- Ethical hacking has evolved from a divisive tool in the cybersecurity arsenal to a commonplace practise. How did ethical hackers earn the moniker “White Hats”?
- An ethical hacker, also known as a white hat hacker, is a computer security specialist who breaks into a computer system, network, application, or other computing resource on behalf of its owners and with their permission.
- Ethical hackers are hired by businesses to find possible security flaws that bad hackers may exploit.
- By the 1990s, the term ‘hacking’ had lost its more positive connotations and had come to be linked with hostile and devastating computer attacks.
- To fight the rise in computer hacking, companies began to hire computer professionals who had previously been involved in the activity and so understood what to look for in possible cyber-attacks.
- Ethical hackers, sometimes known as white hat hackers, were the forerunners of the ethical hacking movement.
- Since then, hacking as a service (HaaS), or the commercialization of hacking abilities, has made cybersecurity more difficult. On the plus side, cybersecurity businesses and information technology (IT) security suppliers have begun to offer corporate clients an ethical HaaS alternative via contract.