Ethical hacking is popularly known as “white-hat” hacking. It is very much the same as hacking in general as it involves the same tools and techniques being used. However, there is one major difference – ethical hacking is legal. Ethical hacking takes place with the permission of the target and the task is to find out if a hacker can find any vulnerabilities within the system that need to be addressed so that maximum security is reached. Ethical hacking also allows for dealers to legitimise their claims about how secure their products are.
But is ethical hacking really ethical? I think it is very difficult to ever understand the true intentions behind anyone’s actions, in the same way that I think it is very difficult to ever understand the true intentions of “ethical” hackers when they are hacking into weak systems. I don’t think we ever really know what someone’s intentions are. I mean, as a teacher teaching a student how to hack, how can you know that student is learning how to hack for good reasons? You don’t, but you just have to assume that they are which to me seems like a very big risk because if a student uses the knowledge to commit crimes then it is not benefitting society in any way, it is endangering it.
The media are always coming across new stories about cyber crime and hacking. A study has recently indicated that almost 90% of attacks happen from the inside. This just proves how we can never be sure of anyone’s intentions. It also shows how easy it is to break the trust of those you work for and infiltrate an attack on your own company if it doing so is more beneficial to you or serves your intentions better. In allowing an “ethical” hacker to hack into your system, you may be putting your trust in the enemy. I mean you never know, the ethical hacker you have employed may find a weak point in your system, not report it to you and use it against you for their own benefit in future (usually financial benefit).
Technology is always advancing. Hackers are always coming across new tools and techniques to hack, but these very same tools and techniques, in the wrong hands, can violate our basic rights to privacy. Jamil et al. (2011) sum up my argument very well in the following statement:
“Technology has continued to grow at a high rate over the years and continues to do so; scholars are putting themselves in vulnerable positions by helping individuals to hack. The mind is a very powerful tool that has no control, the control will continue to grow proportionally with the desire to get knowledge of something that is impossible to achieve in its entity, but not forgotten in its entirety. Hackers will always find ways of getting into systems, whether they are doing it for good or bad”.
We all want to believe that ethical hackers have the best intentions at heart, but the fact is we can never really know a person’s true intentions. Furthermore, technology is always advancing so that hackers will always find a way into a system if they are set on doing so. It may take several years, but in the end anything is possible. This means that our privacy will always be at risk.
Reference: Jamil, D and Khan, M. ‘Is ethical hacking ethical?’, International journal of engineering science and technology, Vol. 3, No. 5 (May, 2011), pp. 3758-3763.
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