Not surprisingly, managers at security firms that do hire hackers don't necessarily go out of their way to broadcast the fact. This can put companies that rely on security consultancies at risk. But even if executives at a security consultancy say their experts fall into the white-hat category, it's no guarantee. Experts say an employee's definition of white hat may not jibe with an employer's definition. Indeed, the security industry itself seems to be divided over hiring hackers for ethical hacking.
Some consultancies refuse to hire programmers with any hacking experience.
For a hacker with black-hat experience, that brief access could prove very profitable. Para-Protect, for one, does not hire hackers. The company also keeps tabs on break-in teams during ethical hacks. We monitor everything our employees do. Even companies that hire hackers have widely divergent policies.