Sunday 4 March 2012

Is Hacking Ethical?

Most of you think that hacking is illegal, an immoral activity. Hacking is defined as increasing capacity of a device such that it can perform actions other then those defined and intended. It may also mean to take control of other machines. A hacker is a person who initiates this action and is extremely knowledgeable in computer programming.

Hacking has got bad name due to few people, organizations and media. Some of the hackers chose to use their knowledge to disrupt computers, steal information and gain illegal access. The motive was to hurt and steal. Most of the genuine hackers are ethical and are put in their skills to find new ways and means to use software or hardware. Also Ethical hackers are used to test any vulnerability in software and plug them before non ethical hackers find it.

Some hackers cross the line but do not stray too far and are called Grey Hackers. Hacking has been around since computers came to use. People who hack into computers live in almost every country in the world. Hackers are normal people with extraordinary ability and knowledge. They succeed where other programmers fail. They find ways to twist rules, bend rules, break them and define new ones. They set new boundaries in software and hardware usage. Let us look at various types of hacking.

Types of Hacking:

1. Hacking for user information
2. Web based hacking.

Hacking for user information involves taking control of computer to extract information without the knowledge of actual owner. Web based hacking involves playing with a website. It will be interesting to look in each type of hacking.

Hacking for user information: To gain information most hackers use Phishing, Brute Force Method, Key loggers and Trojans. While phishing, hackers make a web page which is exact clone of the website their target will visit. When the target keys in, they redirect him / her, to their own web page. This new web page captures the details and passes it to hackers.

Brute Force Method involves attack using automated scripts which will try all possible combination. It takes time and computing power to succeed. This technique was used earlier for email passwords but now Image Capture trick used by most websites has rendered it useless.

Key loggers and Trojans are similar in action. These programs are sent to user computers and installed discretely. They send the information back to hacker. Once hacker receives your private information they use it for their personal benefit.

Web site hacking: Hackers use SQL Injection, XSS and Shells. SQL injection works for website which have SQL database at their backend. Using a parse command one can get in the information stored in these databases. Shells and XSS techniques work by twisting the content and cookies.

Though this information my sound malicious but it is presented so that you can safeguard your website and information against these basic attack types and use Internet without any problems.

Ethical hacking methodology

One must be wondering how hacking and ethical can go together. Well, why not when there are bad things, there is always a prominent presence of good things around. There are many things, these days possible at just one single click, all thanks to the Internet. Like as said earlier, there are good and the bad, with increasing knowledge of the Internet, the crimes and risks related to the web has also increased and one of the most is hacking.

Hacking is talking about entering a computer network of any companies to gather data/information. This is absolutely dangerous and illegal of exposing the data/records for any reason. In statute to prevent such intrusion, several companies are employing expertise personnel's who are skilled in averting hacking and, these skilled people are known as "ethical hackers" or "white hat hackers". Sneaking and entering into the system to check for any culpability within the system, the performed act is known as ethical hacking. On the surface, ethical hacking appears to be rosy like any straight forward process.

Measure the reasons behind deploying ethical hacking

This is very crucial part about explaining, why an individual is thinking to do so. If the reasons are not virtuous, there comes the question of morality and, if it is for the company's benefit, deploying the same will be highly beneficial package. The key thing is what it brings that it grows into an urgent urge of deploying an ethical hacking.

The significance of hiring an ethical hacking professional

The foremost thing is necessary to know that, what kind of stuff one is searching and why it is has become imperative to hire an outsider to hack the system since; hacking is one of those dropped in banter to prove management is on the top of the issues when it comes to computer security. Computer security breaches are everyday news and, even occur in high controlled environments for two main reasons: people are not trained in identifying the mission and, people are not trustworthy and there is when the need of hiring ethical hacker arises. The core task of ethical hacking features involves about checking the loop holes, testing of the flaws and giving protection against such flaws.

What are the ethical hacking features that one should look for?

Any company cannot know that, if their security system is rock solid unless it is tested. The techs of the company cannot every now and then go at the system to know the mischievous and malicious motives of an illegal hacker. The below mentioned points are just a start, but not exhaustive ones.

• High qualification is essential in this highly technical area. The professional should be thoroughly certified and known to ethical hacking standards.

• There are individual security testers' professionals, not necessarily that an ethical hacker has all the understanding of every security flaws. So pick according seeing what exactly is required.

• The core ethical hacking feature is about its skills, along with the technical knowledge, there candidate should be competent, resourceful and, able to adapt to varied situations.

• Perseverance, patience and persistence are important ethical hacking feature that an expert ethical hacker has.

• Highly knowledgeable about security related issues, that can prevent flaws from happening.

What benefits does an organization can expect from ethical hacking features?

The top benefit that, an organization can expect is safety of their network. The professional hacker with above key features helps demonstrate the security of the organization or can discover the loopholes. Once the flaw is known, the professional offers a report stating the same and how the system can be made safer.