Ethical Hacking

Information security professionals can take preventive security practices to the next level by learning how to hack.

As opposed to malicious “black hat” hacking, ethical “white hat” hacking (also called penetration testing) involves using computer hacking skills to identify network security vulnerabilities and patch security holes before anyone can abuse them.

Why It’s Important

Learning how to hack helps information security professionals implement the strongest possible security practices. It’s as much about finding and fixing security vulnerabilities as it is anticipating them. As you learn more about the methods hackers use to infiltrate systems, you’ll be able to preemptively resolve issues; if you don’t understand how black hat hackers could get into your systems, you’re going to have a hard time securing them.

Think of it this way: a computer network is like a yard with a fence to keep people out. If you’ve put something valuable inside the yard, someone may want to hop the fence and steal it. Ethical hacking is like regularly checking for vulnerabilities in and around the fence, so you can reinforce weak areas before anyone tries to get in.

What It Involves

Above everything else, successful ethical hacking requires being a master of problem-solving. An understanding of how computer systems and programming languages work is also essential because if you understand how the system works, it’s easier to think of ways to exploit the system.

For example, a website may use a complicated, sturdy JavaScript-based authentication system to prevent spammers from submitting thousands of bogus support emails. An ethical hacking approach to testing may be attempting to disable the JavaScript language in the web browser (a widely available feature) and submitting a support email while ignoring the authentication process. Unless the programmers have designed the site to ignore non-JavaScript enabled systems, the spam email will bypass security. After identifying the security hole, the programmers can make the necessary adjustments.

How to Become an Ethical Hacker

According to PC World, hiring managers look for individuals who have ethical hacking experience and/or degrees in information security and information technology, as well as IT certifications. It’s possible to start your career in ethical hacking or steer your career in the field as your experience grows. Hack training sites such as hackthissite.org can help you sharpen your hacking skills regardless of your experience level.