You might think it’s crazy to actually hire a hacker, but if you don’t have an ethical hacker on your security team, you could be playing a dangerous game.
Ethical hackers are called “white hat hackers” and are legal hackers, that help businesses find security problems in their networks. Developer and security teams, who build out codes, should have a white hat hacker on their side. This way, they will know from the start if the code is vulnerable. This is also known as “application security”.
How Important are Ethical Hackers?
How important is this? It’s so important that even the largest companies in the world are using this practice. Take Microsoft, for instance. They host a competition for white hat hackers, and challenge them to find any bugs present in their codes. This is called a “bounty”. On participant, was able to bypass every single security measure that Microsoft had in place. Can you imagine what would happen if he was one of the bad guys?
This type of security solution should be the first line of defense for your company, as they expose the risks that your company might have. Additionally, many companies used white hat hackers to ensure that they are complying with legal standards, such as HIPAA.
Wouldn’t Security Audits Work?
A security audit is basically a checklist for what a network has and doesn’t have in place. There’s not rubber on the road. Ethical hacking is a real world test. A security audit isn’t. The job of a white hat hacker is to find as many holes in the code as possible, and then report them back to the company. Another benefit of using an ethical hacker is that the information they provide helps to enhance the detection quality of products. An audit probably wouldn’t find this information.
What Does it Mean For Your Company?
Before anything, it’s important that you realize that an ethical hacker can help you and your business. A strong security program must focus on both the security of the code and the program’s security as it runs. This is where an ethical hacker will be most beneficial. Of course, it’s best to get the coding right the first time, but mistakes happen, and this is where a white hat hacker can make a huge difference.
So, the next time you talk about staffing, remember to bring up the addition of a white hat hacker. It could be the difference between keeping your data safe or being the victim of a real hacker.
Robert Siciliano personal security and identity theft expert and speaker is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen. See him knock’em dead in this identity theft prevention video.
