What Is A White Hat Hacking?

A relatively new term coined in the field of computer security is “white hat” hacking. According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), white hat hacking “casts some doubt on the traditional methods of hacking”. White-hat hacking is used to find holes in a system before hackers start using it for their own purposes, usually to find a way into a computer that’s not supposed to have one. This stops the “bad guys” from preying on innocent people and instead allows them to enjoy a computer that’s supposed to be protected. It also stops other more dangerous attacks by the bad guys if the hackers can prove there were no ways to gain access to the system in the first place.

While this type of hacking may sound new to many people, it is actually a very old practice. hackers have been using various forms of hacking since the beginning of time. Black hat hacking, meanwhile, has been used to find weaknesses in computer systems that could be exploited for malicious purposes. The difference between these two types of hacking comes from how they are employed. Black hat tactics tend to be used by hackers to try to get past network security and gain access to a computer system; white hat tactics are used to find security holes in a computer program and try to make the computer more secure.

While this doesn’t mean that all white hats are ethical hackers, most of them tend to follow the same morals and ethics as ethical hackers. Many white hats will go beyond the scope of their software and may even use unethical methods, but most of them still follow industry standards, such as encrypting sensitive information and making sure their tools are kept confidential. While some may still consider using black hats for ethical hacking, most would agree that ethical hackers have given computers the ultimate advantage when it comes to keeping information safe from harm.