Security Magazine logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Security Magazine logo
  • NEWS
    • Security Newswire
    • Technologies & Solutions
  • MANAGEMENT
    • Leadership Management
    • Enterprise Services
    • Security Education & Training
    • Logical Security
    • Security & Business Resilience
    • Profiles in Excellence
  • PHYSICAL
    • Access Management
    • Fire & Life Safety
    • Identity Management
    • Physical Security
    • Video Surveillance
    • Case Studies (Physical)
  • CYBER
    • Cybersecurity News
    • More
  • BLOG
  • COLUMNS
    • Cyber Tactics
    • Leadership & Management
    • Security Talk
    • Career Intelligence
    • Leader to Leader
    • Cybersecurity Education & Training
  • EXCLUSIVES
    • Annual Guarding Report
    • Most Influential People in Security
    • The Security Benchmark Report
    • The Security Leadership Issue
    • Top Guard and Security Officer Companies
    • Top Cybersecurity Leaders
    • Women in Security
  • SECTORS
    • Arenas / Stadiums / Leagues / Entertainment
    • Banking/Finance/Insurance
    • Construction, Real Estate, Property Management
    • Education: K-12
    • Education: University
    • Government: Federal, State and Local
    • Hospitality & Casinos
    • Hospitals & Medical Centers
    • Infrastructure:Electric,Gas & Water
    • Ports: Sea, Land, & Air
    • Retail/Restaurants/Convenience
    • Transportation/Logistics/Supply Chain/Distribution/ Warehousing
  • EVENTS
    • Industry Events
    • Webinars
    • Solutions by Sector
    • Security 500 Conference
  • MEDIA
    • Videos
      • Cybersecurity & Geopolitical Discussion
      • Ask Me Anything (AMA) Series
    • Podcasts
    • Polls
    • Photo Galleries
  • MORE
    • Call for Entries
    • Classifieds & Job Listings
    • Continuing Education
    • Newsletter
    • Sponsor Insights
    • Store
    • White Papers
  • EMAG
    • eMagazine
    • This Month's Content
    • Advertise
  • SIGN UP!
CybersecurityManagementSecurity Enterprise ServicesSecurity Leadership and ManagementLogical SecuritySecurity & Business ResilienceSecurity Education & TrainingCybersecurity News

Why Ethical Hacking? (The What and Why of Ethical Hacking)

By Reut Hackmon
hacker
March 5, 2020

When people hear the term hacking, they often think of someone infecting their computer with a virus, crashing a network and stealing money, or holding a company hostage from their daily operations with ransomware. Most people do not know that ethical hackers are people who are hired to think like a hacker or bad actor. They meticulously probe a company's systems to find any weaknesses and bring them to the attention of the business before the bad actors exploit them. Ethical hacking is an investment that companies in the modern world can't afford to do without.  

 

Why Not Just Use Automatic Hacking Tools?

More and more lately, companies are buzzing about using the latest automatic hacking tool instead of ethical hackers to find vulnerabilities in their networks and software. They question why they need ethical hackers when they can execute an automated tool to find vulnerabilities while investing so much less.

Most organizations can't digest the long reports produced by these automatic hacking tools. They struggle to decipher the data and what to do with the information. Automated hacking tools are just tools in part of an arsenal that could potentially be used to help support a business's cybersecurity efforts. But these tools could never replace the sophisticated, continued complex activities of a dedicated hacking team.

Hackers will spend endless hours to bypass and penetrate systems learning every bit and byte. They become experts in the business' systems, gathering all the information they can find, and use everything they learn to form a sophisticated attack, based on a series of actions, causing a lot of damage to a company's systems and organization as a whole. Automatic tools by themselves cannot replicate all of these actions. A written tool can't discover a situation that it's not programmed to find, unlike a human who can observe, identify, learn and adjust.

 

Why Ethical Hacking Teams?

An organization will make the necessary investments in protection measures to ensure their data is secured when they are concerned about their cybersecurity and the price of becoming a victim of a cyberattack. Some organizations even over-invest in many different cybersecurity products to make sure they are doing everything they can to protect their business. But bad actors still manage to get in, due to lack of knowledge, wrong processes and insufficient configurations.

Whether a company utilizes all of the security options available or not, it is highly recommended for organizations to validate the immunity of their systems. Unknown players will target a company and use all the means available to them to penetrate their systems and products.

The best solution is to invest in a strong cybersecurity team that has the right knowledge and experience using ethical hacking to conduct high-quality immunity tests. These tests simulate the actual activities of real bad actors presenting the exact status of a business's security level and protecting their valuable data before an attack. While the team continually researches the latest vulnerabilities and uses protection measures to maximize the security of the organization and its products.

 

How Do You Find a Good Ethical Hacker?

A good ethical hacker is a unique combination of a brilliant person with a love of technology and a passion for bypassing it while still possessing the honorable qualities of trust, honesty and devotion to ethical practices. These are people that care about a company's security and will do their best to validate it and report their honest, clear and organized findings. They'll explain the reasons for each vulnerability and help the business to mitigate that flow in the most effective way. 

An excellent ethical hacking team is planned out strategically with each of its members being an expert in different technologies. Together they execute complicated projects and examine all aspects of the system through different sophisticated scenarios.   

Exceptional ethical hackers will spend endless amounts of time researching and learning about every system and thinking of creative ways to exploit design flows and procedures. They find beautiful combinations of phases and manipulations that result in an amazing but unwanted behavior in a business's systems and products. These kinds of attacks are essential to identify before they catch a company by surprise while damaging their finances, reputation and priceless data.

 

This article originally ran in Today’s Cybersecurity Leader, a monthly cybersecurity-focused eNewsletter for security end users, brought to you by Security Magazine. Subscribe here.

KEYWORDS: cyber security cybersecurity hackers ransomware

Share This Story

Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!

Reut hackmon

Reut Hackmon is Founder & CEO of Guardiance. She is recognized as an internationally trusted cybersecurity advisor with over a decade of experience in strategic cybersecurity initiatives. In Israel, Hackmon established and led cybersecurity operations for several major companies, worked as an ethical hacker and conducted training programs for businesses of all sizes designed to recognize and mitigate vulnerabilities. Her passion for protecting small businesses by providing elite cybersecurity services now extends to the United States with the opening of Guardiance’s offices in New York City.

Recommended Content

JOIN TODAY
To unlock your recommendations.

Already have an account? Sign In

  • Security's Top Cybersecurity Leaders 2024

    Security's Top Cybersecurity Leaders 2024

    Security magazine's Top Cybersecurity Leaders 2024 award...
    Top Cybersecurity Leaders
    By: Security Staff
  • cyber brain

    The intersection of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is a valuable cybersecurity...
    Logical Security
    By: Pam Nigro
  • artificial intelligence AI graphic

    Assessing the pros and cons of AI for cybersecurity

    Artificial intelligence (AI) has significant implications...
    New Security Technology
    By: Charles Denyer
Subscribe For Free!
  • Security eNewsletter & Other eNews Alerts
  • eMagazine Subscriptions
  • Manage My Preferences
  • Online Registration
  • Mobile App
  • Subscription Customer Service

More Videos

Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content is a special paid section where industry companies provide high quality, objective, non-commercial content around topics of interest to the Security audience. All Sponsored Content is supplied by the advertising company and any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily reflect the views of Security or its parent company, BNP Media. Interested in participating in our Sponsored Content section? Contact your local rep!

close
  • Crisis Response Team
    Sponsored byEverbridge

    Automate or Fall Behind – Crisis Response at the Speed of Risk

  • Perimeter security
    Sponsored byAMAROK

    Why Property Security is the New Competitive Advantage

  • Duty of Care
    Sponsored byAMAROK

    Integrating Technology and Physical Security to Advance Duty of Care

Popular Stories

Pills spilled

More than 20,000 sensitive medical records exposed

Laptop in darkness

Verizon 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report shows rise in cyberattacks

Coding on screen

Research reveals mass scanning and exploitation campaigns

White post office truck

Department of Labor Sues USPS Over Texas Whistleblower Termination

Computer with binary code hovering nearby

Cyberattacks Targeting US Increased by 136%

2025 Security Benchmark banner

Events

May 22, 2025

Proactive Crisis Communication

Crisis doesn't wait for the right time - it strikes when least expected. Is your team prepared to communicate clearly and effectively when it matters most?

September 29, 2025

Global Security Exchange (GSX)

 

View All Submit An Event

Products

Security Culture: A How-to Guide for Improving Security Culture and Dealing with People Risk in Your Organisation

Security Culture: A How-to Guide for Improving Security Culture and Dealing with People Risk in Your Organisation

See More Products

Related Articles

  • The Long and Winding Road to Cyber Recovery

    Security from the Start: Why Cyber Awareness is Critical at the Initial Stages of Business

    See More
  • ethics-values-freepik

    Why ethical corporate conduct is integral to competitive edge

    See More
  • financial-freepik

    Why the threat of wire fraud is particularly high for private capital markets – and what’s being done to address it

    See More
×

Sign-up to receive top management & result-driven techniques in the industry.

Join over 20,000+ industry leaders who receive our premium content.

SIGN UP TODAY!
  • RESOURCES
    • Advertise
    • Contact Us
    • Store
    • Want More
  • SIGN UP TODAY
    • Create Account
    • eMagazine
    • eNewsletter
    • Customer Service
    • Manage Preferences
  • SERVICES
    • Marketing Services
    • Reprints
    • Market Research
    • List Rental
    • Survey/Respondent Access
  • STAY CONNECTED
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • X (Twitter)
  • PRIVACY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS & CONDITIONS
    • DO NOT SELL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
    • PRIVACY REQUEST
    • ACCESSIBILITY

Copyright ©2025. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing