This article contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
Does Cyber Security include Ethical Hacking?
The answer to the question Does Cybersecurity include Ethical hacking is yes but it is not that straightforward. Many people get confused between the terms Cyber Security and Ethical Hacking.
Cyber Security can be defined as a broad term that encompasses many computer security mechanisms. Ethical Hacking is one of these mechanisms.
Cyber Security includes Ethical Hacking. Ethical Hacking allows for potential vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and poor security practices to quickly be identified. Cyber Security is responsible for fixing security problems to minimize the risk of an attack or breach.
In this article, we will discuss the terms Cybersecurity and Ethical Hacking in detail. Though Ethical Hacking is a part of Cybersecurity, subtle differences between them often confuse people.
We will cover the following topics in this article
What is Cybersecurity?
Cybersecurity refers to protecting networks, devices, data, and information from criminal or unauthorized use. It also includes the practice of ensuring confidentiality and integrity of data.
Everything now depends on computers and the internet. Communication (e.g., email, smartphones, tablets), entertainment, transportation (e.g., navigation systems), shopping online (e.g., credit cards), medicine, equipment, and medical records are just a few examples.
How much of your everyday life is dependent on technology? How much of your personal data is stored on your computer, smartphone, tablet, or another system?
The importance of Cybersecurity is growing with an ever-growing number of devices, users, and programs within modern enterprises and the increasing volume of data, many of which are sensitive or confidential. Cyberattackers and their sophisticated attack techniques are increasing in sophistication and volume, making the problem worse.
With an exponentially increasing number of users, devices, and programs in the modern enterprise, combined with the growing deluge of data — much of which is sensitive or confidential — the importance of Cybersecurity continues to grow. The ever-increasing volume and sophistication of cyber attackers and attack techniques compound the problem even further.
Robust cybersecurity strategies can help protect against malicious attacks that aim to access, alter or delete sensitive data or destroy systems of users or organizations. Cybersecurity can also be used to prevent attacks designed to disrupt or disable a system or device’s operation.
If you are interested in learning more about Cybersecurity, you can read our blog What is Cybersecurity?, which covers this topic in much more detail.
What is Ethical Hacking?
Ethical Hacking is a legal practice that bypasses system security to identify possible data breaches or threats in a network. Ethical Hackers can perform these activities if the company owns the network or system. This is unlike malicious Hacking, which can be done without authorization and, more importantly, legal.
Ethical hackers seek to find weaknesses in the network or system that malicious hackers can exploit or destroy. They figure out ways to strengthen the security of system/network/applications by collecting and analyzing information. They can increase the security footprint to resist attacks better and divert them.
Organizations hire ethical hackers to examine their networks and systems for vulnerabilities and develop solutions to prevent data breaches.
Nearly every type of government, private, or public organization employs ethical hackers. There are many career options for ethical hackers, including:
- Banks, mortgage companies, credit card companies or lenders.
- Ecommerce organizations
- SaaS companies
- Cloud computing companies and data centers
- Federal, state, local government agencies
- Media and entertainment providers
If you are interested in learning more about Ethical Hacking, you can read our blog What is Ethical Hacking?, which covers this topic in much more detail.
Difference between Cybersecurity and Ethical Hacking.
Ethical Hacking and cyber security play an important role in system security. They deal with the data and systems security aspect of technology, which includes software and hardware.
- Cyber security protects the data and computing assets of a company’s network.
- Ethical Hacking refers to any attack on these components that is done with permission.
Cyber security professionals are responsible for protecting informatics from any type of threat, whether they occur before, during, or afterward.
Ethical hackers can go by many aliases. One of them is white-hat. These are hackers who have the ability to find and exploit weaknesses and vulnerabilities in systems, just like a criminal or black-hat hacker, with the exception being that white-hack hackers have the permission of the owner or organization to hack the systems to identify vulnerabilities before a malicious hacker does.
The techniques used by an ethical hacker are identical to those used by malicious hackers. The only difference is that Ethical Hacking is done legally, whereas black-hat Hacking is done illegally.
What are the differences in the roles of a Cybersecurity professional and an Ethical Hacker?
Legal or legitimate hackers perform ethical hacking. They are authorized to hack with permission and report on the hack.
Cyber Security is managed and maintained by Cyber Security specialists whose primary goal is to protect the system against malicious activity. They monitor the system and take preventative measures if someone attempts to bypass it.
Here are the roles for a Cyber Security Professional:
- Cyber Security experts are responsible for performing regular audits to find inefficiencies in systems.
- Cyber Security experts must use the most effective technologies to improve security.
- Regular maintenance should be performed to keep the security system up-to-date.
- Professionals must only grant access privileges that are necessary to protect the system.
- The organization must be made aware of the potential consequences of malicious attacks.
- Cyber Security professionals are responsible for making suggestions to improve the security system.
Let’s now examine the roles of an ethical hacker.
- Ethical hackers test a system for security vulnerabilities to evaluate its performance.
- The professional will test the security system and suggest ways to improve it.
- Regular pen testing should be performed on the system, web app, and/or network to determine whether the security system can be breached.
- After identifying vulnerabilities, they should create reports and provide feedback after the issue has been resolved.
- The professional must also inform the organization of the possible effects on its operations and users.
- Use hacking as a technique to find solutions for system weaknesses.
You can see that the Cyber Security professional and the Ethical hacker have the same goal to protect the system, but they use different methods to achieve this goal.
Conclusion.
As you have read in this article, Cybersecurity does include Ethical Hacking. They both have the same goal, but there are subtle differences in each’s roles, methods, and resposibilities to achieve that goal.
Cybersecurity is rapidly expanding due to increasing data misuse and attacks. There is a greater demand for cybersecurity experts than ever before. This is the best time for individuals who want to steer their career towards the financially rewarding field of Cybersecurity.
If you are interested in kickstarting your career in Cybersecurity, no matter your educational background or experience, We recommend an excellent Cybersecurity training course that includes certification. We are confident that it will help you accelerate your professional learning.
Hope you liked this article on Does Cyber Security include Ethical Hacking.
Are you interested in kickstarting your career in Cybersecurity no matter your educational background or experience? Click Here to find out how.
