Hi! As a part of national security, we have got armed men manning the national boundaries with the necessary backups, ready to launch missiles just in case. As a part of homeland security, we have the police department. Then for domestic security, we have a fire extinguisher, pepper spray, set of knives and well honestly, we don’t know what makes you feel safe.

That is the line of defense for tangible assets but what about intangible things. What will you do if someone breaks in to steal some secret business intel and not the physical assets? Cornering the culprit is not an option here as he used online channels to hack into your databases. Think about it!

World War III will be more on the digital front than on the battlefield and stay assured that no one is safe in this era of digitization. Now what’s important is to how to defend in the digital era?

The threat is even bigger now that the companies are adopting new technologies like cloud computing and entering the e-commerce ecosystem. Ethical hackers act as saviors in this situation as they save the industry from losing the billions worth of confidential information from getting public. Let’s understand what’s ethical hacking first.

What is ethical hacking?

Ethical hackers or white hat hackers are from the stream of IT professionals who objectively analyze an organization’s data security structure. Their job is to penetrate security systems and fix the flaws and vulnerable points. They employ methods similar to those used by malicious hackers but ahead of time. They hack into the system with the client’s consent and prepare a maturity scorecard for the network which highlights the overall risks.

This method is called penetration testing or pen testing which is used to evaluate networks, internet applications and computer for vulnerability.

Pen testing gives a real-world assessment by gauging the network.

Now, you know what is ethical hacking and why is it important. We would like to introduce what services are included in ethical hacking:

• Application Testing
• Remote or war dialing
• Local network testing
• Wireless security
• System Hardening
• Stolen laptop
• Social engineering

Why we need ethical hackers?

Cyber crimes are decaying the stem of the nation’s security infrastructure as they are getting more and more widespread. These cyber terror campaigns are now funded by rouge nation-states and terrorist organizations for extorting hefty ransoms or compromising national security.

The reason why we need specially trained professionals to secure our networks is the traditional businesses with high-end stacks lack the proactive approach to save their IT assets like Banks. The IT security of the banks is redundant or easily breachable. The services of ethical hackers bring effectiveness and a professional approach to the job.

The next in line targets is the hotel business with minimal security, it is easy to breach into the hotel’s WiFi services. Such attempts allow hackers to stalk corporate travelers, people of importance in politics and getting videos of people for extortion.

These are two applicable examples to our daily lives and can ruin most of what we make or behold close. The need for ethical hackers is now more than ever with the new worms and malware springing up every day. This career holds a treasure of opportunities for those who take an immense interest in the field. To begin with, a fresher with certification in ethical hacking is paid approx INR 3.5 to 4 lakhs for their services per year. For experienced professionals in the field of information security analysts, ethical hacking experts and security consultancy salary is no bar and can range roughly from INR 9 to INR 20 Lakhs.

Concluding

The first attempt to keep the IT security intact is to analyze the effectiveness of the controls from time to time. Ethical hacking solutions are the best measures to examine the effectiveness of such IT security controls and fine-tuning the loopholes that may compromise IT security in any way possible.

Do you wish to become part of the emerging community of ethical hackers? Join the ethical hacker certification today. For more information, check out Appin’s website.