Have you got the skills to be an ethical hacker? They are highly valued by major organisations across the globe.
Ethical hackers are extremely valuable today as organisations face an unprecedented level of danger as they take on an increasingly treacherous threat landscape. New attack surfaces have opened up as data and services are used and created differently.
Sophisticated hackers are leveraging the new vulnerabilities and innovating at a fast pace, meaning that at present no one can guarantee impregnable cybersecurity. This situation means that penetration testing provides more valuable insights than ever, giving organisations understanding of what they have to do to plug major and unexpected gaps.
CBR has compiled a list of some of the greatest names in ethical hacking, including individuals who have been on the dark side of cyber and subsequently served their time for the crimes they have committed before using their incredible skills for good. This list may serve to inspire skilled individuals to use their capabilities for good, providing services that are quickly becoming priceless as the skills gap widens.
Kevin Mitnick
Kevin Mitnick has become one of, if not the most, famous ethical hackers to have ever lived, and perhaps his skills and insight come from the fact that his hat has not always been white.
In 1995 the law caught up with Mitnick in what became a high-profile arrest; he had been pursued and tracked down due to a two and a half year spree of criminal cyber activity. His black hat escapades included breaching the security of the Digital Equipment Corporation, where once inside he copied the software he found.
For this crime he received jail time in 1988 that was followed by a stint of supervised release. Before he had completed his punishment Mitnick was hacking again, gaining entry to Pacific Bell voice mail computers. It is thought that he breached a number of other networks and used tactics including the interception of passwords.
Mitnick ended up receiving 46 months with an added 22 for violating his period of supervised release in 1989, an event that marked the conclusion to his time on the dark side.
Having proven his skills to the world, in the year 2000 Mitnick donned the white hat instead, becoming a paid consultant. Not only did Fortune 500 companies and the FBI itself want to leverage his talents, many have flocked over the years to learn from his experience, knowledge and ideas, making him a popular author and public speaker.
He has also taught his skills directly, having led social engineering classes; vital skills that world is crying out for today. Acting as a true ethical hacker, Mitnick also conducts penetration testing for some of the world’s biggest organisations.
See the full list at the source.
Source: CBR
