Do you know the relationship between the hacker culture universe and the old western Hollywood movies? Although the two cultures appear to be completely different, one detail in cowboy clothing is the point that established the connection between westerns and hackers: the color of the hats.
In both universes, the color of the accessories determines which side the wearer is on: White hats are the good guys, or nowadays as ethical hackers are called. The dark colored ones – Black Hats – are the name for unethical hackers, the bad guys. But the dichotomy between good and bad is really fictional, because in the cyber world these two sides of the story can merge, and that’s where Gray Hats come from: Gray Hat Hacker.
If hackers keep thinking about a virtual duel between attackers who want to gain access to sensitive data and an IT team who want to fight back, then this article is for you!
When it comes to cybersecurity, there are many other characters between the bad and the good, and your company is one of them.
What are the types of hackers?
Black hat hacker:They are people with in-depth knowledge of operating systems and programming, but who use them for unethical purposes. In other words, it is individuals who maliciously exploit the weaknesses of corporate systems to steal sensitive or confidential information and make money from it.
White hat hacker: They are also people with extensive knowledge of operating systems and programming, but use them to discover vulnerabilities and to help organizations monitor and fix them, preventing cyber black hat attacks. They practice what is called ethical hacking and are professionals hired by companies that focus on cybersecurity.
Gray hat hacker: They are those who, after discovering a vulnerability in a company or product, do not exploit it to make money, but generally make the discovery public, thereby giving Black Hats the opportunity to use the information as well as the named organization given the opportunity to use the information to address the cybersecurity breach.
How can Ethical Hacking help companies?
At this point, you may have already realized that not every cyber attack is, in fact, a duel between good guys and bad guys, as, in some controlled circumstances, simulating a hacker invasion can be an excellent strategy for strengthening an organization’s cybersecurity.
Ethical hacking involves hiring white hat hackers to carry out cyberattacks on companies’ systems in order to understand their most critical vulnerabilities. Two of the most common techniques used to demonstrate threats are: PenTest and Red Teaming.
In PenTest, black hacking techniques are simulated in order to attempt to penetrate the organization’s system and thus visualize the critical weaknesses and cybersecurity risks of the company network. Red Teaming simulates an industrial espionage invasion. This makes it possible to assess the behavior and reaction time of the technology team when an attack is detected.
Ativy Digital’s cybersecurity team has highly skilled white hat hackers to decipher the minds of cyber criminals and simulate attacks on your company’s system in advance to make it more and more secure. After all, we believe in a secure digital transformation to move companies and people forward. Talk to an Ativer!