How to become an Ethical Hacker

Hacking is the process of looking for system vulnerabilities to gain unauthorised access to execute malevolent activities such as deleting files or thieving confidential data. "In order to defeat a hacker, you must think like one." - Council for Ethical Hacking. Thus, hacking is considered legal if carried out with permission and without any malicious intent is known as ethical hacking. Ethical hackers, also known as white hat hackers, find network vulnerabilities and protect computers and networks from the attacks of unethical hackers, also known as black hat hackers.

Job Description, Roles, Duties, Tasks, and Responsibilities:

• Applies port scanning tools such as Nmap or Nessus to scan organization’s systems to find open and close ports
• Study and take corrective actions for each of the ports vulnerabilities to reduce risks
• Inspect patch installations and ensure they cannot be misused
• Engage in social engineering notions such as dumpster diving- digging through recycle bins for passwords or anything with critical data which can cause an attack
• Use other social engineering techniques such as shoulder surfing to gain access to important information or play a kindness card to deceive staff into using their passwords
• Try to avoid Intrusion Detection systems, IPS Intrusion Prevention systems, honeypots, and firewalls
• Sniff networks, bypass and crack wireless encryption, and hijack web servers and applications
• Manage concerns linked to laptop robbery and employee fraud
• Secure networks and conduct penetration testing to keep digital assets safe
• Stay updated on the latest security threats comprising viruses, Trojans, and other malware
• Assess existing and upcoming network additions counting in hardware and software
• Confirm security teams recognize security flaws and supervise the network for apprehensive behaviour
• Create or use pre-made scripts for vulnerability testing, penetration testing, and risk assessment
• To enhance security testing and monitoring, construct low-level tools
• Document security results and provide it to concerned authorities
• Execute risk assessment in network and hardware and software systems
• Develop security policies for digital protection
• Review and recruit dealers to install security systems
• Train and educate employees on network security
• Safeguard the system with firewall and encrypt sensitive files
• Simulate network security breach, fix and remove the security risk
• Mitigate damage by protecting information and organization’s reputation
• Monitor incoming and outgoing data, Microsoft Exchange activity, and reverse engineering malware for threats
• Secure wireless networks with advanced security protocols and firmer user controls
• Research the intentional target using both channels of open-source and dark-web
• Use commercial, open source or custom vulnerability scanners to scan target networks and systems
• Develop an attack plan that could include the exploitation of vulnerabilities in software, systemic vulnerabilities, social manipulation or any combination of those factors
• Document the taken steps used to discover vulnerabilities and note exactly how customer security systems were compromised.

Along with experience, continued education, and industry certifications, one must need to build knowledge of cybersecurity, risk management, and information technology infrastructure.

Ethical hackers need strong expertise in information security measures, IT security architecture, and network architecture in hard skills. They must also possess knowledge about various operating systems, including Linux and Windows. Additionally, they should have a working knowledge of firewalls, intrusion detection techniques, and intrusion prevention procedures. Finally, they should also be familiar with scripting or coding computer programming languages like HTML, JSP, ASP, C/C++, Java, Python, etc.

Ethical hackers use analytical skills to gain in-depth knowledge of computer networks and digital systems as well as problem-solving to fix any issues. In addition, creativity helps ethical hackers use innovative techniques to security threats or breaches and foresee possible problems.

They need research and auditing skills to investigate which technologies best meet an enterprise's security needs, often piloting an audit of defences, exposures, and vulnerabilities in the process.

They must demonstrate project management skills, time management, organisational and strong written and verbal communication skills to prepare reports for colleagues.

Successful white hackers are proactive, investigative, inquisitive, and detail-oriented individuals who can catch slight changes and correctly diagnose a system's performance that may indicate a security breach, unauthorised software or malware.