What is hacking vs ethical hacking?
I don't know if you've heard, but "hacking" has recently gained a lot of popularity among people of all technical backgrounds. From significant data breaches to huge corporations like Sony being brought down by a guy in a hoodie...
But it's impossible to avoid mentioning ethical hacking when you discuss hacking. Even yet, this only serves to increase the commotion and noise, right? What distinguishes unethical hacking from hacking?
The comparison between hacking and ethical hacking that will be done in this essay will include both their differences and their commonalities.
I'll also share three strategies at the end of this article to protect you against hackers. so pay attention!
According to what we've heard, hacking poses a significant risk in the modern world. But is it? Let's investigate.
But first, let's quickly review the three hacking methods that hackers use most frequently before we compare ethical hacking to hacking.
a brutal assault. Here, a hacker employs automated tools to try various letter combinations in an effort to guess your password.
Phishing is a widespread email scam in which a hacker sends you an email that appears to be genuine but is actually fraudulent in an effort to fool you into disclosing vital personal information.
When a hacker uses psychological deception on you, such as your login and password, they are doing social engineering.
1. Hacking vs Ethical Hacking: Definition
Hacking is the process of taking advantage of security holes, defects, or weaknesses in a network or piece of software in order to either steal or destroy data or to disrupt regular operations.
Hackers, crackers, attackers, or black hat hackers are individuals who engage in hacking activities. If you want to learn more about the many categories of hackers, read this page.
Exploiting security flaws, vulnerabilities, or bugs in software or networks is the process of ethical hacking, which aims to detect security gaps and close them before a hostile hacker does. An ethical hacker is someone who engages in ethical hacking.
2. Ethical hacking vs. hacking: Intention
Exactly as we already saw in the definitions above, this is where a hacker and an ethical hacker diverge significantly.
An application, system, or network is attacked by a hacker for the incorrect objectives:
stealing personally identifiable, sensitive data
deleting, altering, or destroying a business's database
disrupting a network's regular functions in order to bring it down
An assault by an ethical hacker would target a company network for all the right reasons:
to find security flaws and fix them in order to safeguard the system.
to evaluate a company's quality control and security procedures
Therefore, when comparing ethical hacking to hacking, an ethical hacker wants to keep you safe while a hacker seeks to expose, undermine, and weaken you.
3. Legality of Hacking vs. Ethical Hacking
Which hacking and ethical hacking is unlawful?
Hacking is when you get unauthorized access to a company's computer network or software. It is entirely prohibited, and if you are caught, you risk having your ass locked up. You are covered by a contract, the corporation has approved and permitted ethical hacking, and it is entirely legal.
In fact, one of the IT fields with the quickest growth and greatest salaries right now is ethical hacking.
Why not enroll in this Ethical Hacking Tutorial to start learning ethical hacking by Tutorials Freak so you can enter the workforce and benefit from this skill gap.
5. Hacking vs Ethical Hacking: Compensation
Let's examine how they obtain their funds before comparing the compensation for hacking and ethical hacking.
An attacker or hacker may first act alone, in a group, or as a state-sponsored hacking team. A hacker either illegally obtains private information and sells it on the dark web to get money, or they simply transfer funds from your bank account to theirs after they have your credit card information.
It's shady cash.
Even though he might also work independently or with a security team, an ethical hacker is an organization's employee.
In return for his services in protecting the company's user data, daily operations, and containing the attacker, he is entitled to a salary and all benefits. It's clean money, and that's totally cool.
First off, please don't scold me for using the pronoun "he"; I am aware that ethical hackers can also be women. Second, some ethical hackers are not eligible for employee benefits because they work as independent penetration testers.
6. Hacking vs Ethical Hacking: Tools
What about the technologies they employ—do hackers have any that possess more superpowers?
You would have assumed as much given the fact that it is impossible for a single attacker to knock down a system that is being monitored by a whole cybersecurity team. In a moment, I'll explain why it occurs.
Let me start by shocking you by saying that all hackers, regardless of their hat—black, white, grey, or whatever—have access to the same ethical hacking tools. After then, it swiftly shifts from being more about the tools to be more about the hacker's talents. Do you recall the adage that a tool is only as effective in the hands that use it?
A hacker, usually referred to as a hostile hacker or attacker, aims to bring down a system by utilizing just one security flaw.
As a result, he is able to maintain total concentration on a single weakness that he intends to exploit in whatever manner he can.
On the other hand, an ethical hacker must patch up any holes that might be present in a piece of software or a network. He must therefore keep a lookout for many exploitable flaws and back doors. Now you see where this is going. A team can be outwitted by an attacker not because he is more intelligent, but rather because the team is trying to keep track of everything, and the attacker has one eye on one vulnerability.
7. Training: Hacking vs. Ethical Hacking
So from where exactly do these hackers or ethical hackers come? I'd say that when comparing hacking and ethical hacking training, here is where there is a lot of convergence.
I used to be a black hat hacker even though I have been practicing ethical hacking for the previous 5 years. In fact, the majority of the other ethical hackers I have dealt with began as malevolent ones, attackers, or even "black hat" hackers.
Due to the fact that most people who enter this field do so out of curiosity, you should first educate yourself through online classes before setting up your own home hacking lab and getting your hands dirty.
After gaining a lot of practical experience, you can pursue certifications like the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and find work as a white hat hacker. In my comprehensive guide to becoming a pentester, I even go over the complete process of becoming an ethical hacker.
As an alternative, some professionals obtain a bachelor's degree in computer science, information security, cyber security, or a similar field before starting their careers. Again, what I'm arguing is that both unethical and malicious hackers have access to the same instruction, tools, and learning materials.
They could as well have been classmates, to be honest.
By obtaining certificates and landing jobs in ethical hacking with credible and respected companies, the majority of black hat hackers eventually transition to become white hat hackers.
It is, assuming it happens before they are served with a lawsuit because you cannot get out of that. On the other hand, a percentage of ethical hackers eventually become evil, becoming black hat, and start causing trouble... especially after getting dismissed or becoming dissatisfied.
Also read: Ethical Hacker Salary in India in 2022
8. Hacking vs Ethical Hacking: Professional Development
Let's compare the professional development of a hacker vs. an ethical hacker last. We'll examine the potential for advancement or specialization when comparing the professional development of a hacker vs. an ethical hacker.
A hacker is a hacker, and that's all you have. It might not be what you think.
You might grow more lethal or dangerous and be referred to as a sophisticated hacker, but isn't that still a hacker? Here, ethical hacking clearly outperforms hacking in terms of benefits. If you want to learn more about the nine most intriguing ethical hacking benefits, I actually wrote a whole new essay about them.
However, for the purposes of this post, we'll just compare ethical hacking vs. hacking in terms of career advancement. Unlike hacking, ethical hacking has a very high demand and pays very well—almost as much as software engineers. In addition, ethical hacking is a fantastic way to start developing specific abilities and demonstrating your value to an organization.
While it has made life very quick and easy, it has also increased the security risks to sensitive user data. To help reduce these dangers, online corporations are scrambling to form ethical hacking teams.
Happy Learning!
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