Did you ever think that hacking can also be a safety measure? That the hackers can positively influence the global society? That they are not always destructive?
Cyber hacking does sound ruinous. But it has another facet that is yet to be unfolded to our communities in general. Along this journey to find the hackers’ positive impact on societies, we meet white hat hackers.
White hat hackers do not hack systems without written permission from the company to test its defenses. Undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science, information security or mathematics are good backgrounds for white hat hackers to have white hat hackers, especially those performing external penetration tests (pen tests), use the same hacking techniques and tools as black hat hackers. But white hat hackers do so with the intent of helping an organization improve its security posture.
The term “white hat hackers” comes from old Western movies, where heroes often wore white hats and the bad guys wore black hats. A white hat hacker or ethical hacker is an individual who uses hacking skills to identify security vulnerabilities in hardware, software or networks. The terms “hacking” and “hacker” are frequently associated with illegal activity, dangerous data breaches and stolen information.
But have you ever heard of legal and ethical hacking? White hat hacker is the only hacker who is hired legally by an organization and also legally paid!
A lot of businesses are making significant investments to develop a digital workforce for the future job market. Prominent tech giants such as Google, IBM, Microsoft, and Tesla will honour anyone who can identify and report serious bugs and perform system audits. Many governments, businesses, and educational institutions around the world are promoting the next generation of hackers with lucrative job opportunities and by holding offline and online cyber hacking competitions. Thus, the white hat hackers are to flourish in the years to come, and it’s unto them to hack and save the digital world!
Summary:
“White hat hackers” use hacking tools with the intent of helping an organization. They use the same techniques and tools as “black hat” hackers (unethical hackers), though they are ethical hackers. A “white hat hacker” is the only hacker who is paid legally by an organization and also hired legally for the sustainability of that particular institution or company.
Leo Ishadya Abeysinghe
