Hackers are well known as the bad guys. They steal individuals’ private data, identity and money, and can disrupt or even destroy companies’ entire operations and infrastructure.
Recent successful cyber attacks by hackers include Colonial Pipeline in the USA, and unbelievably during the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHS.
However, hackers aren’t necessarily always the bad guys. White hat, or ethical hackers, work with organisations to identify and fix flaws and IT security issues, in order to protect them from cyber attacks. Companies hire these guys to stress test their infrastructure and fix any vulnerabilities before black or grey hat hackers find and exploit them, as Tesla did recently.
Ethical hacking is big business, with white hat hackers reported to have made £28m in 2020 working as ‘bounty hunters’; getting paid to find and report bugs through specialist platforms.
Whilst the idea of using a white hat hacker may be appealing for businesses, there are some inherent risks that come alongside the benefits, for example, allowing individuals to explore your systems and infrastructure who are not employed directly by your business. While white hat hackers can make significant amounts of money from bug bounty hunting, rewards are often much more modest.
Partnering with an experienced cyber security like IT Backbone is the safest, most reliable and comprehensive solution to go ahead with. Because every client is different, we always ensure that each gets a bespoke solution that is exactly right for them, not just standalone patching and bug testing.
Contact us today to discover how we can help secure your IT.
