Ethical Hacking

What is Ethical Hacker?

Ethical hacking is the process of hacking the information that is considered to be confidential. The information through the ethical hacking does not remain secret at all. The ethical hacking process is also known as the intrusion testing, penetration testing or red teaming. However the ethical hacking also gives s professional certification to the certified ethical hacker where the hacking
of the computer system or some other devices takes place. This service had been made available to the people by the international council of e-commerce consultants. Moreover for the ethical hacking the user has to be an ethical hacker which is somehow the name that is given to the person and for this the person must be a penetration tester. The ethical hacker is responsible for the performance of different activities. The main role that had been allotted to the ethical hacker is that he is the person who is mainly working for an organisation or the organisations hires the ethical hacker for the purpose of penetrating the information from different networks or systems. The organisation trusts the ethical hacker as he is responsible for providing different services to the firm. The ethical hacking service is very much similar to that of the hacking and the ethical hacker is also working in the same way as the hacker is working for different purposes. The ethical hacker is the person who is found to be a computer expert and at the same time he is also responsible for the working of the networking systems as well. He is the person who works on behalf of the members of the organisation. At times the hacking service that is being provided by the hacker can also be dangerous for the firm and hence it can exploit the systems of the company An Ethical Hacker is an expert hired by a company to attempt to attack their network and computer system the same way a hacker would. Ethical Hackers use the same techniques and tactics as those used by illegal hackers to breach corporate security systems. The end result is the company's ability to prevent an intrusion before it ever occurs. 

Ethical Hacker Vs Malicious Hacker

Ask any developer if he has ever hacked. Ask yourself if you ever been a hacker. The answers will

probably be yes. We have all hacked, at one time or another, for one reason or another. Administrators hack to find shortcuts around configuration obstacles. Security professionals

attempt to wiggle their way into an application/database through unintentional (or even intentional) backdoors; they may even attempt to bring systems down in various ways. Security professionals hack into networks and applications because they are asked to; they are asked to find any weakness that they can and then disclose them to their employers. They are performing ethical hacking in which they have agreed to disclose all findings back to the employer, and they may have signed nondisclosure agreements to verify that they will Not disclose this information to anyone else. But you don’t have to be a hired security professional to perform ethical hacking. Ethical hacking occurs anytime you are “testing the limits” of the code you have written or the code that has been written by a co-worker. Ethical hacking is done in an attempt to prevent malicious attacks from being successful. Malicious hacking, on the other hand, is completed with no intention of disclosing weaknesses that have been discovered and are exploitable. Malicious hackers are more likely to exploit a weakness than they are to report the weakness to the necessary people, thus avoiding having a patch/fix created for the weakness. Their intrusions could lead to theft, a DDoS attack, defacing of a Web site, or any of the other attack forms that are listed throughout this chapter. Simply put, malicious hacking is done with the intent to cause harm. Somewhere in between the definition of an ethical hacker and a malicious hacker lies the argument of legal issues concerning any form of hacking. Is it ever truly okay for someone to scan your ports or poke around in some manner in search of an exploitable weakness? Whether the intent is to report the findings or to exploit them. If a company hasn’t directly requested attempts at an intrusion, then the “assistance” is unwelcome. 

Types of Hacker

• Script kiddies:

In hacker culture, a script kiddie, occasionally script bunny, skiddie, script
kitty, script running juvenile (SRJ), or similar, is a derogatory term used to describe those who use
scripts or programs developed by others to attack computer systems and networks. It is
generally assumed that script kiddies are like amateur kids who lack the ability to write
sophisticated hacking programe or exploits on their own, and that their objective is to try to
impress their friends or gain credit in underground hacker communities. 

• White hat hackers: 

They are generally security professionals white hat hackers in computer slang’s refers to an ethical hacker, a penetration or vulnerabilities tester or a security expert. 

White hat hackers are computer security experts who specialize in penetration testing and other

testing methodologies, to ensure security. This white hat hacker uses the computer security tools,

hacker tools and tactics to find or identify the exploits or vulnerabilities and works for security.

Now basically saying white hat hackers uses hacking techniques and skills in an ethical manner

i.e. in defense purposes 

•  Black hat hackers: 

Comparing to white hat hackers black hat hackers are villains or bad

guy’s, especially as the name suggests white hat hackers uses the hacking techniques for their

profit, it can be from stealing information or money by gaining unauthorized access or by destroy

vital data Or anything it means they intent to cause problems for their subjects or targets.They

break the Law, exploit Vulnerabilities, in other words they violate the system integrity with

malicious intent.

• Gray hat hackers: 

These hackers generally hack to learn. These types of hackers are the

combination of both i.e. white hat hackers and Black hat hackers. Gray hat hackers may work for

offensive purposes or defensive, depends on the situation and the choice.

There are self proclaimed ethical hackers, who are interested in gaining knowledge mostly for

curious purposes. Most of the people fall in this category

• Hacktivists:

Some people describing themselves as hacktivists have taken to defacing

websites for political reasons, such as attacking and defacing government websites as well as

web sites of groups who oppose their ideology. Hacktivist is a mixture of the words Hacker and

Activist. Their activities include many political ideals and issues. Hacktivism is a controversial term.

Some argue it was coined to describe how electronic direct action might work toward social

change by combining programming skills with critical thinking. Others use it as practically

synonymous with malicious, destructive acts that undermine the security of the internet as a

technical, economic, and political platform.

•  State sponsored hackers: 

Governments around the globe realize that it serves their

military objectives to be well positioned online. The saying used to be, “He who controls the seas

controls the world,” and then it was, “He who controls the air controls the world.” Now it’s all

about controlling cyberspace. State sponsored hackers have limitless time and funding to target

civilians, corporations, and governments.

•  Spy hackers:

Corporations hire hackers to infiltrate the competition and steal trade

secrets. They may hack in from the outside or gain employment in order to act as a mole. Spy

hackers may use similar tactics as hacktivists, but their only agenda is to serve their client’s goals

and get paid.

•  Cyber terrorists:

These hackers, generally motivated by religious or political beliefs,

attempt to create fear and chaos by disrupting critical infrastructures. Cyber terrorists are by far

the most dangerous, with a wide range of skills and goals. Cyber Terrorists ultimate motivation is

to spread fear, terror and commit murder. 

Republican Party.