work with businesses that frequently use ethical hacking methods.
You must possess a thorough understanding of the ethical hacking fundamentals, satisfy the minimal educational criteria, finish the necessary ethical hacking training and certification courses, and accrue work experience in order to be considered for this position. This suggests a thorough knowledge of IT and computer technologies. You need to have the following skills in order to be a proficient, ethical hacker.
Technical Skills
- Cybersecurity Concepts & Technologies
- Cloud computing
- Web Application
- Scripting
- Advanced TCP/IP
- Wireshark or Tcpdump
- Virtualization
- Database skills
- Digital Forensics
- Networking skills
- Cryptography
- Kali Linux Operating System Skills
- Wireless network technologies
Soft Skills
- Problem-solving skill
- Communication skills
- Analytical skills
- Persistence
- Creative thinking
- Patience
Conclusion
The ethical hacking course is challenging, as one requires to master every area which is present in a network infrastructure or system. Because of this reason, ethical hacking certification is popular among aspiring ethical hackers and programmers. If you’re among the aspiring ethical hackers who want to build their career in cybersecurity. In that case, you should enroll in a decent, ethical hacking course that offers in-depth knowledge about each area of ethical hacking.
