We are all familiar with the popular phrase, “Too much of everything is bad.” This phrase holds true in every context, and the present times are proof of it.

The efforts for the creation of a ‘network of networks’ or the Internet date back to the early 1980s. But the breakthrough came a decade later in 1991 when the computer-scientist Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. And although the invention and discovery of the Internet are credited to the previous century, it is this century that is being called as the ‘Era of Technological Marvels’.

With the inventions succeeding that of the Internet and the World Wide Web, the domain of technology has been growing leaps and bounds ever since. Now everything is just a clicks away, comfort is at its peak. This technology and its usage have become an inherent part of our everyday lives, something we can no longer imagine our lives without. We have started being so heavily reliant on our mobile phones and laptops and computers that if someone were to destroy us emotionally, physically, financially or socially, all they have to do, is to get access to our phones/computers/laptops which contain every bit (and byte) of our personal and professional information.

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And in order to safeguard our private and professional information, the most recent development that the domain to technology has to offer is a concept called “Ethical Hacking”.

To understand the crux of ‘ethical hacking’, we must first grasp the basic meaning of ‘hacking’. Hacking is defined as “the process of identifying and exploiting a weakness in a system or a network to gain unauthorized access to data and system resources.” In other words, hacking is the unauthorized entry of an attacker in an information system and/or network for personal, immoral reasons. Hackers feed on the vulnerabilities and limitations of the host systems and steal their personal, professional and organizational details. Hacking is, therefore, nothing but an information leak security threat to all network systems.

Ethical hacking is defined as “an act of intruding or penetrating into system or network to find out threats, vulnerabilities in those systems which a malicious attacker may find and exploit causing loss of data, financial loss and other major damages.” In simpler terms, ethical hacking is the same as hacking, the only difference being that in ethical hacking, the hacker enters the system/network with proper authority and with the sole aim to locate the vulnerabilities of the system so that they can be rectified.

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The exclusive objective of ethical hacking is to improve the security of the networks by remedying the vulnerabilities and limitations found during the testing. Ethical hacking, which is executed by experienced experts or ‘white chapeaux’, constitutes the take of planning sciences to define the vulnerable potential of the computer system. The world of hacking is divided into two broad segments based on intent. non-ethical hackers or ‘black hats’ use their skills to exploit the vulnerable spots of a computer network to promote mischief or to tamper with confidential information for personal gain or other reasons. Ethical hackers or ‘white hats’ use the same set of skills to find and fix the vulnerable spots of a computer network and secure confidential information.

The ethical hackers use the same tools and techniques as the intruders to gain access to the system. But, they neither damage the target system nor steal information. Instead, they evaluate the target system’s security and report back to the owners with the vulnerabilities they find and instructions for how to remedy them.

To sum it, the focal benefits of ethical hacking include the following:

Framing and implementation of a secure network that can alert and avoid security breaches.

Increased customer satisfaction and gain the trust of investors by ensuring the safety of their data and products.

Discovering the vulnerabilities and limitations from an attacker’s standpoint, so that they can be remedied.

Defending national security by protecting sensitive information from being leaked in the wrong hands.

“Government agencies and business organizations today are in constant need of ethical hackers to combat the growing threat to IT security. A lot of government agencies, professionals and corporations now understand that if you want to protect a system, you cannot do it by just locking your doors,” said Jay Bavisi, CEO of the Ethical Hacking Council in a recent conference. And for sceptical minds that do not trust the words of Jay Bavisi, here are some facts that will make them understand the need for ethical hacking.

Only as low as 38% of the global organizations claim that they are ready for a cyber-attack.

The average cost of a data breach will exceed $150 million by 2020.

By 2021, the number of unfulfilled cybersecurity jobs around the world will reach 3.5 million.

The market for ethical hacking is steadily growing, not only in the sphere of the Information Technology Industry but also in the Education Industry. The ascending demand for white-hats has encouraged educational institutions all over the world to tailor-make new courses for students who now want to learn and train in ethical hacking.

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Studying ethical hacking can be useful to employees also in a variety of job roles, including network defender, risk management, software developer, quality assurance tester, management and legal. Additionally, pursuing ethical hacking training and certifications can benefit those seeking a new role or wanting to demonstrate skills and value to their organization.

The process of ethical hacking can be broadly divided into five steps namely; planning, scanning, gaining access, maintaining access and analysis.

Planning: Success of the test is heavily reliant on how well the planning has been done. Planning defines the scope and goals of the test and of the methods to be used in the test. It also helps the hacker to familiarize himself with the working of the target network or system.

Scanning: The second step involves the comprehension of how the target system or network reacts to different types of unauthorized intrusion attempts. This helps the hacker to understand the performance of the target network or system in real-time.

Gaining Access: This step involves the uncovering of the target network or system’s vulnerabilities or limitations. To locate such vulnerabilities, the hacker attacks the target system/network and then tries to intercept and pilfer the data and information being transmitted within and through it.

Maintaining Access: Under this step, the vulnerabilities and limitations that were identified in the previous step, are imitated to check if they can be used to maintain access to the target for longer durations of time.

Analysis: The last step involves the in-depth analysis of the vulnerabilities and limitations that were uncovered and other details such as the duration of time for which a virus/hacker can remain unnoticed after hacking into the target system or network. An analysis of all the corrective measures recommended to rectify the vulnerabilities in the target system is also done.

On the basis of the type of the target network, there can be various types of hacking. The different types of ethical hacking include:

Web Application Hacking.

System Hacking

Hacking Wireless Networks

Social Engineering

Ethical hacking is grouped into a slightly unclear explanation of ‘hacking’ because its knowledge involves the usage of sophisticated machine cognition to, somehow, infiltrate the computing system. Ethical hacking is considered legal because the actions are used to increase the security of a computer system. Ethical hacking requires the breaking of a system to pinpoint vulnerable areas and to promote reinforcement.

Ethical hacking does not imply hacking others for moral intentions. Ethical hacking constitutes when one individual with required expertise systematically and wittingly tries to increase right to one or more computers and networks on behalf of the person in charge of those systems, in order to discover security flaws so that they can be addressed.

Ethical hacking constitutes an all-embracing period which includes whole hacking methods, and different cyber fire methods. Some people differ with their hacker counterparts, dissing hacking as ‘ethical’ in any way. They deem the word ‘ethical’ in the term ‘ethical hacker’ is added to attract more people to training programs and courses. For this reason, among other things, some people prefer not to associate this term with them.

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The important disagreement between ethical hacking and hacking is based on the fact that ethical hacking is executed lawfully to resolve the problems in the organization, whereas hacking is performed illegally to gain access to other systems. Ethical Hacking follows some rules and regulations and so the companies chose to follow it. Due to the differences caused by the activities of unethical hacking, ethical hacking is established.

It’s all an interconnected cycle if you think about it. Limitations of the advancements in the virtual world paved way for malafide hacking, and the emergence of malafide hacking created the importance for ethical hacking, and possibly in near future, the drawbacks of ethical hacking may make way for some other innovation. I mean, who knows? We live in an era of technological marvels, and everything is possible here and now.