What Is Ethical Hacking?
Ethical hacking involves an authorized attempt to gain unauthorized access to a computer system, application, or data. Carrying out an ethical hack consists in duplicating the strategies and actions of malicious attackers. This practice helps to identify security vulnerabilities which can then be resolved before a malicious attacker has the opportunity to exploit them.
What are the key concepts of ethical
hacking?
Hacking experts follow four key protocol concepts:
- Stay legal. Obtain proper approval before accessing and performing a
- security assessment.
- Define the scope. Determine the scope of the assessment so that the
- ethical hacker’s work remains legal and within the organization’s approved
- boundaries.
- Report vulnerabilities. Notify the organization of all vulnerabilities discovered
- during the assessment. Provide remediation advice for resolving these
- vulnerabilities.
- Respect data sensitivity. Depending on the data sensitivity, ethical hackers
- may have to agree to a non-disclosure agreement, in addition to other terms
- and conditions required by the assessed organization.
Hacking experts follow four key protocol concepts:
- Stay legal. Obtain proper approval before accessing and performing a
- security assessment.
- Define the scope. Determine the scope of the assessment so that the
- ethical hacker’s work remains legal and within the organization’s approved
- boundaries.
- Report vulnerabilities. Notify the organization of all vulnerabilities discovered
- during the assessment. Provide remediation advice for resolving these
- vulnerabilities.
- Respect data sensitivity. Depending on the data sensitivity, ethical hackers
- may have to agree to a non-disclosure agreement, in addition to other terms
- and conditions required by the assessed organization.
7 Free Resources To Learn Ethical Hacking From Scratch
1. Guru99
Guru99’s free ethical hacking tutorial offers a comprehensive introduction to the key concepts and components of ethical hacking. Its course spans social engineering hacks and prevention, hacking Linux OS, cracking the password of an application, and understanding worms and viruses. Perhaps the most valuable part of the course is the inclusion of useful hacking tools, which can be a huge time saver for newcomers who are still trying to get a lay of the land—the website groups together tools for IP address blocking, network scanning, malware removal, and free firewall software. A downside of this resource is that although it is targeted at beginners, it doesn’t actually teach the skills required to successfully perform ethical hacking (E.g. programming languages, understanding the basics of Linux, SQL).
2. Coursera
Coursera’s free Cryptography course runs for seven weeks and offers an introduction to the foundations of cryptography (which is the practice of securing information), with an eye toward practical applications. While the course only focuses on a narrow sliver of what it takes to become an ethical hacker, cryptography is a crucial component of cybersecurity because it allows organizations and individuals to encrypt sensitive data. Developing a strong understanding of modern cryptography is incredibly useful to anyone interested in hacking, and this course serves as a building block for both beginners and seasoned security professionals. At the end of the program, students also receive a course completion certification.
3. Edureka
Although Edureka offers a paid course in cybersecurity, those looking to simply gain a comprehensive introduction to the concepts and methods of ethical hacking can benefit from its free ten-hour video tutorial. The video covers everything from Kali Linux to the fundamentals of networking, XSS, and DDOS, and while many of the concepts might be challenging for a complete newcomer to parse, it can be useful to those who already have a background in network security and administration and are looking to pivot into cybersecurity and ethical hacking.
4. Hacker101
Operated by HackerOne—a cybersecurity and bug bounty platform—Hacker101 is a free web security class for experienced programmers and those who already have a background in cybersecurity. With dozens of tutorials arranged in video playlists, Hacker101 covers penetration testing, web hacking (cookie tampering techniques, XML external entities, password storage, clickjacking, session fixation, etc.), and mobile hacking. It also runs its own 24/7 Capture The Flag game where hackers can find bugs and solve puzzles, allowing all participants to find bugs in real-world simulated environments and put the practical techniques learned from the video tutorials to the test.
5. HackThisSite.org
After signing up for a free account, Hack This Site is a treasure trove of hacking-related blog posts, articles, hacking challenges, tutorials, and discussions. The active community of hackers-in-training is encouraged to practice their skills by undertaking challenges, asking questions on discussion boards, and sharing educational resources spanning topics such as telecommunications, wireless networks, hardware hacking, and gaming. While the site won’t teach a newcomer coding basics, the built-in community is active and engaged in answering questions and discussing the latest best practices.
6. FreeCodeCamp.org
7. Hackaday.io
Another free resource for those who already have a foundational knowledge of cybersecurity and coding, Hackaday offers a “hack a day,” which means new tutorials are frequently uploaded to demonstrate powerful hacks for educational purposes. In addition to helping students understand hacking concepts through videos, it boasts a collaborative hardware development community where people are encouraged to share their work on Hackaday’s hosting site, openly exchange ideas and information, and buy and sell hardware from fellow makers.
HAPPY HACKING
