In this developing digital world, there has been a rise in cybercriminals and one must have definitely come across the word ETHICAL HACKING many a times but is often confused with HACKING.

Hacking refers to the illegal practice of accessing or stealing data that is stored in a system by experts and professionals called ‘Hackers’ who have all the knowledge about programming.

Ethical Hacking is a tool that is used by organizations across the globe to deal with cyber criminals and preventing them to access confidential and sensitive data. Ethical Hackers are employed by big companies to develop a security framework to prevent threats.

TYPES OF HACKERS

Hackers are of three types

• White Hat Hackers- These people are usually software engineers who hack for good reasons and function respecting rules of businesses and corporate structures. It is another name for an Ethical Hacker.
• Black Hat Hackers- These people steal and misuse data for no reason but their main intention is creating a chaos. There is a need for advanced cyber security just for the reason of protecting data from these hackers.
• Grey Hat Hackers- They are a combination of both Black and White Hat Hackers who generally hack for fun with no bad intention of damaging systems.

There are various reasons for hacking such-

• Damaging system
• Steal data
• For fun
• Money extortion
• Hampering privacy
• Testing a system security

As we can get a vivid picture on Hacking and Ethical Hacking, let us understand the benefits of Ethical Hacking.

IMPORTANCE OF ETHICAL HACKING

• Testing password strength
• Ensuring security features in applications, which protects organisational and user databases
• Rechecking the validity of authentication protocols
• Ensuring data communication channels cannot be intercepted

BENEFITS OF ETHICAL HACKING

Though the primary benefit of Ethical Hacking is to prevent data from being stolen and misused by attackers, other benefits include-

• Identifying vulnerabilities from the point of view of an attacker
• Implementing a strong and secure network
• Gaining the trustworthiness of the customers and investors by ensuring their data safety
• Defending national security by protecting data from terrorists

STEPS TO PERFORM ETHICAL HACKING

Reconnaissance– This is the first step wherein the Hacker identifies his target and obtains the IP address, passwords, networks etc.

Scanning– This is the second stage wherein the Hacker starts assessing and testing the weakness of the target that can be abused by using apparatuses like dialers, port scanners etc.

Gaining Access-This is the third stage wherein hacker plans the outline of the organization of the objective with the assistance of information gathered during observation and now finds out a few alternatives to access the organization.

Maintaining Access– By this stage the hacker finds an entrance into the framework and introduces secondary passages for future purposes.

Clearing Tracks- This process is basically an unethical activity. It has to do with the erasure of logs of the multitude of exercises that occur during the hacking interaction.

Reporting– It is the last step of the ethical hacking process. In this the Ethical Hacker makes a report of his discoveries and the work that was done like the instruments utilized, weaknesses found, the achievement rate and the endeavour measures.

Relevant links: https://er.yuvayana.org/how-ethical-hacking-performed-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-ethical-hacking/ https://www.edureka.co/blog/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-ethical-hacking/