I AM A HACKER! – Alpha Cyber Security
Hello.
My name is Davin Jackson and I am a hacker. The official title is Penetration Tester. Clients pay me to run security assessments against their networks. However, when I am in public or speak to people and they ask what I do, I tell them I work in Cyber Security.
If I go to career day at my kids’ schools, I will say the same. Only when I am around people who work in this field is when I reveal my true occupation.
Mục Lục
Why?
When I say “I am a hacker”, people either ask about the legality of my job, or if I have insight on popular issues. For example, I hate when people ask whether or not Russia hacked the Presidential elections. Or, when I get dirty looks and awkward silence. Also, let’s not forget my favorite request! People asking if I can hack into someone else’s Facebook or social media account.
(That was sarcasm. I don’t like that question!)
“Hey, can you hack into my…..never mind.”
I remember when I got my Certified Ethical Hacker certification and shortly after, my first Penetration Tester job. I went to a family gathering and telling my family and friends what my job title was. At first, people snickered (perverts!). Next, I was constantly asked if what I was doing was legal and if I could be arrested.
My sister-in-law and my wife’s aunt would ask me how a hacker can be “ethical”. “That’s an oxymoron, hacking is illegal”. “Hackers are criminals, why would you associate yourself with criminals”. After some lengthy explanations and a lot of googling, I was able to silence most of the concerns…most of them.
“Crooks”, “criminals”, “thieves”, “spies”, “Mr. Robot”, “Anonymous”, Russia, Edward Snowden/traitor/whistle blower, Wikileaks, Sony/North Korea were all things I hear related to the word “hacker”. Not once did I hear “legitimate profession”. The reason for this is the public’s perception of hackers. When most people hear “hacker” the first thing that comes to mind is what I mentioned earlier and the picture they have in their head is one of the following:
But what they don’t know or fail to see is that there are several “good” hackers out there. We don’t steal users’ credentials or personal information for malicious purposes, we aren’t taking down companies and websites, we aren’t on the dark web doing what people do on the dark web and we are not always in a dark room with a mask and hoodie on. Besides, it’s hard to see the whole screen with those masks on (just kidding). There are hackers who are researchers and make sure your devices are safe at home. Hackers are responsible for the added security at your bank or website and even in your car. In fact, there are several types of hackers out there and they are different from one another. We will focus on a few of them here.
1. White Hat Hacker
This is me. These are the “good guys”, also known as ethical hackers. These kinds of hackers are hired by companies and government organizations to test their networks and applications for any vulnerabilities that can be exploited. Their job is to find the holes in the security so the bad guys can’t. White Hat hackers work within the rules and scopes agreed upon and never reveal the results of their assessments to unauthorized parties.
2. Black Hat Hacker
Remember those pictures and the thoughts you had in your head? That is who you were thinking of. Black Hats don’t follow any rules, or scopes, or laws. Their goal is to hack into a network, exploit or damage what they can and get whatever they can for personal gain. Personal information sells for decent money on the dark web. Another popular (and lucrative) attack for Black Hat hackers is a ransomware attack where the hacker encrypts all your data on your computer and charges you a ransom to decrypt it.
Believe it or not, several companies, financial institutions and medical facilities like hospitals have paid and will pay the ransoms to avoid having to disclose to the public that they were hacked (and possibly pay the fines and settlements that come after).
3. Gray Hat Hacker
Gray Hat hackers are basically somewhere in between a White Hat and a Black Hat hacker. Some people identify Gray Hat hackers as White Hats who may use Black Hat tactics, others identify them as a sort of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, good guy by day, bad guy by night kind of hacker. They may hack a website and report it to the owner but did not have permission to do so. Or, they can take that information and “leak” it to the public. There is a really fine line in the world of Gray Hats where the wind can blow them in either direction.
4. Nation State Hacker/Advanced Persistent Threat Actors
These hackers are sponsored by their nation’s government to infiltrate and hack other nation states using advanced tools and techniques and absolutely no rules. The goal is to gain access or get whatever classified information they can of other governments and officials. Russia, Ukraine China, North Korea, Israel, Iran are homes to some of the top nation-state hacking groups.
5. Hacktivists
Hacktivists are groups of hackers who use hacking as a means to bring about social changes and awareness. These groups often clash with governments and other groups who they perceive to have wronged people or animals and other causes. Attacks range from taking down a website with a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, doxing, exposing terrorist or criminal websites and social media accounts or reporting information on people who committed crimes like rape.
Although hacktivists purposes are usually good in nature. They are still considered criminals since their attacks are done without authorization. Therefore, it is illegal. However, hacktivists aren’t only using cyber-attacks to get their message out. They also coordinate protests and marches.
There are several other types of hackers, but these five are probably the most common types of hackers you will see or hear about. So, the next time you meet someone, and they tell you that they are a hacker. Don’t panic if we aren’t wearing a mask and a hoodie. And before you jump to conclusions, ask them what kind. It is impressive to us that you actually know the difference. However, if they are the bad kind, they probably won’t tell you. And no matter what kind of hacker you come across, please DO NOT ASK THEM ABOUT HACKING SOCIAL MEDIA!
Go ahead and ask……I DARE YOU!
To get started on your career in hacking or in cyber security check out this article or take a look on my recommendations page.
You can also read about how to install, setup and secure your Kali Linux machine. I even did a video which you can see here.
I also listed ten of the most common tools you will use in hacking and penetration testing. Read about it here.
Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with the site owner and Mailchimp to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from the site owner. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.
Processing…
Success! You’re on the list.
Whoops! There was an error and we couldn’t process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again.
