A hacker is, but not limited to, “a person who secretly gets access to a computer system in order to get information, cause damage, etc.” (Merriam-Webster). The real question is, is there such thing as an ethical hacker, or one who simply investigates devices for the sake of security and or was paid to look for certain information without damaging one’s electronic device? Ethical hacking, and hacking in general, travel a fine line, because no matter what that scenario is, the hacker is still out to get some form of information. Should the people of the world believe and trust someone who claims to be an ethical hacker, or is an ethical hacker still a hacker, regardless of their professionalism? The answer is simple, trust no hacker, and always be secure when traveling on the internet.
As many of us know, hacking has been around for as nearly as long as the telephone. When it came to listening to other people’s conversations, there was a different term at the time, but it was still hacking because one was gaining information without the other participants knowing. The term hacker, hacking, and activist came around in the late 70’s and early 80’s when the world was introduced to the internet and many other electronic devices. Once all these new electronic devices came out with the introduction of the internet, people started to notice flaws in the system, and wanted to understand more about these flaws that weren’t caught immediately by the makers. It was originally thought to have been a bunch of computer nerds playing pranks on each other, but soon unfolded to darker practices. (Monteith 2) These flaws would eventually lead to major security break-ins, crashes, and theft of one’s identity. Times were changing, and the time for major companies claiming to be IT Specialists and Security Assistants started to pour in like a trending meme on the internet.
We hear websites getting hacked all the time, at least if you pay attention to the news and other media sources. Websites, mobile devices, personal computers, and other electronic devices that contain information on it, has probably been hacked or has been attempted to be hacked by someone, somewhere. Therefore, corporations started to hire computer wizards and elitists to have them hack into their own systems and websites to reveal the security flaws before the unethical hackers found them. Thus, the creation and term of white hat or ethical hacker starts to become a real term and a real job. Ethical hackers can be hired just about anywhere, even online, and they will participate with other ethical hackers to try and break a corporation’s website or electronic device so the corporation won’t be sued later if data is stolen or damaged.
Chuck Davis from Harrisburg University of Science and Technology and assistant professor at Penn State proclaims, “Ethical hacking. It is a specialty, and one that’s in demand even if it might go by a different name.” The job field requires a lot of certificates and proof of understanding the key concepts of hacking, even if someone has to go back to mid-80’s to learn how it all began. Mr. Davis also mentions a specific type of ethical hacking called Penetration Testing or “Pen Testing” for short, which involves automated tools designed to attack the website by infecting it with specific code. There’s even a specific certificate that ethnical hackers have to obtain before beginning their practice, as well as the EC-Council has to approve of them long before moving forward into their field of practiced penetration testing.
Robert Steele, Founder, President and CEO of Open Source Solutions, Inc., a security firm and software designing company, stated, “A reason I support hackers is that they have been telling us for over 10 years that the emperor is naked.” Meaning that hackers are here to look for the faults in our websites and electronic devices and he goes on to state, “Hackers are more like astronauts pushing the edge of the envelope.” He also mentions that hackers have been able to support Microsoft, Dell, IBM, and many more electronic companies by identifying the faults in their products before a major catastrophe occurs. All the tech giants of today have had some form of major security flaws, and they hire those specialized hackers to penetrate the websites against all sorts of malicious attacks.
Another question that comes up more often than it should is, should universities be teaching ethical hacking to younger adults as a stepping stone? It’s simple, in order to combat hackers in the modern age, a college student has to learn all the ways of hacking since the stone age, so that they understand the history of it, but also the moral that is surrounding it. A professor by the name of Ronald E. Pike of the Business Administration college in California State Polytechnic University suggests, “(there) is a desire for recognition that runs deep in the hacker community and the inability to gain recognition through white-hat hacking activities may drive students toward black-hat (unethical) activities." This study and work by professor Pike consisted of 206 interviewees that all claimed to have had at least one year of security experience in the field and they anonymously proclaimed that in order get better at the subject of ethical hacking, a university should teach it to those majoring in that field. As a result, most and if not all, the interviewees believed ethical hacking should be taught. With that said, the main concern involves the desire for fame and recognition by going rogue; therefore, it is up to the professor to teach the most ethical way there is and teach the repercussions of going rogue.
Skeptics might object to my proposal on the grounds that hacking is purely bad in all cases and that we, as citizens of the free world, should not allow young, spontaneous adults to practice any form of computer systems information. After all, they would argue, doesn't my position mean that we’re letting people participate in an unethical ordeal that would later on lead to more dangerous practices of hacking? The answer is yes, but at the same time, when there is a big case of unethical hacking occurring around the world, who would stop those hackers? Would it be moms and grandmas armed with a keyboard? No, it will have to be other hackers but the ones whom have been taught the ethical way of hacking for security purposes and national security. A short exert from the book Hacking and Hackers, explains that, “ethical hackers evaluate the potential damage of a successful cyber attack to the organization and its information systems." Meaning that the ethical hackers can and are the “clean-up crew” of the internet when a disaster has occurred and sometimes ethical hackers can even prevent future attacks.
In conclusion, there is such thing as a “good” hacker. Ethical hackers are supposed to be the bright, shiny-knight who rides into a disaster and stops unethical or black hats from destroy personal property. Many will argue that all hackers are all the same, and that a label such as “ethical” won’t stop them from going rogue or even destroying other big corporations. Nonetheless, who would stop the hackers who are rogue and destroying information? Ethical hackers are the ones who were taught in colleges and universities the proper and ethical way to stop unethical hackers from attacking websites and communications. Another aspect to keep in mind is that ethical hackers are supposed to partake in system and electronic testing which will help major corporations and companies stop data leaks, user leaks, and password leaks. I proposed the best way to keep track of hackers is to have a huge, secure database that will track all graduates with a degree in computer system technology. If any of the graduates get caught doing illegal or unethical practices in cyber space, they can get fined and banned from the internet for a certain amount of time. I believe this will lead to better and stronger practices of ethical hacking, especially those who are trying to work in the positive way of securing the future for many companies.
