hiring ethical hacker for evidence

Introduction：

1、The ethical side of hacking - is your hire trustworthy？

2、Why Hire an Ethical Hacking Firm or Ethical Hacker？

The ethical side of hacking - is your hire trustworthy？ ♂

　　Research shows that over 42% of cyberattacks in 2021 were zero-day exploits taking advantage of vulnerabilities not picked up by traditional penetration tests. It is vulnerabilities like these that can be spotted by a so-called white hat hacker. However, the term ‘hacker’ has numerous - oftennegative - connotations; businesses considering this route may be unsure of how to find one who can be trusted.

　　Credentials are key

　　The best starting point is with credentials: the most widely accepted qualification is a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification issued by The International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants (EC-Council). In addition, as with any role, previous work experience is an excellent indicator of someone’s skills and work ethic. It’s good practice to check out their previous employers and ask for case studies of previous work they have done, particularly as it relates to your own security priorities.

　　Research your hacker’s past

　　One of the most contentious issues within the world of ethical hacking is hiring someone with a criminal history. Individual attitudes will vary – as will those of each company. You might place great value on someone whose track record demonstrates consistent good intentions, which is incompatible with someone with a criminal record. On the other hand, government agencies and large corporates have the power, money and resources to cover losses and take legal action against any perpetrators, whereas smaller agencies do not. I would encourage any businesses considering hiring a penetration tester with a questionable past to consider what they can afford to lose should the worst happen.

　　Set a clear brief

　　Once you have found a trusted, certified hacker, it is time to set the brief. Remember, always be specific with clearly defined objectives and identified blind spots. Your security team, for example, might have valid concerns about senior staff logging in via public WiFi networks, this then forms the basis of the brief. Remember also to make the desired outcome equally clear, whether that is trying to gain access to a specific core business application or the retrieval of sensitive data.

　　Beware red lines

　　Although your ethical hacker will be accessing critical systems, it is important that it doesn’t disrupt day-to-day operations or threaten business continuity – unless that is a specific request. Therefore, avoid methods that might involve data loss or downtime. For example, brute force attacks which consist of submitting hundreds of potential passwords can easily lead to system failure. Some companies will have a legitimate interest in whether they can survive a DDOS attack but, as a general rule, penetration tests should never compromise the business. Another red line concerns data protection. Customer information should always be closely guarded. If you are looking to test data security, a hacker should be asked to demonstrate that they can access the files in question without exfiltrating any information. Legal documents should also be off-limits during tests.

　　Establish clear deadlines

　　Establishing a time frame is an essential constraint for any penetration test - usually, this is set at a week. If you give a hacker unlimited resources and time, they will almost certainly be able to infiltrate your systems eventually. However, for malicious actors, time is very much money, so if your network takes longer than a week to break into, the vast majority of opportunistic cybercriminals will give up. If your ethical hacker can’t break in within one week, you’re in good standing.

　　Record the results effectively

　　When it comes to recording the results, the simplest methods are best. Screenshots taken throughout the test, which demonstrate the results, such as proof of infiltration, are very effective. However, ethical hackers and their internal sponsors do need to be tactful when delivering results. IT teams pride themselves on their ability to safeguard their company’s data so demonstrating holes and vulnerabilities in their security protocols can be emotive and provocative. Remember to soften the blow and highlight any positives.

　　If you take all these factors into account, you’ll be able to identify and brief an ethical hacker to tackle any security vulnerabilities. Good luck!

Why Hire an Ethical Hacking Firm or Ethical Hacker？ ♂

　　The increasing rate of cyberattacks on organizations around the globe has produced huge financial gains for cybercriminals. The vast number of threats includes “Insider attacks,” “Malware,” and now the emergence of COVID-19 threats to mention a few. If these threats are not addressed, there is a likelihood that some organizations may be exposed to higher risks of cyberattacks for years to come.

　　The unexpected outbreak of COVID-19 has increased existing threats and made some organizations defenseless as the reliance on technology grows. Threats emerging from the situation with the pandemic, malwares, remote working, phishing and business emails, and supply chain threats are escalating.

　　Hacking refers to exploiting weaknesses in a computer network or system to obtain unauthorized access to information; a hacker is a person who tries to hack into computer systems.

　　Ethical hacking is an approved and systematic process of bypassing system security to identify potential data breaches and threats in a network. The organization that owns the system will give special permission to an Ethical Hacker to perform security assessments. The core steps are: reconnaissance, scanning, exploitation, and maintaining access.

　　These methodologies allow common vulnerabilities that exist within a system to be discovered and remediated. Ethical hacking or penetration testing also assesses the administrative, technical, and operation controls and policies within an organization’s system. These manual and automated methodologies provide thorough evaluation of assets and risk prioritization and mitigation recommendations. Penetration testing teams can also deliver customized social engineering assessments to determine the resilience of employees and processes.

　　An Ethical Hacker is a security expert that has the experience and skills in IT security and has knowledge of various programming languages such as HTML, PHP, Python, SQL, and JavaScript, networks, and computer devices. The objective of an Ethical Hacker is to support organizations in securing and protecting corporate assets. The Ethical Hacker is usually an independent consultant and does not have any affiliation with the organization.

　　There are three different types of hackers. Black Hat hackers are individuals who illegally hack into a system for monetary gain. White Hat hackers are individuals who exploit the vulnerabilities in the system by hacking into it with permission in order to defend the organization.

　　White hat hacking is absolutely legal and ethical. This is also often referred to as penetration testing. In addition to these hackers, we also have the Grey Hat hackers, as the name suggests, the Grey Hat hacker is a combination of both white and black hat hackers. These hackers discover vulnerabilities in the system and report it to the system’s owner; Grey Hat hackers may not seek the organization’s approval. On occasions, Grey Hat hackers also ask to be compensated financially in return for the identification of vulnerabilities.

　　Regardless of the method used, the techniques and tools tend to be similar between the methodologies. The use of methodologies does provide some significant advantages, and can be used to find the threats to a system or network using well-known attack vectors.

　　Vulnerabilities discovered by Ethical Hackers include:

　　Injection attacksBroken authenticationSecurity misconfigurationsUse of components with known vulnerabilitiesSensitive data exposureSocial engineeringInput validationInsecure or misconfigured services

　　Once vulnerabilities are identified, the Ethical Hacker will exploit them and may ultimately gain access to a system. An Ethical Hacker would also attempt to break into systems that do not necessarily have a known vulnerability, but are simply exposed. Ethical Hackers will then document their findings and evidence to report back to the organization or client.

　　Bug bounties can be used to strengthen an organization’s security posture. Security researchers can find out bugs to the system before the cybercriminal does. These programs are highly monetized and help reduce cybercrime and protect privacy. The rewards are paid on when the Ethical Hacker finds vulnerability and reports are submitted to the client.

　　The core difference between bug bounties projects and an independent Ethical Hacker is that bug bounties are open to all while Ethical Hackers are outsourced to one consulting firm.

　　Cyberattacks does not discriminate against the size of an organization, actually the size is quite irrelevant. Particular areas of interest include the end points on various mobile platforms, networks, and web applications. The idea is to prevent these cyberattacks occurring in the first place.

　　The Ethical Hacker needs to think and behave like a hacker. The Ethical Hacker has been given approval by the organization to hack their network and perform various penetration tests.

　　A research carried out by Accenture, Ninth Annual Cost of Cybercrime study, states that “The impact of these cyberattacks to organizations, industries and society is substantial. Alongside the growing number of security breaches, the total cost of cybercrime for each company increased from $11.7 million in 2017 to a new high of $13.0 million — a rise of 12 percent” and 68% of business leaders feel their cybersecurity risks are increasing.

　　Organizations will have cybersecurity controls in place to manage risk. However, there can be weaknesses in their security controls. End users are classed as easy targets by cybercriminals. There is a massive challenge in protecting all digital data, such as corporate login credentials and Personally Identifiable Information (PII). There have been several instances of these attacks. One occurrence was the highly destructive WannaCry Ransomware attack.

　　The emergence of WannaCry began in May 2017 in the Asian region and rapidly spread around the world. In 24 hours, more than 203,000 vulnerable computer systems were infected across 160 countries. Data files were encrypted and users were unable to access information. A typical denial of service attack. The cybercriminals demanded a ransom payment of up to $600 Bitcoin.

　　The systems affected were already vulnerable?— one cause of the vulnerabilities was that the systems were not updated with the latest Microsoft Operating System 2017’s security updates. Organizations affected, including Nissan and FedEx, were heavily affected as this resulted in loss of production and downtime.

　　Cybersecurity as the practice of protecting networks and computer systems from unauthorized digital attacks, in 2018 WannaCry cyberattack cost the NHS ￡92m as 19,000 of appointments were canceled. The devastating global cyberattack that crippled computers in hospitals across the UK. ￡72m in the subsequent cleanup and upgrades to its IT systems.

　　The approach, although not unique, was delivered via email. The recipients were fooled using social engineering methods to open attachments and releasing malware onto their system through a technique known as phishing. Once a computer has been affected, it locks up the files and encrypts them in a way that cannot be accessed by the data owners. The cybercriminal then demands payment in bitcoin in order to regain access to files and data.

　　Probably, if an Ethical Hacker was hired in this case to conduct Penetration Testing in vulnerable systems and operating systems, it would have identified, tested, and patched and this would have kept the network secure before the cyberattack. Customer data would have been protected, productivity would have been increased, and negative reputational damage avoided. The key thing for any organization to focus on, first off, are the threats and attention to critical and sensitive data which need protection.

　　1. Organization liability

　　Sharing the risk by hiring an Ethical Hacker or Ethical Hacking firm not only helps the organization’s posture, it also demonstrates commitment to security. It can limit liability if the threat of a cyberattack is realized. Of course, based on other published attacks, the effects usually include data leakage and the publication of PII, customer, and even employee data. There are national and international regulations and standards which an organization will need to adhere to, such as GDPR, HIPPA, and PCI DSS.

　　2. Reduced risks and costs in the long term

　　The cost of testing may depend on the size and the assets of an organization. As part of testing controls and physical assets such as firewalls and servers are usually costly to maintain. However, the total cost of ownership compared to investment in protecting and managing cyberattacks can be justified to the top management and the board. An ethical hacking firm or consultant can be hired in order for systems to be safeguarded. This is now a necessity as attacks no longer fall under “if” it will happen rather “when” they will happen.

　　3. Organization transition to Cloud

　　Outsourcing to the Cloud and virtualization are now the norm. There have been concerns with the security of data within the cloud and the management of security given to Cloud Service Providers. Ethical Hackers can assist in testing companies’ assets without compromising security.

　　“Cloud testing is a form of software testing in which web applications use cloud computing environments to simulate real-world user traffic.” Verification of security controls and security consulting firms already provide cloud-based testing services such as performance testing, load testing, and web-based application testing, as well as the testing of environments hosted in the cloud as WAF (web application firewall), encryption, and configuration to ensure in-depth defense within various levels are still operational.

　　Testing in the cloud can be quite complex. This complexity can be managed by Ethical Hackers as they possess special technical skills and are experienced in writing scripts and applying test cases.

Related questions

Governments hire ethical hackers to strengthen cybersecurity defenses, protect critical infrastructure, and combat cyber threats. The process typically involves a structured approach to ensure candidates meet legal, technical, and ethical standards. Below is an overview of how governments recruit ethical hackers:

1. Requirements for Ethical Hackers

• Technical Skills: Expertise in penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, network security, and tools like Metasploit, Nmap, or Wireshark.
• Certifications: Recognized credentials such as:
  • Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
  • Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP)
  • CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional)
• Education: Degrees in cybersecurity, computer science, or related fields (though experience may sometimes substitute).
• Security Clearance: Rigorous background checks to obtain clearance (e.g., Top Secret in the U.S.), ensuring trustworthiness for handling sensitive data.

2. Hiring Process

• Job Postings: Roles are advertised on government career portals (e.g., USAJOBS.gov), defense agency websites, or cybersecurity job boards.
• Public Competitions: Programs like Hack the Pentagon (U.S.) or Bug Bounty initiatives invite ethical hackers to identify vulnerabilities in government systems.
• Partnerships with Private Firms: Governments often contract cybersecurity firms (e.g., Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike) that employ ethical hackers for specialized projects.
• Military/Civilian Recruitment: Agencies like the NSA, GCHQ (UK), or Cyber Command recruit through military pathways or civilian cybersecurity programs.

3. Training Programs

• Government-Funded Initiatives:
  • Scholarships or apprenticeships (e.g., CyberCorps in the U.S.).
  • Military training pipelines (e.g., U.S. Cyber Command’s Joint Cyber Training Academy).
• Internal Upskilling: Existing IT staff may transition to cybersecurity roles through government-sponsored training.

4. Legal and Ethical Compliance

• Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs): Ethical hackers must sign agreements to protect classified information.
• Strict Protocols: Activities are bound by laws (e.g., Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in the U.S.) and frameworks like the NIST Cybersecurity Framework.
• Oversight: Work is monitored to ensure compliance with ethical guidelines and national/international laws (e.g., GDPR for EU-related operations).

5. Roles and Responsibilities

• Defensive Cybersecurity: Protecting government networks, elections, and critical infrastructure (e.g., power grids).
• Offensive Operations: Countering cyber threats from adversaries (often in military/intelligence roles).
• Incident Response: Mitigating breaches (e.g., ransomware attacks on public institutions).
• Research & Development: Developing tools for encryption, AI-driven threat detection, or quantum-resistant systems.

6. Global Examples

• U.S.:
  • Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) hires ethical hackers for federal defense.
  • Hack the Pentagon invites external researchers to find vulnerabilities.
• UK: National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recruits through competitions like CyberFirst.
• India: CERT-In (Computer Emergency Response Team) collaborates with ethical hackers for national security.

7. Challenges

• Bureaucracy: Slow hiring processes compared to the private sector.
• Pay Gap: Government salaries may lag behind corporate offers (e.g., tech giants or fintech firms).
• Public Perception: Balancing transparency with secrecy in national security roles.

Key Takeaway

Governments prioritize ethical hackers with technical expertise, clearances, and a commitment to public service. Recruitment combines traditional hiring, partnerships, and crowdsourced programs to address evolving cyber threats while adhering to legal and ethical boundaries.