Ethical hacking: A brief overview

Legal hackers are computer network experts that penetrate into the security system of their clients’ computers. Their job is to discover the loopholes in the system that can be intentionally exploited.  What is amazing is while legal hackers use the same processes/methodologies as malicious hackers, the objective obviously is in the benefit of the client. Instead of taking advantage of the vulnerabilities present in the system, they report them to the client. Considering the job of legal hackers, they have been conferred with several titles, namely – ethical hacker and white hat hacker.

Do you know – the term white hat hacker has its source from old western movies. Supposedly in them the good guy wore white hat and the bad guy wore black hat.

Also, ethical hacking has other substitute tiles, namely - penetration testing, intrusion testing and red teaming.

When did ethical hacking originate?

The instance when ethical hacking was first used is contradictory. There are various theories to it. One of the theory states – in 1970, United States government employed experts to hack its own computer systems. This was the start of legal hacking. With time, it grew outside the government sector. Today you have many companies, maintaining teams of ethical hackers.

Is ethical hacking the right career for you?

If terms like viruses, DDoS attacks and buffer overflows tickle your fancy, then ethical hacking can be your preferred choice of career.  You can help governmental organizations and businesses tackle one of their primary concerns i.e. preventing data theft and fraud. Probing into their systems, you can improve their networks, applications, and computer security. Best part: While working as a legal hacker, you will experience the same adrenaline rush that is also associated with underground hacking. However, all this will come with a good package and you would not end up behind the bars like the "black hat" hackers.

How dynamic is ethical hacking as a job market?

Gartner has estimated worldwide enterprise IT spending to grow by 5.9 percent in the coming years. Moreover, since data security has become a pressing time for all organizations, Gartner has estimated a rise of 40 percent on worldwide security services during the five-year period from 2011 to 2015. Amazing isn’t it?

Like any other profession, here too it’s your experience that will help you make further inroads into the field. While you can start with a decent pay package, after years of professional experience, you can easily demand a higher salary.

What kind of preparation is required for ethical hacking?

Since ethical hacking is one of the most promising job markets – competition is fierce. You just can’t dive into this field expecting a placement fast. Without IT security training, you won’t go too far. Hence experience with certifications should be your priority to get preference from the employers.

Start with the IT basics: Enroll for an A+ Certification course to get a tech support position. Once you gain experience, advance your IT knowledge with additional certifications (Network+ or CCNA). Remember acquiring CCNA or Network+ certification will help you move up to positions of network support, and then to network engineer after a few years.

Earn security certifications to be eligible for information security position. Concentrate on penetration testing. Focus on Unix/Linux commands and distributions. Learn programming like: LISP, Perl, or Java. Get familiar with databases such as SQL.

Note: Be careful about the institute you choose to study ethical hacking. While there are many options present, not all of them offer the same standard of training. Result: wrong decision in selecting an institute can cost both your time and money. Plus, your level of knowledge will not be at par with current industry standards.

There is a list of colleges that experts have recommended for ethical hacking courses. One of them is IIHT institute in Kolkata – IIHT Ultadanga. It offers ethical hacking as one of its career courses. Enroll here to gain a comprehensive training on different elements of ethical hacking, namely -

• Foot printing and Reconnaissance

• Scanning Networks

• Enumeration

• System Hacking

• Trojans and Backdoors

• Viruses and Worms

• Sniffers

• Social Engineering

• Denial of Service

• Session Hijacking

• Hacking Webservers

• Hacking Web Applications

• SQL Injection

• Hacking Wireless Networks

• Evading IDS, Firewalls, and Honeypots

• Buffer Overflow

• Cryptography

• Penetration Testing

• Linux Basics Hacking

• Physical Security

• Hacking Tools.