Beginner's Guide to Ethical Hacking

“Beginners Guide to Ethical Hacking”

HACKING

Hacking is the process of obtaining unauthorized access to someone’s data stored on a computer, system, or network. It refers to activities that seek to compromise digital objects, such as computers, smartphones, tablets, and entire networks. However hacking all the time is not only related to malicious purposes, nowadays it is referred to as unlawful activities performed by cyber criminals motivated by financial gain, protest, revenge, harassing, bullying information gathering (espionage), and even just for fun purposes.

ETHICAL HACKING

Ethical Hacking is a process in which a professional hacker attempts to get unauthorized access by authorized way to the organization's computers and devices. By doing so, ethical hackers can test the organization's defenses, highlighting any threats to their systems and networks. An ethical hacker, also known as a white-hat hacker, will look for loopholes or weaknesses by different methods and will try to resolve them. They will perform various types of tasks or activities to ensure Cyber security. There are various tasks that include:

§  Penetration testing 

§  Gathering intelligence about entry points

§  Scanning infrastructures and loopholes  

§  Accessing systems & networks and exploiting vulnerabilities 

§  Hiding their access and evading detection 

§  Assessing vulnerabilities

Ø  IMPORTANCE OF ETHICAL HACKING

We know what ethical hacking is, but what is the importance of ethical hacking? Why it is becoming essential as technology is growing? It is necessary to figure out all weaknesses and exploits in any computers network in any organization, before getting attacked by any unethical hacker and compromising our important data.

Ethical Hackers are there to help different organizations by identifying and solving all kinds of threats and loopholes and by improving the cyber security of the Network. So almost everywhere in organizations and workplaces where sensitive data is stored an ethical hacker is important to maintain the security of the data stored so that no black hat hacker exploits the data.

It is not only related to the loss of data only, but cybercrimes can result in a great financial loss as well. It is estimated that globally the loss from cybercrimes is $1 trillion by 2020.

So it is important to protect the data of people and organizations, ethical hacking is playing an important role in this protection.

ØTYPES OF ETHICAL HACKING

As we all know technology is growing day by day, Complex IT systems are developed and so as the different exploitation methods are there, so different types of ethical hacking are there that the professional can use.

-Social Engineering:

It is basically lying and manipulation. It targets the individuals, it includes stealing information to gain unauthorized access to restricted areas.

-Wireless Network:

A wireless network refers to a group of computers connected wirelessly to a single access point. There can be a variety of security flaws that the ethical hacker must look at.

-Web server hacking:

An ethical hacker tries to gain control of web servers, to check the weaknesses and loopholes of that server and try to resolve them.

-System hacking:

System hacking is gaining unauthorized access to an individual personal computer through a network.

-Web Application Hacking:

These are the applications run on the, although simple, they can be vulnerable to script attacks, and ethical criminals test such vulnerabilities

Ø Careers in Ethical Hacking

Careers that are mostly offered in this field are as follows:

• Pentester performs authorized tests on computers and networks to detect weaknesses.

• A vulnerability assessor scans applications and systems to identify vulnerabilities.

• Information security analysts plan and implement security measures to protect the organization's networks and computer systems.

• Security analysts monitor, prevent, and terminate confidential data attacks. They build and use firewalls and software programs to protect data and networks.

• He is a skilled professional who knows the weaknesses in any targeted system and uses his knowledge and different tools in a malicious one but in a lawful manner.

• Security architects set the vision for security systems, and engineers check how to put them into practice.

• An information security manager is responsible for protecting an organization’s computers, networks, and data against computer viruses, security breaches, and malicious hacker attacks.

Ø Salaries in Ethical hacking

Professions in ethical hacking are paid fairly well. Here are some of the pay scales of some careers mentioned above.

JOB TITLE                                                             AVERAGE SALARY

Penetration tester                                                           PKR 920,000

Cyber security Analyst                                                    PKR 1,000,000

Certified ethical hacker (CEH)                                         PKR 120,000

Information security analyst                                           PKR 475,000

Cyber security engineer                                                 PKR 2,553,413 a year

Chief information security officer                                  PKR 7,536,000

Ø Central idea:

Ethical hacking is a great engrossing world, especially for those who are attracted to this classified field Of Cyber Security. The demand for cyber experts and ethical hackers is increasing day by day as the number of Cyber Attacks is growing fast on daily basis, so to prevent all these attacks and to secure our information and valuable data Ethical hackers are demanded.  There are so many well-paid jobs that also offer a stable career.