How Ethical Hackers Work
Ethical hackers are distinguished from malicious hackers because they follow a strict code of ethics. The purpose of ethical hacking is to identify vulnerabilities and help organizations overcome them. Many cybersecurity industry organizations train and certify ethical hackers for this purpose.
Some of the things that make ethical hacking different from malicious hacking include:
- Ethical hackers are hired to identify vulnerabilities. An organization gives ethical hackers permission to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in order to test their own security systems.
- Ethical hackers document their methods. Authorized hackers follow comprehensive penetration testing frameworks like PTES or NIST SP 800-115. They document the methods they use to infiltrate networks so that security teams can implement defenses against similar attacks.
- Ethical hackers sign non-disclosure agreements. It’s virtually guaranteed that authorized hackers will find and interact with sensitive data. They do not use this data, share it with third parties, or leverage it for out-of-scope activities.
Ethical Hackers vs. Gray-Hat Hackers
There is a considerable gray space between ethical hackers and malicious ones. Gray-hat hackers may use unethical methods or conduct attacks without explicit permission from network owners. However, they generally don’t carry out attacks for personal gain.
Instead, gray-hat hackers may publicly announce security vulnerabilities to the cybersecurity community. This unsanctioned behavior can have repercussions, since malicious hackers can see (and exploit) those vulnerabilities before organizations have a chance to patch them.
While gray-hat hackers generally have good intentions, they can also cause damage. Ethical hackers follow a strict set of rules specifically to prevent this kind of damage from happening.
Ethical Hacking vs. Penetration Testing
Many people use the terms “ethical hacking” and “penetration testing” interchangeably. However, the two are distinct processes. Ethical hackers use a variety of tools and techniques to identify vulnerabilities, and penetration testing is one of them.
Ethical hackers may also conduct malware analysis, vulnerability assessments, and other cybersecurity services as part of their job. Often, the authorized hacking workflow relies on a variety of tools that go beyond the scope of a typical penetration test scenario.
Types of Ethical Hacking Tools
Ethical hackers use many of the same tools malicious hackers use. This is important because an authorized hacking simulation should closely follow the model of a real-world cyberattack scenario. By using the same tools cybercriminals use, ethical hackers demonstrate how robust the organization’s security posture truly is.
Some examples of the tools authorized hackers might use include:
- Network mapping and recon tools. Ethical hackers use tools like NMap and Wireshark to understand the structure of the target network and look for opportunities to gain entry.
- Exploitation frameworks. These combine a variety of tools with preconfigured exploits for popular applications and systems. Metasploit and Cobalt Strike are two examples of exploitation frameworks ethical hackers typically use.
- Password crackers. Tools like Hashcat and Hydra enable hackers to identify weak passwords. Complex, strong passwords with a variety of numbers, letters, and punctuation marks will resist these tools.
- Web application testing tools. Burp Suite and Nikto are examples of web application testing tools that find and exploit known vulnerabilities in web-hosted assets.
- Social engineering toolkits. Some toolkits help hackers simulate social engineering attacks and run phishing simulations. The Social Engineering Toolkit (SET) is a good example of this.
What Security Vulnerabilities Can Ethical Hackers Uncover?
Authorized hackers are well-equipped to identify vulnerabilities that automated scanners may not. Since the ethical hacking workflow simulates a real-world cyberattack, they can string together a series of security failures to obtain access that automated tools cannot.
Some of the vulnerabilities ethical hackers regularly discover include:
- Injection attacks. These attacks trick computer systems into treating labels as instructions. Attackers can cleverly hide malicious instructions in filenames or SQL requests and use them to gain access to sensitive assets.
- Inadequate authentication security. Ethical hackers look for weak passwords, broken multi-factor authentication processes, and authorization weaknesses throughout the network. They may identify people reusing passwords across multiple accounts or services.
- Security misconfigurations. Security tools like firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and SIEM platforms all need to be configured appropriately for their environment. Ethical hackers can detect security tools that are inappropriately configured or left in their default “plug-and-play” state.
- Business logic vulnerabilities. Some security vulnerabilities are built into the business logic of the organization itself. These are invisible to automated vulnerability scanners, but stand out clearly to experienced ethical hackers.
- Sensitive data exposure. Employees and third-party partners may accidentally expose sensitive data in a variety of ways. Some of these exposures are hard to identify in an automated vulnerability scan, but ethical hackers are well-equipped to find them.
After the testing period is complete, ethical hackers prepare a comprehensive report describing the vulnerabilities they discovered. They also include detailed steps on how to mitigate those risks, giving IT leaders a clear roadmap to improving operational security performance and meeting compliance requirements.
Put Your Security Systems to the Test with Novawatch
Ethical hackers go one step further than penetration testers and vulnerability scanners. Confronting your organization’s firewalls, security policies, and visibility controls directly can provide meaningful insight into just how well it might perform against a malicious hacking attempt.
Contact Novawatch and find out how successful your security systems would be in a real-world cyberattack scenario. Use our expertise to close security gaps and improve performance against sophisticated threats.
