Ethical hacker training is a class or program that teaches people how to use advanced computer systems in ways that benefit rather than harm online targets. Hacking is the term for infiltrating a website’s or other electronic infrastructure’s security apparatus using technology. While many hackers aim to disrupt businesses, steal information, or harm a company or government in some way, ethical hackers work for businesses and other established parties to combat disruptive activities. In order to defend cyber environments, ethical hackers learn how unethical or illegal hackers gain access to cyber-locations and cause damage.
The competition between two types of hackers is one of the foundations for ethical hacker training. White hat and black hat hackers are terms used to describe these types of hackers. Black hat hackers are those who are attempting to harm a target or profit illegally from hacking activities. White hat hackers are those who work to protect targets on the internet. Some experts also mention a group of “grey hat” hackers who may be persuaded to join either side of a hacking effort in exchange for money or other benefits.
Individuals will learn about many of the same tools and resources that black hat hackers use in ethical hacker training. They’ll also learn about many of the black hat hacker’s methods and processes. An ethical hacker training course, for example, might cover access point or denial of service attacks. These classes may also cover the applications of specific technologies, such as Bluetooth, and how hackers exploit them to gain access to web targets.
Certified ethical hacker certification is a component of many ethical hacker training courses and programs. CEHv7 is the modern version of this certification. For technology professionals, this is a very popular certification. The International Council of E-commerce Consultants, abbreviated as EC Council, maintains the CEH standard. This New Mexico-based organization sets ethical hacking certification standards.
Ethical hacker training, in general, adds to the resources of individual businesses and governments by forming a community of professionals who can understand how illegal or black hat hackers operate. These experts then go to work for companies, assisting them in fending off attempts by hackers to breach their online systems. Ethical hackers may also learn to use other tools, such as firewalls, to keep rogue hackers at bay; these techniques may even be included in an ethical hacker training program.