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Hacking is the act of using nonstandard means to gain access to a system or device. Most commonly, this is done by exploiting vulnerabilities in software. This is a very technical process that requires advanced knowledge of programming and the ability to use specialized spy hardware. This is why it’s a very dangerous and often illegal practice.

Today, the term hacker carries an overwhelmingly negative connotation – it invokes images of cybercriminals stealing identities and unleashing disruptive viruses on the world. But the reality is hackers can have very positive and useful purposes. In fact, hackers have been around for a long time – the first were tech enthusiasts who wanted to tinker and optimize systems. It wasn’t until viruses and criminal activity started to rise that traditional “good” hackers got lumped in with those of malicious intent and the public vilification of hacking began.

Ethical Hacking is the practice of utilizing hacking skills to identify and fix weaknesses in an organization’s security posture before they are abused by malicious hackers. The ethical hacker uses their skills with written permission from the security team, protects confidentiality, and documents all identified weaknesses.

In addition to identifying the severity of an organization’s cyber threats, an ethical hacker may also identify blind spots that employees expose through their day-to-day activities. The goal is to ensure an organization is not susceptible to phishing attacks, ransomware, and other damaging cyberattacks. The most important aspect of this service is proper vetting of the ethical hacker to ensure they are qualified to conduct penetration testing and provide actionable results.