Let’s take a look at a more detailed introduction to ethical hacking. Evidently, it’s essential to protect organisations and their data, and ethical hacking can play a crucial role in this protection. They attribute these rising costs to better reporting, as well as more effective hacking techniques.Īs well as the loss of data and money, cybercrime can harm public safety, damage economies, and undermine national security.
#BASIC HACKING TOOLS SOFTWARE#
A 2020 report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and security software company McAfee found that cybercrime losses amount to around $945 billion, up from $522 billion in 2018. Of course, it’s not just data that’s at stake when it comes to cybercrime.
White-hat (ethical) hackers help to identify exploits that could be exploited by black-hat (unethical/malicious) hackers.
So, in a time where sensitive data is stored across all kinds of businesses, networks, and servers, it’s essential to protect it. We now know what ethical hacking is, but why can computer hacking be so beneficial? Essentially, by intentionally figuring out exploits and weaknesses in an organisation’s computer networks, it’s possible to fix them before an un ethical hacker can take advantage of them.Įthical hackers work to help organisations identify and eliminate threats by improving the overall IT security of the organisation. Penetration testing is just one tool or process within ethical hacking. So, what’s the difference between these two terms? While the term ethical hacking can be used to describe the overall process of assessing, performing, testing, and documenting based on a host of different hacking methodologies. It involves intentionally trying to attack the system to find its weaknesses and devise ways to defend them. However, depending on where you look, there are some differences to note.Īs we explore in our open step on the subject, penetration testing is a type of test that helps to identify what kinds of attacks an infrastructure is vulnerable to.
You’ll often see the terms ‘ethical hacker’ and ‘penetration tester’ or ‘pen tester’ used interchangeably.
#BASIC HACKING TOOLS PROFESSIONAL#
What is ethical hacking?Įthical hacking is the process where a professional hacker legally and deliberately tries to break into the computers and devices of an organisation. Although the typical connotation of hacking and hackers is a negative one, it can actually be a beneficial process, as we shall see. Hackers, or those who practice hacking, will access systems in a way that the creator or holder did not intend. In basic terms, hacking is the process of gaining unauthorised access to data that’s held on a computer, system or network. What is hacking?īefore we get into ethical hacking, let’s look at one of the key concepts that underlie the practice. We’ll also explore some of the job roles and salaries available to those with the necessary hacking skills. Here, we take a closer look at the practice, including what it is, why it’s useful, and how you can learn ethical hacking.
However, such sensitive information needs to be protected, which is where ethical hacking comes in useful. We each consume and produce huge amounts of information each day, and it can be used in industries as diverse as healthcare, banking, marketing, and many more. Data plays an essential role in our lives.