Ethical hacking or white-hat hacking is one of the most demanding roles for organisations in the world of cybercrimes. They are responsible for finding vulnerabilities and fixing them before cyber attacks occur. To protect systems and data from attacks, organisations hire ethical hackers. These white-hat hackers protect your system from malware, phishing attacks, SQL injection attacks, cross-site scripting, botnets and more.
Hackers do not care about whether you run a small organisation or own an MNC. They search for a vulnerable network or system and attack it. According to 2023 data, companies have lost over $8 billion globally due to cybercrime. The worst thing is that in 2027, it will rise to $24 trillion. Furthermore, if you are interested in ethical hacking and want to learn more about it, read the below content.
What is Ethical Hacking?
Ethical or white-hat hacking is a proactive form of information security that helps improve network, application, and computer system vulnerabilities. It is because of the continuous rise of cyber threats. Ethical hacking is also known as Penetration Testing. It detects the vulnerabilities which can exploit the organisation’s sensitive data.
Moreover, ethical hackers run malware analysis in which they idntifyies weak points and fix security vulnerabilities. They are also known as cybersecurity professionals hired by organisations. They use tools that help them resolve and strengthen vulnerable systems.
Benefits of Ethical Hacking
Here are some benefits of white-hat hacking, which are helpful for organisations’ protection. Let’s check them out:
1. It helps you find the exploited and exposed files and strengthen them. By fixing the vulnerabilities, the penetration of attacks in the system becomes difficult for hackers. It protects your system from cybercrime and attacks.
2. Ethical hackers find the vulnerabilities before the hackers. There are millions of hackers out there who are in the search to penetrate your system and steal sensitive information. But these ethical hackers find and fix the attacks before anyone else. They takes preventive action against hackers.
3. Ethical hackers fight against cyber terrorism and security breaches by following Cybersecurity best practices. This not just strengthens systems, but also instils fear in the cyber attackers, the fear of being caught. If cybercriminals get caught, they can be sentenced to life imprisonment.
4. These hackers are mainly beneficial for the financial and banking sectors. This is because cybercriminals target the system, which can give them maximum profit and gain access to sensitive information. The finance and banking sectors collect customers’s information.
Qualification, Skills and Certificate Requirements
Here comes the main thing: to become an ethical hacker, you must have some skills, qualifications, and certificates. Let’s check them out:
Qualification Requirement:
- Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, and Cybersecurity
- Many senior positions require a master’s degree in Cybersecurity or a similar field
- Must complete network security, cryptography, ethical hacking, and digital forensics courses.
Skills Requirement:
- Penetration Testing
- Computer Networking
- Programming
- Database management systems
- Linux
- Cryptography
- Wireless Network Understanding
- Basic Hardware Knowledge
- Reverse Engineering
Certificate Requirements:
- Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
- Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP)
- CompTIA Security+
- GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN)
- Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
Best Courses to Learn Ethical Hacking
If you want to learn ethical hacking, here are some of the best courses to help you. You can easily find them on their official site. So, without any further ado, let’s check them out:
1. Guru99
Guru99 is one of the best and most free courses in ethical hacking. In this course, you can learn about hacking Linux OS, cracking passwords, understanding worms and viruses, and more. These hacking tools are the most useful things to learn in ethical hacking. You can also learn about malware analysis and removal, IP address blocking, and network scanning.
2. Coursera
Coursera provides a free course on cryptography and its key concepts. Cryptography is one of the major components of Cybersecurity. The course lasts seven days and allows you to learn about cryptography, hacking tools, applications and building blocks.
3. Edureka
Edureka is one of the most popular courses for ethical hackers. However, it is available in a paid version, covering everything related to Cybersecurity and ethical hacking. The course provides lessons about Kali Linux, XSS, DDOS and more. It is one of the best courses for beginners and covers all the important chapters an ethical hacker should know about.
Disadvantages of Ethical Hacking
- They have the potential to harm the company’s data and important files.
- To recruit ethical hackers, the company’s cost may have to increase.
- Ethical hackers can utilise the data for malicious activity.
- It can harm the customer’s privacy.
Bottom Line
Ethical hacking is important for organisations, especially big ones such as finance and banking. It is useful because ethical hackers find vulnerable files or networks in the system. Their responsibility is to find out the weaknesses and fix them before cyberattacks. Exposed or faulty files in the system make the work of hackers easy to steal the information. Furthermore, by using ethical hacking tools, you can protect your information. However, ethical hacking requires some skills and certifications.
Also Read: Cyber Security: The Essential Guide to Keeping Your Data Safe
