Introduction to Ethical Hacking

What is Ethical Hacking?

Ethical hacking is different from hacking only in terms of intent. It is a profession where hacking methods are used to help organisations in preparing for impending cyber attacks. Unlike hacking, ethical hacking is used with good intent to help individuals and organisations and serves a greater purpose of securing important data and networks from malicious hackers.

Ethical hackers strengthen the network and system security by exploiting existing vulnerabilities. They identify the weaknesses and rectify them with appropriate and effective countermeasures. The techniques that ethical hackers follow are the same as those followed by the notorious ones. They only offer their services when they are legally hired by an organisation to do so. 

How to pursue a career in Ethical Hacking?

To pursue a career in the field of ethical hacking, you would have to follow this process and you would be ready to enter the domain as a professional. The steps to pursue an ethical hacking career are:

• Learn basics pf cybersecurity
• Learn ethical hacking
• Understanding different types of hacking
• Developing specific skills
• Learn programming and operating systems

Different types of Hacking

Hacking is a controversial term and is often considered in a negative context. Different types of hackers serve different purposes that range from beneficiary to malicious. Three types of ethical hackers are:

• White Hat Hackers
• Black Hat Hackers
• Grey Hat Hackers

White and Grey Hat hackers are the ones that use their hacking skills for ethical hacking. On the other hand, the ones involved in illegal hacking and malicious practices are the black hat hackers. 

Understanding the boundaries of ethical hacking and legal nuances of being an ethical hacker is important. As a fresher in the domain of ethical hacking, one can seek the role of a penetration tester. This role involves identifying the vulnerabilities in systems, networks, and applications to protect them from cyber-attacks.

Required Skillsets

There is no single way to enter the domain of ethical hacking. Depending on the security requirements of various organisations, they prefer a specific combination of skillsets in ethical hackers. Basic requirements to become an ethical hacker are a bachelor’s or above degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or Mathematics.

Other skills are good problem-solving skills, ability to handle pressure, and out of the box thinking. An attitude of continuous learning is also important to become a successful ethical hacker and continuously keep growing in your career.

On the technical front, working knowledge of the popular programming languages such as HTML, Python, C, C++, Java, ASP etc. is necessary. Certain soft skills such as good communication skills, flexibility, passion towards the domain, innovative thinking, and strong ethics are also sought by organisations hiring ethical hackers.

Knowledge of operating systems such as Windows, UNIX, LINUX, and IOS is also mandatory so that you can work on multiple operating systems. Knowledge of operating systems and programming languages enable ethical hackers to identify programming errors and vulnerabilities and helps in implementing security solutions where coding is required. This knowledge will also enable automation of tasks along with other coding requirements. 

Network and Security Knowledge

Knowledge of computer networks and cybersecurity concepts is crucial for pursuing a career in ethical hacking. An aspiring professional in this domain should be well-versed with the basic and advanced level understanding of security and computer networking. Such concepts include virtual private networks (VPNs), firewalls, cryptography, different types of cyberattacks, and more. 

Types of Cyber-threats 

Some of the most popular cyber-threats faced by organisations across industries are:

• Phishing Attacks: These type of cyber-attacks carefully target people with messages to fool them into clicking a link that will install malware on their device and expose all their sensitive information.
• Ransomware Attacks: Here, the hacker employs a technology that can hold an entire database hostage unless (s)he gets paid. The users are unable to retrieve files from on their system until they pay the hacker.
• Cryptojacking: In cryptojacking, the hacker hijacks third party home mining devices. The hackers earn a significant amount of money by piggybacking the host system as crypto-mining requires a large number of resources.  
• IoT Attacks: Hackers can have complete control over IoT networks and hence all the connected devices.
• Cyber-physical Attacks: These include hacks targeted at disrupting physical infrastructures such as transportation systems, electrical grids, water treatment hubs, and other similar infrastructures.
• Social Engineering: Social engineers are hackers that will use human psychology to pry sensitive information via phone calls or social media. 

About The Program

The introduction to the ethical hacking course is beneficial for those who want an insight into ethical hacking and its functions. This course will give you an understanding of cyber hacking and safeguarding organisations, its systems, and networks. It helps ethical hackers to develop the required skills to pursue a career in the domain. 

The course curriculum of the course includes Domains and process implementation under ethical hacking, Ethical hacking in web applications, Ethical hacking on mobile platforms, Ethical hacking in network architecture, Career and growth ladder in ethical hacking. It will help you understand hacking network security. The skills covered in the course are process flow for ethical hacking, bWAPP, OWASP, and Metasploit Framework.