Network security has become a big issue for all businesses since cybercriminals have figured out they've got more to lose than individuals. Certain industries are at particular risk of falling victim to attacks, and hackers know this.
This is why many business owners are hiring ethical hackers to find security gaps in their networks before malicious hackers can find them. If you're wondering what this means, here's an overview of different types of hacking and what separates them.
How Many Types of Cybersecurity Hackers Are There?
In general, there are three types of hacking, all separated by the intention behind them. The three basic categories include white hat, black hat, and grey hat hacking. Here's an overview of white hat hackers vs black hat hackers and how grey hat hacking relates to both.
White Hat
White hat hacking, also called ethical hacking or penetration testing, is a harmless and helpful type of hacking. This is when a skilled IT expert tries to breach a network with the purpose of identifying gaps that malicious cybercriminals could also use.
To learn more about black hat vs white hat hackers, read our blog: The Surprising Motives and Ethics of Hacking
Black Hat
As opposed to white hat, black hat hacking is what most people think of when they think about network breaches. This is when malicious criminals attempt to exploit networks for personal gain. A common example of this is ransomware distribution through social engineering.
Most often, black hat hackers have financial motivations, but they could also have ties to foreign entities that wish to do harm or compromise US national security. This is why it's highly discouraged to make ransomware payments since you could be funding overseas crime networks or dangerous foreign states.
This is common during war and international conflicts but can happen at any time. There are often cyber attack groups with political motivations as well. To learn more about the complications of ransomware payments, read our blog: To Pay or Not to Pay: How to Handle Ransomware Negotiation
Grey Hat
In between white hat and black hat hacking lies grey hat hacking, which is neither malicious or ethical in nature. However, even though grey hat hackers don't aim to steal money or harm victims, they aren't looking to help people either.
Often, grey hat hackers breach networks for recreational purposes, or to see what they can get away with before getting caught. This is inherently unethical because they access possibly sensitive data unlawfully or without explicit permission.
What is an Example of a White Hat Hacker?
When you get a network assessment from an IT provider, this is technically white hat hacking. Also called penetration testing, ethical hackers (from a managed service provider or as an individual) will test for things like:
- Open ports
- Weak passwords
- Outdated or unpatched software
- Misconfigurations
- Application-level vulnerabilities (authorization, encryption, etc)
- Old user accounts hackers could exploit
This is just the tip of the iceberg, as there are countless vulnerabilities discovered every day that hackers can exploit. The good news is - you can hire white hat hackers/IT teams to run these tests and discover if you have any of the above security gaps.
How Can Hiring White Hat Hackers Protect Your Business?
Businesses often choose to hire white hat hackers to help them secure any glaring issues in their network security. This is an aspect of proactive cybersecurity, which refers to preparation before your business suffers a devastating attack.
This is much different than disaster recovery, which is essentially damage control after an attack to reduce financial or reputational damage as a result of a successful breach. To learn more about proactive vs reactive cybersecurity, read our blog: Proactive vs Reactive Cyber Security: Examples & Trade-Offs
Experts warn that although you should have a solid incident response plan in place in case you suffer an attack, it's always best to prepare through proper cybersecurity protections before all else.
To learn how to create an incident response plan and key people to include, read our blog: Key Players in Your Cyber Incident Response Plan
Ethical Hacking vs Penetration Testing
Although some people use the two terms interchangeably, there are some differences between ethical hacking and penetration testing. For one, usually true penetration tests are done by an IT provider, who will create a comprehensive report for you detailing all vulnerabilities.
Ethical hacking can technically be done by anyone. If you hire an individual ethical hacker, they will probably find all the key security gaps that put you at risk. However, they might not offer a full list of recommendations that you can act upon after finding them.
This is what separates individual contractors from IT providers. If you need actionable insights, it might be best to invest in a penetration test from an IT provider.
How to Assess Your Network for Vulnerabilities
Overall, it's best to have insights on where your network stands in order to be one step ahead of hackers. Although they look at different aspects of your network than pen tests, network assessments can be great tools for finding actionable insights to help eliminate glaring issues in your network.
To learn more about network assessments and why businesses invest in them, check out our blog: What Long-Term Value Does A Network Assessment Offer?
If you're interested in stepping up your cybersecurity and network performance, click the button below to speak with an IT expert.
