Ethical Hacking

Hacking..!! I know you are here to learn about this single word. No Doubt it is one of the most interesting word for tech geeks or even for newbies as well. But it becomes more interesting when a word “ETHICAL” is attached to it.

If we go with the literal definition of “Ethical Hacking” then  both these words it will comprise of “Penetrating into the security of any network with the permission of the Network Owner or Administrator”.

Here the question arises why would a Network Administrator will ask to breach its security. Is he mad..?? Yes, he is.

Jokes apart..!! The answer to this question is if you want a solution of the problem then you will have to enter the problem itself. This exactly an Ethical Hacker does.

He has the full control over the network/application and he breaches the network in order to get the details of vulnerabilities that a specific network/application has.

Well, You are here to know what is Ethical Hacking. Everybody in this world wants to become a Hacker but doesn’t want to get revealed. There is a better way of doing it.

Ethical Hacking implies the same methods to penetrate into a network/application but with legal permissions and with the goal in mind to cure the system, not vice versa.

Via these techniques the hacker, now being termed as “Ethical Hacker” finds the vulnerabilities in that particular system and reports back to the administrators with the free advice on how these vulnerabilities can be cured or fixed.

What constitutes Ethical Hacking

If you have watched the movie “Spiderman” then there is my favorite quote “WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY”.

It is an interesting journey for a hacker being converted into Ethical Hacker or the hacking being termed as Ethical Hacking but don’t worry its not that difficult as it seems. You just have to obey the following rules and responsibilities:

• Never enter any system (either a network or an application) without any Legal and Written Permission from the Administrator otherwise be ready to have a reception with cops in their Special Cells 😉
• Always Respect the privacy of any Individual or the Organization which has provided you this responsibility.
• This work is highly confidential. So, make sure no one can access your system or reports except the authorized personnel.
• If you have enough knowledge then with the detailed vulnerability report you can also suggest the appropriate fix as well.
• And Finally Ethical Hacking is an art of defining the loopholes in the system. Make sure you don’t break any rule and if you do, you must have the written permission.

Methods to implement Ethical Hacking

There are various methods by which it can be implemented and I am explaining few of them:

Penetration Testing:

This is the complete Package by which the security testers have a deep dive into the code of the Application or the complete network by using some tools and their experience. It is impossible to explain the complete process of this Penetration Testing here but now a days this is the industry standard and we will try to cover the most of it.

You can get the complete information about penetration testing tools and techniques by clicking here (Link will be live soon).

Other methods include DDOS attacks, Social Engineering tactics, some other tools like Nessus and WebScrab etc.

Career in Ethical Hacking

It is the most demanding career now a days and will be till the end of Internet. As everything in this world is getting online and the data is increasing day by day, so as the need of a Security Personnel to keep it safe and secure.

But  it all depends upon how dedicated you are because the result of dedication is knowledge and knowledge takes you to the level of success.

Although a degree in your hand from a reputed college can give you a kickstart with more than $60,000 p.a. but your hands on Experience along with the soft skills (your work ethics) will decide how far you will go on this road.

Be Certified Be Better

In order to get a better opportunity, you must have a certification which is the proof of your knowledge to the whole world.There are various firms in the market which can take out the hidden hacker inside you and will provide a stamp of being an Ethical Hacker by getting you trained in the proper way with proper tools.

The best certification you can get is “Certified Ethical Hacker” by EC- Council. A minimum of 2 years of IT experience in security would be good before you clear this examination as it includes mastery in penetration testing, DDOS attacks, all about trojan horses, malware, viruses and much more.

A detailed guide on “How to become a certified Ethical Hacker” can be found here (link will be live soon).

Be Legal

The last but not the least point of this article I think is to again give you the same advice to be legal. If you are thinking to make the career as an Ethical Hacker then don’t get engaged with any of the black hat techniques because each and every firm either it is Public or Private will have a detailed background check and if you are found guilty in that will diminish your career forever.