Cybersecurity, not all hackers are bad
Who is the ethical hacker and why is he hired by companies. Prior authorisation and tests to be carried out
The professional figure of the hacker is often the victim of misinformation and negative connotations. Then there is the ethical hacker, a professional who supports the prevention of damage from software vulnerabilities and helps in their resolution.
Who is the ethical hacker
The term 'ethical hacker' refers to a computer security professional, often a researcher, trained to analyse digital environments to identify vulnerabilities in systems, before digital attackers can exploit them to damage computer systems. This professional, who must be explicitly authorised in advance, simulates real computer attacks to assess the technical risk and reinforce the level of security. His action consists of a set of attempts to gain access to a computer system, application or data, trying to operate as an attacker would, in order to identify software vulnerabilities that allow access controls to be circumvented.
The results, which must be replicable, are documented and shared with the client, so that the latter can take action to eliminate and close vulnerabilities by means of appropriate patches (corrective software interventions).
The motivations
The term hacker is often used in a negative way to indicate unauthorised violations, but the difference with the ethical hacker is precisely in the motivations and the way in which this professional operates. The transparency of activities and the close collaboration with the company that owns the systems under scrutiny, which explicitly authorises the activities of the ethical hacker, are characteristic and preventive conditions for any technical testing intervention. The main advantage of authorising Penetration Tests (PT) and Vulnerability Assessments (VA), i.e. intrusion tests and vulnerability assessments, lies in the possibility of identifying software vulnerabilities from the attacker's point of view so as to correct the weaknesses; but closing vulnerabilities also has an impact on increasing the resilience of digital systems with positive effects on the quality of one's own digital services and/or products and on the company's reputation on the market.
In fact, making clear to everyone the critical issues that have been remedied has an immediate return in terms of image and trust on the part of potential customers.
