What is Ethical Hacking?

-
Ethical hacking, sometimes known as white hat hacking is when a digital forensics expert or OSINT investigator attempts to penetrate a computer system, network or app on behalf of the owners – with their permission. Ethical hacking is usually done to find if there is any security vulnerabilities that a hacker or cybercriminal could use to exploit someone.


The purpose of ethical hacking is to test the security of the systems involved and identify if there are any vulnerabilities in the system as well as the network or infrastructure. Investigators involved will often attempt to exploit the vulnerabilities themselves to see whether malicious activities are possible.

Black hat hackers are the unethical counterpart of ethical hackers. Rather than take advantage, ethical hackers will use their skills to document if there are any weaknesses in the systems and give advice on how to fix them and then strengthen their overall security systems.

Here are some ways ethical hacking done by digital forensics experts involve in OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) can help businesses and organisations:

1. Finding Vulnerabilities: By using ethical hacking you can discover if the IT security measures are working properly as well as whether they need to be updated. A business can use the advice from ethical hackers and improve their overall security to stay safe from cyber-attacks, including online scams and fraud.

2. Demonstrate Cybercrime Methods: These demonstrations can help show users how malicious hackers will attach their systems and create disasters for businesses. Those who have an in-depth knowledge of this are better able to prevent it from happening again in the future.

3. Prepare for a Cyber-attack: The one way to destroy a business is a cyber-attack, especially small businesses, but businesses are still not prepared! Ethical hackers know how cybercriminals work so they can assist businesses and business owners with prepare for the future and better adapt to online threats.


Some say that hacking is hacking, but ethical hacking is done by professionals to assist businesses and organisations with their security systems and ensure they are effective and successful.

Is your security system up to par? Contact the OSINT department on 021 110 0422 or email contact@osint.co.za. Alternatively, you can find out more on the OSINT website www.osint.co.za

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Phishing, Smishing and Vishing!

-
Image
Letting your guard down can lead to serious consequences, especially when it comes to fraud through your emails, SMS’s and even telephone calls. Phishing, smishing, and vishing are some of the many ways that criminals may try to defraud you… Here’s what you need to know about phishing, smishing, and vishing! Phishing: This is a scam that takes place through emails. A typical attack will occur when you receive an email that looks real, either appearing to be sent from your bank or other financial institution.  Most of the time the email will ask you to click on a link or update your private account information. Even though these emails may look legitimate, they are simply trying to scare you into clicking a link that will lead to a legitimate-looking website – but it isn’t! They will try and scare you into clicking links by saying, “your account has been blocked.” or “you need to install this new software to stay protected.” If you fall for this fake email, you wi
Read more

The 4 most popular Spam Scams!

-
Image
If you have any sort of common sense you would know that there isn’t a prince or member of a royal African family that wants to send you their millions with no strings attached! However, even though this sort of scam has been ongoing for many years, the overall principals of a spam scam are still going strong and continue to grow and become more malicious each and every day. These are 4 of the most popular spam scams that like to pretend to come from an actual legitimate source, often tricking unknowing people into clicking on links and opening dangerous attachments. Fake password changes One of the most common scams is the password change alert or confirmation email that users will receive either from their bank, social media network or another trusted source. The scammers will trick the users into thinking their accounts have been hacked and urge them to click on a link or open a malicious attachment to reset their password. False bookings These scams ap
Read more

Social Media Safety - Twitter

-
Image
Whether you tweet once a day or constantly tweet updates throughout the day, you need to remember that if you’re using Twitter you need to be aware of the security and privacy risks. Here are five important safety tips to remember when you’re using Twitter. -- Never share personal information It is best to keep all your private information such as your phone number, address and email address, out of your Twitter profile! Geotagging is an optional feature that is able to make your exact location public, it is also best to switch off this setting too. -- Update your password Hackers can easily gain access to your account if you have used a weak, easily guessable password. Use a strong password and change it every few weeks for maximum security. Make sure to include uppercase and lower case letters, numbers and special characters in your passwords every time. -- Never click on suspicious links Often hackers will try a phishing attack on you through your
Read more