White Hat Hacker

This is why white hat hacking often goes by another name — “ethical hacking.” What do White Hat Hackers Look for Specifically? The job of a white hat hacker is to think like their criminal counterparts, looking for the types of vulnerabilities that a black hat hacker would try to exploit. Started in 1992 by the Dark Tangent, DEF CON is the world's longest running and largest underground hacking conference. Hackers, corporate IT professionals, and three letter government agencies all converge on Las Vegas every summer to absorb cutting edge hacking research from the most brilliant minds in the world and test their skills in contests of hacking might.

  1. White Hat Hacker Certification
  2. White Hat Hacker Example

Hackers aren’t inherently bad — the word “hacker” doesn’t mean “criminal” or “bad guy.” Geeks and tech writers often refer to “black hat,” “white hat,” and “gray hat” hackers. These terms define different groups of hackers based on their behavior.

The definition of the word “hacker” is controversial, and could mean either someone who compromises computer security or a skilled developer in the free software or open-source movements.

Black Hats

Black-hat hackers, or simply “black hats,” are the type of hacker the popular media seems to focus on. Black-hat hackers violate computer security for personal gain (such as stealing credit card numbers or harvesting personal data for sale to identity thieves) or for pure maliciousness (such as creating a botnet and using that botnet to perform DDOS attacks against websites they don’t like.)

Black hats fit the widely-held stereotype that hackers are criminals performing illegal activities for personal gain and attacking others. They’re the computer criminals.

A black-hat hacker who finds a new, “zero-day” security vulnerability would sell it to criminal organizations on the black market or use it to compromise computer systems.

Media portrayals of black-hat hackers may be accompanied by silly stock photos like the below one, which is intended as a parody.

White Hats

White-hat hackers are the opposite of the black-hat hackers. They’re the “ethical hackers,” experts in compromising computer security systems who use their abilities for good, ethical, and legal purposes rather than bad, unethical, and criminal purposes.

For example, many white-hat hackers are employed to test an organizations’ computer security systems. The organization authorizes the white-hat hacker to attempt to compromise their systems. The white-hat hacker uses their knowledge of computer security systems to compromise the organization’s systems, just as a black hat hacker would. However, instead of using their access to steal from the organization or vandalize its systems, the white-hat hacker reports back to the organization and informs them of how they gained access, allowing the organization to improve their defenses. This is known as “penetration testing,” and it’s one example of an activity performed by white-hat hackers.

Jurassic park operation genesis patch. A white-hat hacker who finds a security vulnerability would disclose it to the developer, allowing them to patch their product and improve its security before it’s compromised. Schlachter 2000 pdf. Various organizations pay “bounties” or award prizes for revealing such discovered vulnerabilities, compensating white-hats for their work.

Gray Hats

Very few things in life are clear black-and-white categories. In reality, there’s often a gray area. A gray-hat hacker falls somewhere between a black hat and a white hat. A gray hat doesn’t work for their own personal gain or to cause carnage, but they may technically commit crimes and do arguably unethical things.

For example, a black hat hacker would compromise a computer system without permission, stealing the data inside for their own personal gain or vandalizing the system. A white-hat hacker would ask for permission before testing the system’s security and alert the organization after compromising it. A gray-hat hacker might attempt to compromise a computer system without permission, informing the organization after the fact and allowing them to fix the problem. Lego mindstorms ev3 controller app. While the gray-hat hacker didn’t use their access for bad purposes, they compromised a security system without permission, which is illegal.

If a gray-hat hacker discovers a security flaw in a piece of software or on a website, they may disclose the flaw publically instead of privately disclosing the flaw to the organization and giving them time to fix it. They wouldn’t take advantage of the flaw for their own personal gain — that would be black-hat behavior — but the public disclosure could cause carnage as black-hat hackers tried to take advantage of the flaw before it was fixed.

“Black hat,” “white hat,” and “gray hat” can also refer to behavior. For example, if someone says “that seems a bit black hat,” that means that the action in question seems unethical.

Image Credit: zeevveez on Flickr (modified), Adam Thomas on Flickr, Luiz Eduardo on Flickr, Alexandre Normand on Flickr

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The term 'white hat' in Internet slang refers to an ethical computer hacker, or a computer security expert, who specializes in penetration testing and in other testing methodologies that ensures the security of an organization's information systems.[1]Ethical hacking is a term meant to imply a broader category than just penetration testing.[2][3] Contrasted with black hat, a malicious hacker, the name comes from Western films, where heroic and antagonistic cowboys might traditionally wear a white and a black hat respectively.[4] While a white hat hacker hacks under good intentions with permission, and a black hat hacker has malicious intent, there is a third kind known as a grey hat hacker who hacks with good intentions without permission.[Symantec Group 1]

White hat hackers may also work in teams called 'sneakers',[5]red teams, or tiger teams.[6]

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History[edit]

One of the first instances of an ethical hack being used was a 'security evaluation' conducted by the United States Air Force, in which the Multics operating systems was tested for 'potential use as a two-level (secret/top secret) system.' The evaluation determined that while Multics was 'significantly better than other conventional systems,' it also had '.. vulnerabilities in hardware security, software security and procedural security' that could be uncovered with 'a relatively low level of effort.'[7] The authors performed their tests under a guideline of realism, so their results would accurately represent the kinds of access an intruder could potentially achieve. They performed tests involving simple information-gathering exercises, as well as outright attacks upon the system that might damage its integrity; both results were of interest to the target audience. There are several other now unclassified reports describing ethical hacking activities within the US military.[6]

White Hat HackerWhite hat hacker example

By 1981 The New York Times described white hat activities as part of a 'mischievous but perversely positive 'hacker' tradition'. When a National CSS employee revealed the existence of his password cracker, which he had used on customer accounts, the company chastised him not for writing the software but for not disclosing it sooner. The letter of reprimand stated 'The Company realizes the benefit to NCSS and in fact encourages the efforts of employees to identify security weaknesses to the VP, the directory, and other sensitive software in files'.[8]

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The idea to bring this tactic of ethical hacking to assess security of systems was formulated by Dan Farmer and Wietse Venema. With the goal of raising the overall level of security on the Internet and intranets, they proceeded to describe how they were able to gather enough information about their targets to have been able to compromise security if they had chosen to do so. They provided several specific examples of how this information could be gathered and exploited to gain control of the target, and how such an attack could be prevented. They gathered up all the tools they had used during their work, packaged them in a single, easy-to-use application, and gave it away to anyone who chose to download it. Their program, called Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing Networks, or SATAN, was met with a great amount of media attention around the world in 1992.[6]

Tactics[edit]

While penetration testing concentrates on attacking software and computer systems from the start – scanning ports, examining known defects in protocols and applications running on the system and patch installations, for example – ethical hacking may include other things. A full-blown ethical hack might include emailing staff to ask for password details, rummaging through executive’s dustbins and usually breaking and entering, without the knowledge and consent of the targets. Only the owners, CEOs and Board Members (stake holders) who asked for such a security review of this magnitude are aware. To try to replicate some of the destructive techniques a real attack might employ, ethical hackers may arrange for cloned test systems, or organize a hack late at night while systems are less critical.[3] In most recent cases these hacks perpetuate for the long-term con (days, if not weeks, of long-term human infiltration into an organization). Some examples include leaving USB/flash key drives with hidden auto-start software in a public area as if someone lost the small drive and an unsuspecting employee found it and took it.

Some other methods of carrying out these include:

  • Social engineering tactics
  • Security scanners such as:
  • Frameworks such as:
  • Training Platforms

These methods identify and exploit known security vulnerabilities and attempt to evade security to gain entry into secured areas. They are able to do this by hiding software and system 'back-doors' that can be used as a link to information or access that a non-ethical hacker, also known as 'black-hat' or 'grey-hat', may want to reach.

Legality in the UK[edit]

Struan Robertson, legal director at Pinsent Masons LLP, and editor of OUT-LAW.com, says 'Broadly speaking, if the access to a system is authorized, the hacking is ethical and legal. If it isn't, there's an offence under the Computer Misuse Act. The unauthorized access offence covers everything from guessing the password, to accessing someone's webmail account, to cracking the security of a bank. The maximum penalty for unauthorized access to a computer is two years in prison and a fine. There are higher penalties – up to 10 years in prison – when the hacker also modifies data'. Unauthorized access even to expose vulnerabilities for the benefit of many is not legal, says Robertson. 'There's no defense in our hacking laws that your behavior is for the greater good. Even if it's what you believe.'[3]

Employment[edit]

White Hat Hacker Certification

The United States National Security Agency offers certifications such as the CNSS 4011. Such a certification covers orderly, ethical hacking techniques and team-management. Aggressor teams are called 'red' teams. Defender teams are called 'blue' teams.[5] When the agency recruited at DEF CON in 2012, it promised applicants that 'If you have a few, shall we say, indiscretions in your past, don't be alarmed. You shouldn't automatically assume you won't be hired'.[9]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^'What is the difference between black, white, and grey hackers'. Norton.com. Norton Security. Retrieved 2 October 2018.

White Hat Hacker Example

References[edit]

  1. ^'What is white hat? - a definition from Whatis.com'. Searchsecurity.techtarget.com. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
  2. ^Ward, Mark (14 September 1996). 'Sabotage in cyberspace'. New Scientist. 151 (2047).
  3. ^ abcKnight, William (16 October 2009). 'License to Hack'. InfoSecurity. 6 (6): 38–41. doi:10.1016/s1742-6847(09)70019-9.
  4. ^Wilhelm, Thomas; Andress, Jason (2010). Ninja Hacking: Unconventional Penetration Testing Tactics and Techniques. Elsevier. pp. 26–7. ISBN9781597495899.
  5. ^ ab'What is a White Hat?'. Secpoint.com. 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2012-06-06.
  6. ^ abcPalmer, C.C. (2001). 'Ethical Hacking'(PDF). IBM Systems Journal. 40 (3): 769. doi:10.1147/sj.403.0769.
  7. ^Paul A. Karger, Roger R. Scherr (June 1974). MULTICS SECURITY EVALUATION: VULNERABILITY ANALYSIS(PDF) (Report). Retrieved 12 Nov 2017.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  8. ^McLellan, Vin (1981-07-26). 'Case of the Purloined Password'. The New York Times. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  9. ^'Attention DEF CON® 20 attendees'. National Security Agency. 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-07-30.
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