Definition
Ethical Hacking involves finding weaknesses in a system, organization, or application that can be exploited by attackers against individuals or organizations.
Importance of Ethical Hacking
Ethical hacking safeguards sensitive data and critical systems in today's growing cyber threat landscape. From financial institutions to healthcare providers, organizations of all sizes rely on ethical hacking to stay ahead of cybercriminals.
Here is data on the 50 Biggest data breaches from Visual Capitalist.
Ethical Hacking offers various benefits to organizations:
- Discovers Vulnerabilities in the system
- Enhances security of the network
Who are Hackers?
A hacker is an individual with technical expertise, networking skills, and other abilities that can be utilized to gain access to a specific system, organization, or application, either maliciously or non-maliciously.
Types of Hacker
Hackers are basically of three types:-
- White Hat Hackers
White Hat Hackers or 'Ethical Hackers' are cybersecurity experts who operate with the express permission of the system owner to identify vulnerabilities in systems, organizations, and applications by performing security assessments and hacking practices.
- Black Hat Hackers
Black hat hackers, also known as malicious hackers, represent the nefarious side of the hacking world. These digital renegades operate without authorization, breaching the security of systems, organizations, and applications. Their primary motives are often financial gain, driven by the desire to steal sensitive data (credit card information, personal details) or extort money through ransomware attacks. Black hats exploit vulnerabilities in systems, leaving a trail of disruption and potential damage in their wake.
- Grey Hat Hackers
Grey Hat Hackers, something in the middle of White Hat Hacker (ethical hackers) and Black Hat Hacker (malicious hackers) are those who look for vulnerabilities without the permission of the system owner. Some of them believe they are doing good to the company by hacking the system and reporting the flaws and vulnerabilities to the orgaization.
Ethical Hacking Techniques
Ethical Hacking can be done through various ways:
- Phishing
- Sniffing
- Social Engineering
- Foot Printing
- SQL Injection
- Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
- DDos and Dos Attack
- Brute Force Method
To learn more about each of them click here.
