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The term ‘hacking’ often has negative connotations outside of the technological world – people automatically think of illegally gaining access to people’s computers and sending viruses around the world, discovering the secrets of enemy governments. However the world of ethical hacking is far from these cloak-and-dagger connotations. What exactly is an ethical hacker? An ethical hacker, sometimes called a ‘white hat hacker’ (referring to old western films), is a person employed to test security exploits within a company. The difference between being an ethical hacker and a regular hacker (computer criminal) is that you will have explicit permission from the organisation which you are trying to hack. Some people have expressed an opinion that ethical hacking does not exist, but rather these people are security systems experts. Whatever you wish to call them, they are the good guys of the trade, many of whom are working against the illegal hackers to protect and secure loopholes within computer systems. Who employs hackers? One of the reasons that hacking is one of the most lucrative professions for people that are well versed in technology is because of the vast amount of companies that employ professional hackers. The main reason for this is because they want to ensure that their security systems and safety measures are up to a decent standard – by allowing employed hackers into their systems, they can sort out any loopholes without compromising sensitive data. Many governments employ hackers to gain access to computers of suspected criminals. This type of ethical hacking is usually conducted by people employed by the police forces or home defence office, which provides security from breaching laws. With the number of websites increasing at a very rapid rate, the number of hackers employed to test websites has largely increased. When the first employed hackers started work almost four decades ago, there was no internet to test – now there are thousands of websites that employ people who’ve undertaken hacker training to help ensure that their websites are secure and the data they hold is protected corresponding to the internet laws. What is involved in training? Finding companies that offer hacker training is not too difficult nowadays, but the training that they each provide will differ somewhat. The main way that you will learn is through first being taught to understand the basic infrastructure of how a computer system works – they will teach you how to identify and potentially exploit loopholes that exist within systems, as well as letting you know exactly what information can be extracted. One of the ways that companies will teach you is by giving you simple tasks to try your hand at: hacking a dummy system for example. When you progress through the various levels of training you will be faced with more difficult tasks. Whether you are asked to complete black box testing (no prior knowledge of the security or computer infrastructure), grey box (with partial knowledge of the infrastructure) or white box (full knowledge) will depend on the level of experience and training you have received. You are unlikely to ever be tested in blind (black box) circumstances until you have a good knowledge of how to hack a full system. Similarly you will rarely work on white box tests when you progress further, with the majority of your hacker training being conducted on partial-knowledge (grey) systems. Why should I train? By training with a professional company, you will become a certified hacker. This means that the EC-Council (International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants) will recognise you as one of the good guys which will allow you to apply for jobs as a professional hacker. To learn more about ethical hacking training and courses available visit Ethical-hacking-training.com
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