Ethical Hacking: A must for Cyber Security by Sreelatha Settipalli

When we say “hacking” many people fear that we are talking about cybercrime. It’s true that hacking, when used by the wrong people, can be a criminal offense and something that we all need to be guarded about. However, there is also an ethical side to hacking too. In fact, ethical hacking is now being used a lot more to help promote good cyber security.

Put simple, ethical hacking is when businesses and corporations invite hackers to try to hack into their network and computer systems. This gives the business the chance to test their system and see where any vulnerabilities may lay.

As cybercrimes are becoming a much bigger threat for the majority of companies, ethical hacking is in very high demand. If you are interested to learn more about this and just how it can help you improve your own cyber security, then read on!

Why Use Ethical Hacking for Your Cyber Security?

Using a reliable ethical hacking firm can help you to further secure your computer network and to ensure you don’t end up suffering from a preventable breach. But that’s not all. Here are a few other key reasons why you might want to start using ethical hacking.

• Keep Up with Tech Changes - IT and tech are constantly changing and it can be quite difficult for firms to keep up with any cybersecurity developments. The best way to keep your network up to date is to use tech experts, such as ethical hackers. 
• Companies are not often that Motivated When it Comes to Cyber Security - Even though cyber security is such a big deal these days, the number of companies that don’t do enough to establish good digital security practices can be alarming. Using an ethical hacker will flag up the areas in which a company has been negligent so that they can make the necessary improvements. 
• Gain Customer Trust - Now that customers are a lot more aware of their privacy rights, more and more are only using businesses and companies they know they can 100% trust. Using ethical hacking to improve data protection can really give a brand’s loyalty a big boost. 
• Programmers don’t Always Code Securely - You might think that your web design team have coded a secure site that is impossible to infiltrate. Ethical hackers will be able to demonstrate whether this really is the case in minutes. 
• It’s a Chance to Test Security Systems - If you are not too sure which security systems and software are the best for your network, you’ll be able to test them all against an ethical hacker.

Different Kinds of Ethical Hackers

There are a lot of different types of an ethical hacker, and each has their own set of expertise and focus. If you are looking to use a hacker, you might not be too sure which would be best to test your network. Here’s a quick rundown of the different types of hackers and the ones used for ethical hacking jobs:

• White Hat Hackers - Those who take official hacking courses will become known as white hat hackers, aka the good guys of the internet. They usually work as security testers and analysts where they put their knowledge and methodologies to work trying to stay ahead of the bad guys of the internet - the black hat hackers. When businesses use an ethical hacker to test their system, they will always use someone from the white hat group.
• Green Hat Hackers - If you don’t have a huge budget for cyber security, then you will probably work with green hat hackers. These aren’t as knowledgeable or as experienced as the white hat guys. Though they do have some key skills, such as cracking passwords.
• Grey Hat Hackers - Technically, the grey hat wearers of the hacking world aren’t criminals although they do have the same knowledge as the black hat hackers. They rarely use this knowledge to unlawfully get into a system, although most wouldn’t be afraid to if they did ever need to.
• Black Hat Hackers - These are the guys who make it into news stories. The cyber criminals are responsible for deploying viruses, creating malware, and hacking into systems to steal data. This group does not fall into the category of “ethical hacking” at all!

As ethical hacking becomes more prominent in cyber security, it is something that we will all have to start considering for protecting our networks. By getting external hackers to try their best to hack into a network or system, we can really start to see just how secure our computers are!

About the Author:

Sreelatha Settipalli has been working with digital marketing challenged clients for over 5 years. She provides guest writing, and coaching too. Her educational background in computer applications has given her a broad base from which to approach many topics. Her digital marketing skills may be confirmed independently on Linkedin.com.