A certified ethical hacker (CEH) can be one of the most effective experts in defending against hackers.
You've probably heard the phrase "you can't be sure of what you don't know". It's a stage in learning most people find themselves in at some point or the other. When it comes to cybersecurity, hackers can be successful in uncovering security holes and weaknesses you didn't notice. It's the same for criminals. It's also true for their equivalent on your behalf such as a certified ethical hacker.
A certified ethical hacker (CEH) can be one of the most effective experts in defending against hackers.
An ethical hacker is a skilled penetration tester, an offensive security researcher and a consultant or employee who practices the dark arts of cyber-hacking. The term 'ethical hacking' was coined in the 1990s in the 1990s by former IBM Executive John Patrick to distinguish constructive hackers from the new world of cyber criminals.
Both malicious and ethical cybersecurity experts can employ similar methods to break into security systems and gain access into data stored within corporate networks. The different is that one tries to exploit weaknesses and vulnerabilities to make money. The other seeks to fix them for the benefit of their client. They're also known as white hat hackers (as against attackers also known as black-hat hackers). Ethical hackers use their attacking abilities to benefit the victim.
What ethical hackers all do share in common is that they try to understand the client's system from the perspective of the threat actor's point of from a threat actor's point of.
Freelance ethical hackers who do the work due to the rewards offered by bug bounties or the excitement of it, may help find vulnerabilities. Anyone can practice ethical hacking. However only certified ethical hackers have proven they have the expertise that organizations are looking for.
Certification of ethical hackers as certified by non-governmental organizations can be obtained on two levels. The first level of CEH certification is granted after passing a test on knowledge. To move to the next level, CEH Master level requires succeeding in pen tests on simulated systems.
Three major groups provide CEH licenses including The International Council of E-Commerce Consultants, the Certified Penetration Tester certification offered by the Information Assurance Certification Review Board and the Global Information Assurance Certification. You can find education and test preparation for CEH via a variety of online sources. Training and test can be conducted online.
Aspiring young cybersecurity workers could (and most likely) get CEH certification during their initial training. It's a good idea even if they aren't planning to work as a full-time CEH.
A certified ethical hacker calls on three broad areas of skill. First, there is the expertise and knowledge required to identify weaknesses and gaps. The most important aspect of this course is its breadth. Due to the process of certification be prepared for CEH specialists to lack any blind spots in general areas of hacking.
The second is creativity -- looking outside the box and experimenting with new ways to break through networks. It's actually a bigger aspect of the job than you think. Clients who use CEHs must ensure protection against every kind of hacks. The job of The CEH is to identify the weak points, the security gaps and vulnerabilities that have fallen through the gaps.
Thirdly, trustworthiness, the professional practice of gaining access to sensitive company data while always protecting it and not wasting the privileges granted to the client. CEH professionals must be aware of the ethical aspect of their job seriously. In addition to gaining access to sensitive or confidential data and keeping it private as well as secure, CEHs limit their social engineering to ethical versions of it. It's for instance, it's moral to leave a drive into the parking lot in order to determine if an employee takes it in and plugs it in. However, it's not ethical and is against the code of conduct of the CEH profession to use threats of violence, or infractions of the privacy of employee data.
An ethical hacker certified by a reputable organization can be very helpful to your organization's cybersecurity efforts. Here's a brief description of what they bring to the table:
- The search for vulnerabilities, whether they're gaps in the software, physical security or policies
- Dumpster diving, and going through websites that are public to search for information that can help in a successful attack
- Port scanning with port scanning tools to locate open ports
- Understanding ways that threat actors are able to evade honeypots, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems
- Testing for penetration (The distinction between pen testing and ethical hacking in general, is the fact that pen testing is planned, and more narrowly focused on particular aspects of cybersecurity)
- Aid in the management of a cyber crisis simulation
- Make public the insider threats
- Participate in and assist organize red team/blue team exercises
- Conduct a network traffic analysis
- Perform a variety of covert social engineering hacks. They are able to test not only security policies and systems, but also employee knowledge, awareness and readiness.
- Scrutinize and test procedures for patch installation to make sure your employees use them in a way that works best
- Instruct the security team on the latest methods used by cyber criminals.
In simple terms, CEHs can function as the beta tester or quality control expert for the cybersecurity 'product'.
CEHs are fantastic to have on staff. But if you don't have one, you could hire a freelancer to do the task. The ethical hackers who freelance provide hacking services in the same way as the bad guys can.
A cheaper option is to form an internal team that will try their hand at hacking ethically. It's likely not as secure in terms of security as Hire a hacker, but better than nothing. Perhaps, you can offer bonuses to those not in the business to test to break into your cyber security.
The reality is the fact that work of CEHs is extremely valuable. You need to invest in cybersecurity infrastructure, expertise, employee training and everything else on the line.