Monthly Archives: September 2021

When it comes to hacking, surely you might first think of a person busy with codes on big machines in a dark room, doing some cybercrime. 

But did you know that even hacking can take on an ethical twist?

In this post, we’ll talk about what ethical hacking is, its importance, and how it can benefit today’s businesses. 

Let’s begin. 

Why Should You Be Concerned About Hacking?

Criminals are attracted to hacking because it’s a million-dollar opportunity. 

They can now illegally and anonymously make loads of money using a computer screen anywhere in the world. 

Although it happens in a virtual setting, hacking is not a victimless crime and it can have a devastating impact on anyone directly or indirectly involved. 

In recent years, cyberattacks have targeted the confidential data held by major e-commerce sites and banking institutions. They even brought entire governments to a standstill. 

Even today, when the threat of hacking is widely recognized, the real cost of hacking to the economy is not completely understood. 

The consequences of not having effective cybersecurity in place can be catastrophic, especially for small businesses. 

Just one cyber-breach is enough not only to lose huge sums of money, but also the trust of your customers. 

Black Hat vs. White Hat Hacking

The terms Black Hat and White Hat specially refer to the motives and practices of a hacker. 

These terms come from old western movies, in which good guys will wear a white hat, while the bad guys will wear a black hat. 

Because of this, these two terms are applied to ethical hackers versus criminal hackers. 

A Black Hat hacker is more in line with popular movie portrayals. 

They are the hackers that break into systems, steal information or money, manipulate data and compromise security. 

Generally, they do this for either financial gain (stealing cards, identity theft), political interest (vandalizing websites, creating bots to manipulate data). 

They can be anyone from teenage amateurs to experienced individuals or even whole groups, such as well-known LulzSec and Anonymous. 

On the other hand, a White Hat hacker is known as an ethical hacker. 

This is someone who is often employed by organizations or governments to look for flaws in security defences. 

Although they are using the same tactics as the Black Hats, White Hat hackers do it with the organization’s permission, which makes it completely legal.

They use their knowledge to break into systems and discover their weak points before someone else. This way, ethical hackers help strengthen systems and prevent cybercrime.  

How Ethical Hacking Improves Security and Prevents Cyber Attacks?

With cybercrime on the rise, it is vital for businesses to use every tactic to build their defences. 

Nowadays, ethical hacking and cyber security are essential to protect corporate computer systems and networks, which put white hackers in increasing demand. 

White hacking is the best way for companies to put their security to the test without risk. 

Ethical hackers help organizations find holes in their security and can advise how to change internal processes to tighten things up. 

Let’s look at the main phases of the hacking process.

Phase #1: Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance is the first step in hacking. It’s also called the Footprinting and information gathering phase. 

This is the preparatory phase where hackers gather as much information as possible about the target so that they could detect weaknesses. 

In the process of reconnaissance, hackers usually collect information about three groups: network, host, and people involved. 

There are two types of Reconnaissance – active and passive. 

Active reconnaissance means directly interacting with the target to gather information. For example, using the Nmap tool to scan the target. 

Passive reconnaissance is also about collecting information on the target, but without directly accessing it. This involves collecting data from social media, public websites, etc. 

Phase #2: Scanning

The hackers will use a variety of methods to probe and scan the company’s defenses. There are three types of scanning involved:

Port scanning means scanning for information like open ports, live systems, and various services running on the host.

Vulnerability scanning is checking the target for weaknesses or vulnerabilities that can be exploited. 

Network Mapping refers to finding the topology of network, firewall servers if any, host information. After that, a hacker creates a network diagram with the available information.

This map is usually very important during the hacking process.  

Phase #3: Gaining Access

At this point, a hacker has the information he needs. This phase is where an attacker breaks into the system or network using various tools and methods. 

First, he has to decide how to carry out the attack. There are many options, such as: phishing attack, brute force attack, session hijacking, spoofing attack, etc. 

After entering a system, a hacker has to increase his privilege to administrator level in order to install an application needed, modify or hide data. 

Phase #4: Maintaining Access

Once a hacker has gained access, they want to keep that access for future exploitation and attacks. 

Also, the hacker secures access to the organization’s Rootkits and Trojans and uses it to launch additional attacks on the network. 

An ethical hacker tries to maintain access to the target until he finishes the tasks he planned to accomplish in that target.

Phase #5: Optimization

A good hacker always clears all evidence so that at a later point in time, no one will find any traces leading to him. 

This involves modifying/corrupting/deleting the values of Logs, modifying registry values and uninstalling all applications he used, and deleting all folders he created. 

Removing all traces as much as possible is an obligation for the hacking craft. An ethical hack poses specific risks for the company if not done rightly.

Use Expert Help to Improve Cybersecurity

With cybercrime on the rise, ethical hacking and cyber security are crucial to maintain customer trust and protect data.  

We saw that hiring a certified ethical hacker can only strengthen your company’s system and prevent malicious cyberattacks, but there’s more. 

Cybersecurity is integral to your company’s development. Nowadays, the pace at which your team and business grow depends on the cybersecurity expert’s help. 

Sometimes, the best place to look for a professional like this is your existing team. 

Employees who are already familiar with your system and network have a head start on any new recruit. 

You can offer ethical hacking training to those employees who already demonstrated some of the skills or talents that an ethical hacker is required to have. 

Does your business have good cybersecurity? 

If you truly want to protect your sensitive data, tech stacks, and networks, you’ll need a cybersecurity team of experts to back you up.

Look no further than Demakis Technologies.

Our cybersecurity and managed services can protect all your data and other technology assets, and you don’t even have to lift a finger.

Please CONTACT US to reach out to one of our IT professionals who can explain our offer and answer all your questions.