Ethical Hacking

Ethical Hacking:

Ethical Hacking also known as penetration testing or white-hat hacking.Ethical hacking involves the same tools tricks and techniques that hackers use, but with one major difference: Ethical Hacking is legal.
An Ethical Hacker is a person who possesses the skills, mindset, and tools of a hacker but is also trustworthy. Ethical Hackers perform the hacks as security tests for their systems.

Hacking problem:

With the growth and wide use of the Internet, computer security has become a major concern for business and governments of many countries. They want to take advantage of the Internet for electronic commerce, advertising, information distribution and access, and other pursuits, but they are worried about the possibility of being 'hacked'.

In their search for a way to approach the problem, organizations came to realize that one of the best ways to evaluate the intruder threat to their interests would be to have independent computer security professionals attempt to break into their computer systems. In the case of computer security, these “tiger teams” or “ethical hackers” as they are otherwise called would employ the same tools and techniques as the intruders, but they would neither damage the target systems nor steal information. Instead, they would evaluate the target systems' security and report back to the owners with the vulnerabilities they found and instructions for how to remedy them.

The hacker ethics deals with the idea that individuals are performing a duty for the common good, an analogy to a modern day 'Robin Hood'.(Funny...!!!But serious)

Qualities of Ethical Hackers:

a) First and foremost, they must be completely trustworthy. While testing the security of a client's systems, the ethical hacker may discover information about the client that should remain secret. In any case, if this information is publicized, it could lead to real intruders breaking into the systems. During an evaluation, the ethical hacker often holds the 'keys to the company'.

b) Ethical hackers should be very strong in programming and computer networking skills and should have been in the computer and networking business for several years.

Methods to avoid Hacking:

1.Reduce the amount of spam you receive by being cautious where you post your e-mail address.
2.Avoid publishing your e-mail address on Web sites.
3.Don’t forward chain messages, which often reveal e-mail addresses to other parties.
4.Subscribe to only those Web sites and newsletters you really require.
5.Use only e-mail services – such as those from AOL, Google, Hotmail, and Yahoo – that offer automatic anti virus protection.

Even for those who do not count themselves among the ranks of the ethical hackers; it is important to be aware that security often does come at the expense of openness, convenience and efficiency.