How an ethical hacker can partner with your business
Understand the role of an ethical hacker, how they operate, and how they can be beneficial to protecting your business.
In recent months, companies have been forced to shift to a remote work model. Many professionals who previously operated behind layers of security, such as firewalls and antivirus software, are now working directly from home with a lower level of protection compared to the corporate environment. Often, they use the same computer for both work and personal activities. The result? A surge in cyberattacks. And how can an ethical hacker help with this?
According to a report by Fortinet, Brazil faced over 8.4 billion attempted cyberattacks in 2020. This raises the question: What is the difference between a cybercriminal and an ethical hacker?
When we talk about hackers, the immediate reaction from most executives is one of apprehension. The term has been wrongly associated only with internet criminals. However, in recent years, the activities of ethical hackers have gained prominence. These professionals can become significant business partners when it comes to maintaining your company’s security. Besides strategic understanding, ethical hackers have business acumen and creativity when it comes to breaching systems.
Understand better who these experts are, how they operate, and how they can make a difference in protecting your systems.
What is an Ethical Hacker?
An ethical hacker is an information security professional who understands hacking. They know how to hack systems but use these skills to benefit a company, brand, or business (not against them).
What Does an Ethical Hacker Do?
The role of an ethical hacker is to conduct controlled analyses and attacks on corporate servers and systems to find security gaps. They look for vulnerabilities in products and services, such as systems, applications, websites, and even physical devices like kiosks and card machines. Their main goal is to identify flaws that could pose threats to the company, such as:
- Data leakage of clients
- System invasions
- Ransomware attacks
- Various risks causing financial, operational, or reputational damage
By identifying these vulnerabilities, the IT team can address them before a malicious hacker exploits them.
What Types of Tests Does an Ethical Hacker Perform?
Based on fundamental knowledge, ethical hackers use specific techniques to invade and detect vulnerabilities in systems.
Types of tests include:
- Penetration Testing: Intentionally forcing the security of a system by attempting to breach it through shortcuts or gaps.
- Vulnerability Exploitation: Scanning the system for weak points, vulnerabilities, compliance failures, and issues with the IT team’s maintenance routine.
- Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks: Simulating this practice by overwhelming access demand to test the stability and capacity of the company’s servers.
- Social Engineering: Identifying human vulnerabilities, such as temptations, carelessness, and naivety regarding technology. This includes common practices like phishing and fake emails that request password changes as bait to install malware on computers with network access.
Ethical Hacker and Company Bug Bounty Programs
With ongoing changes in the security sector and new vulnerabilities emerging daily, many ethical hackers offer their services through Bug Bounty programs.
These platforms bring together experts, such as ethical hackers, seeking recognition and institutions committed to information security and privacy.
The initiative rewards and/or compensates ethical hackers who report tested security flaws in a controlled manner. This allows companies to have their systems tested continuously, resulting in quicker discovery of vulnerabilities. Using such programs is considered best practice and is increasingly adopted by governments and large companies like Google and Facebook.
Through Bug Bounty, interested companies can launch programs in various formats, considering:
- Type of service
- Scope of work
- Reward offered
- Selection of experts
- Evaluation and screening of reports
- Verification and correction of flaws in services
On average, companies take 196 days to realize they have been attacked. With reward programs, ethical hackers identify flaws and send reports to institutions within days or even minutes.
Once a problem is found, the specialist produces a report and, in some cases, a "proof of concept" showing the vulnerability in practice. The ethical hacker sends this information to the company, which assesses the data, confirms the flaw, and determines the payment amount.
One condition for receiving payment is that no technical details about the flaw can be disclosed by the ethical hacker before it is fixed and, in some cases, even after. This protects users and the company’s reputation. Communication is handled through the platform, which validates security issues typically maintained by the company using the program. And this is how an ethical hacker can be a great ally in business.
The Importance of Investment in Cybersecurity
Bug bounty programs are already an international reality and play a crucial role in protecting companies. Mainly because they ensure a continuous methodology of security testing through the activities of ethical hackers.
Relying solely on corporate services for protecting a company's assets is not enough, and an ethical hacker can help reduce risks and losses, especially in a remote work scenario.
An ethical hacker should be considered a business ally, as they protect users, brands, and systems. BugHunt provides a secure platform for Bug Bounty testing, along with a trusted network of ethical hackers who can help secure your business.