Page 107 - Cyber Safety C-8

ETHICAL HACKING

Hacking is often seen as a crime, so how can it be ethical?

Imagine a company with a secure bank vault. Before a real
thief tries to break in, the company hires a professional to
test the vault’s security. This expert uses the same tools and
techniques as a criminal, but with permission and for a good
purpose—to identify weak spots so the company can fix them.

An ethical hacker is the same. They are trained cybersecurity
professionals who try to hack into a system with the owner’s
permission. Their job is to find security weaknesses and tell
the company how to fix them so that real, malicious hackers
(black hat hackers) cannot break in. Ethical hackers follow a strict code of ethics:

They always get permission before they start.

They don't cause any damage.
They keep all the information they find a secret.

They tell the company exactly how to fix the problems.

Companies, banks, and even the Indian government hire ethical hackers. Ethical hacking is a
respected and important profession that helps make the Internet a safer place for all of us. White
hat hackers earned over `157.7 crore in 2018! Students interested in coding and cybersecurity can
explore this as a future career option.

The first recorded instance of hacking dates back to the 1960s! A group of students at MIT used a
computer to gain unauthorised access to a telephone network and made free long-distance calls.
This early form of hacking highlights how technology has evolved over the years and emphasises
the importance of cybersecurity today.

CONFIRMATION BIAS

Confirmation bias is a mental shortcut that affects the way

you think. It happens when you only look for information that
supports what you already believe and ignore information
that challenges our views. This can cause problems in many
areas, especially when it comes to the rules about computers
and the Internet, also known as cyber law.

In the digital world, confirmation bias can influence how you
understand and apply cyber law. For example, it can affect

Cyber Law Awareness 105