Talk of the best proactive cybersecurity measures, and many industry experts will mention ethical hacking. Big brands, including Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, do have bug bounty programs, and there is a news on ethical hacking every now and then. For the uninitiated, ethical hacking is also called penetration testing. You can hire ethical hackers to hack your company’s recorder, or find network flaws, and that does have many advantages. In this post, we are discussing all that small businesses must know about ethical hacking.
What exactly is ethical hacking?
In simple words, ethical hacking is a way to engage the security community, where ethical hackers are given permission to hack into systems, networked devices, and IT environments, with the intention to find possible vulnerabilities. In that context, it is important to understand about different types of hackers. The first category is that of white hat hackers, who have good intent and work as per the norms and regulations laid down by the client. Black hat hackers, on the other hand, are the ones you must be worried about. They attack businesses with different intentions. There is also a third category of grey hat hacker, who may break rules, but typically work for businesses and clients with the intention to help.
Should your company spend on ethical hacking?
It really depends on various factors, including your primary cybersecurity concerns. The primary goal of ethical hacking is to find system vulnerabilities that are otherwise not in plain sight. You can choose to run a bug bounty program with dos and don’ts, or can hire a company that has a team of ethical hackers, who can hack into your system or will try to hack and find flaws. There is no reason to avoid ethical hacking, because it doesn’t have to be as expensive as many entrepreneurs think. If you think your company needs extra security, or there is a need to test IT environments and infrastructure beyond regular scans, ethical hacking can be useful. Ethical hackers have expertise, and they can help clients in improving their cybersecurity measures.
In conclusion
Allowing ethical hacking does come with a few disadvantages, but the benefits definitely outweigh these concerns. Take your time to understand how and to what extent you want to allow ethical hackers to get into your networks, systems, and devices, and there are dedicated services that can help with this aspect and beyond.
