What is Ethical Hacking?
By: Iqra Ghafoor
Tags: Khasiat Madu Yaman, Hacker, David Hopkins, Medium Brasil, Ethical Hacking

A legal attempt to gain unauthorised access to a computer system, application, or data is referred to as ethical hacking. Duplicating the techniques and behaviours of malevolent attackers is a part of carrying out an ethical hack. This approach helps in the detection of security flaws, which can subsequently be addressed before they are exploited by a malicious attacker.



Ethical hacking, on the other hand, is a legitimate form of hacking. Computer experts are hired by businesses to assess system security, discover weaknesses, and make recommendations on how to enhance the firewall. It’s also a tool for government agencies to spot and track potential national security concerns.

‘Ethical hackers’ are people who have been given authorization to hack computer systems. They have been certified to hack in accordance with the clients’ requests. Following the discovery of the flaws, the hackers submit a’maturity scorecard,’ which details the level of risk, the number of security flaws, and recommendations for improvement.



On the other hand, there is a lot of debate over ethical hacking. Many people consider that hacking is unethical. However, with the rise of cybercrime, it is clear that businesses and governments must ensure their cybersecurity is flawless. That takes us to the value of ethical hacking and its application in the digital world.

Benefits of Ethical Hacking

The fundamental benefit of ethical hacking is that it prevents malevolent attackers from stealing and misusing data, as well as:



• Finding vulnerabilities from the perspective of an attacker so that weak areas can be addressed.



• Real-world assessments are assisting in the protection of networks.



• Defending national security by preventing terrorists from accessing data.



• Customers and investors’ trust will be earned by assuring the security of their products and data.

Types of Ethical Hacking

Since practically every component of a system can be hacked, there are various ethical hacking procedures. These ‘hacking’ performances need thorough knowledge of that component.



There are the following types or practices of ethical hacking:



• Web application hacking



• System hacking



• Hacking wireless networks



• Web server hacking



• Social Engineering

Web Application Hacking

A web application is a programme or piece of software that runs in a web browser and accomplishes specified goals. Any online application is made up of three layers: the web server, the program’s content that is hosted on the web server, and the backend interface layer that connects with other applications. The architecture of a web application is scalable and comprises components with high availability.

Hacking is the act of taking control of a web application from its intended user by fiddling with it in various ways. To properly hack a web application, the hacker must have a thorough understanding of its architecture. To master the application, the hacker must practise, learn, and tinker with it.



Tenacity, focus, attention to detail, observation, and interaction are all required for web application hacking. There are many different types of web application hacking, as well as many different protection methods to counteract and protect the app from being hacked.

System Hacking

System hacking is the penetration of computer systems and software in order to gain access to the target machine and steal or misuse sensitive data. In this case, a hostile hacker takes advantage of flaws in a computer system or network to obtain unauthorised access to data or gain an unfair advantage.



The purpose of system hacking is to obtain access to a computer system, elevate privileges, run programmes, and hide files.

Hacking wireless networks

A wireless network is a collection of two or more devices that communicate by radio waves over a short distance. In a wireless network, devices have the freedom to move about while remaining connected to the network and sharing data with other devices. One of the most important reasons for their widespread use is that they are much cheaper and faster to build than wire networks.

Due to the fact that wireless networks use radio waves to communicate, a hacker can easily sniff the network from a nearby area.

To identify the SSID and hack a wireless network, most attackers utilise network sniffing.

Web Server Hacking

Web servers are pieces of hardware, software, or both that are used to host websites. Web servers, which are connected to the back-end database and execute a variety of applications, run on a variety of operating systems.

Real-time web information is generated by an application software database server. To steal credentials, passcodes, and company information from the web application, attackers use glueing, ping flood, port scan, sniffing attacks, and social engineering tactics.

Social Engineering

Exploiting human flaws to get access to personal information and secure systems is known as social engineering. Instead of hacking computer systems to get access to a target’s account, social engineering depends on manipulating persons.

The term “social engineering” refers to the practise of manipulating a target into divulging sensitive information. Social engineering can be used to get a company’s trade secrets or exploit national security, in addition to stealing an individual’s identity or compromising a credit card or bank account.