What is Ethical Hacking?

The word hacker is often used as a synonym for cybercriminal. In the news, movies, and other venues, a hacker is often portrayed as a criminal, using their skills for personal profit or — in some cases — to assist the protagonist of a movie in achieving their goals. However, the word hacking originally referred only to a particular skill set — including the identification and exploitation of vulnerabilities in computers, processes, and human nature — with no motives attached.

Ethical hackers use many of the same tools, skills, and knowledge as cyber criminals. However, they work inside the law and attempt to help companies and individuals rather than hurt them.

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What is Ethical Hacking?

Key Concepts of Ethical Hacking

The goal of ethical hacking and penetration testing is to identify the vulnerabilities and other security gaps that are likely to be exploited by a cybercriminal. By finding these issues first, an ethical hacker can help the organization fix the problems before they are used to perform a data breach or other cyberattack.

Ethical hackers accomplish this by imitating the tools and techniques used by cybercriminals. With a clear understanding of how cybercriminals perform their attacks, an ethical hacker can identify whether an organization is vulnerable to that threat and help close any security gaps.

Problems Identified by Hacking

Ethical hacking can be used to identify a range of potential weaknesses in an organization’s cybersecurity. Some examples include:

  • Vulnerabilities: Software commonly contains bugs and errors that can be exploited by a hacker. Ethical hackers can help identify these vulnerabilities so they can be addressed.
  • Security Misconfigurations: Software and computers may also be configured in a way that makes them vulnerable to attack. For example, a firewall may inappropriately allow certain types of traffic to enter or leave the network or a user account may have a weak password.
  • Social Engineering: An ethical hacker can also assess an organization’s vulnerability to social engineering. For example, they might send phishing emails to employees or try to talk a help desk worker into handing over a user’s password by mistake.

How Ethical Hackers Differ from Malicious Hackers

At a technical level, ethical hackers and cybercriminals have few differences. The most effective ethical hackers are the ones with the same skill sets and knowledge as a cybercriminal.

Where ethical and malicious hackers differ is their motives and rules of engagement. Cybercriminals perform their attacks without authorization and are typically motivated by personal gain or the desire to harm their target. Ethical hackers have the consent of the owner of a system to test it and follow a code of ethics that defines what is permitted during an engagement.

Roles and Responsibilities of Ethical Hackers

The role of an ethical hacker is to help an organization identify potential security gaps in its IT environment. Some of the key actions that an ethical hacker may perform include:

  • Security Testing: An ethical hacker uses their knowledge and skills to identify vulnerabilities, configuration errors, and other security issues in a customer’s environment. During the assessment, the hacker may find and exploit vulnerabilities to determine their scope and potential impacts.
  • Reporting: After testing is complete, the ethical hacker will generate a report for the customer and likely present it to them. This will include describing the systems tested, techniques used, and any identified vulnerabilities.
  • Remediation Support: At a minimum, an ethical hacker should offer recommendations for addressing identified issues. However, they may go beyond this to help with hands-on remediation support or testing applied fixes.

Limitations of Ethical Hacking

Ethical hacking can be a powerful tool to enhance an organization’s cybersecurity. However, it’s not a perfect solution, and there are a few reasons why an ethical hacking engagement might miss security gaps in an organization’s systems, including:

  • Scope of Work: When an ethical hacking engagement is set up, the tester and customer define the rules of engagement. If a particular type of testing — such as social engineering — or target is outside of this scope, then the ethical hacker can’t identify any security holes associated with it.
  • Non-Destructive Testing: Related to the rules of engagement, ethical hackers may also be limited in the types of tests that they can perform. Attacks likely to cause harm to the organization or its employees or customers are unlikely to be permitted.
  • Duration and Resources: Ethical hackers typically have limited time and resources to perform their cyber security assessments. As a result, they are unlikely to identify every potential vulnerability in an organization’s systems.

Ethical Hacking Offered by Check Point

Ethical hacking is an invaluable tool for identifying and remediating potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities in an organization’s systems. It’s best performed by a trusted partner with a clear

understanding of the cyber threat landscape and how to address potential security issues.

Check Point’s Infinity Global Services offers a range of ethical hacking and penetration testing services. For more information and to learn how these could help improve your organization’s cybersecurity, contact a Check Point security expert,

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