In today’s society, the word “hacking” often has a negative connotation. In fact, images of unauthorized access on computers, compromising PC security, and online theft immediately come into mind whenever we hear or read this word.
Surely enough, most of us will agree that the act of hacking is unethical. But did you know that there is also a method of hacking that is morally acceptable, especially by IT experts? Yes, there is! And this act is called ethical hacking.
If you want to know more, then we suggest that you keep reading this entry as we are going to tackle more about this acceptable kind of hacking in today’s entry.
Ethical Hacking Defined In Simple Terms
In essence, ethical hacking is a controversial process of hacking in order to discover certain loopholes, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities of certain IT systems by hackers who perform unauthorized access to steal sensitive information, to delete system files, and other illegal activities to satisfy their malicious motives.
Hacking is definitely illegal, and in extreme cases, it can lead to imprisonment. But hacking can be legal if the hacker has the permission of the individual or organization they are planning to hack. In a way, the unlawful act of hacking is now made ethical so that weaknesses and vulnerabilities where hackers can penetrate will be revealed, and therefore come up with solutions to address these weak endpoints.
So, in other words, the ethical kind of hacking is done by computer experts with the permission of the company to uncover the gaps and weak points in their IT and security systems.
Types Of Hackers
Hackers are classified based on their intent or motivation to hack:
White Hat – This is the classification of an ethical hacker because they hack with permission.
Black Hat – This is typically the quintessential classification of an immoral hacker (or cracker) as they hack to gain unauthorized access and perform illegal activities.
Gray Hat – These hackers are somewhat good and somewhat bad because they hack without permission to make the company’s owners aware of the vulnerabilities in their system. And they do this for fun and not for malicious gains for most of the time.
Suicide Hacker – This is the extreme kind of hacker as they hack to bring down major companies without fearing the possibility of going to jail.
Hacking with Permission
Finally, we are going to talk about some types of ethical hacking that IT experts can do to expose certain vulnerabilities:
Website Hacking – Taking unsanctioned control over the server, its databases, and interface.
Network Hacking – This is done to gather information on the network and use it to cause harm or hamper its operation.
Email Hacking – Sending spam emails with links, threats, and malware to allow the hacker to gain illegal access to a person’s computer.
Computer Hacking – This hacking is done by stealing the ID and password of a person and use it for illegally accessing a network or system.
Password Hacking – And this is done to uncover secret passwords from a database that’s been transmitted or stored in a PC system.
If you’re planning to learn this valuable skill, you can enroll in Evolve Security’s cybersecurity bootcamp. Check out the link for more info.
