Reasons : Ethical Hacking Is the Only Effective Way to Test

The Bad Guys Think Bad Thoughts, Use

Good Tools, and Develop New Methods

If you’re going to keep up with external attackers and malicious insiders,

you have to stay current on the latest attack methods and tools that they’re

using. 

IT Governance and Compliance Are More

Than High-Level Checklist Audits

With all the government laws and industry regulations in place, your business

likely doesn’t have a choice in the security matter. The problem is that being

compliant with these laws and regulations doesn’t automatically mean you’re

secure. PCI DSS comes to mind. You have to take off the check-list audit

blinders. Using ethical hacking tools and techniques enables you to dig

deeper into your business’s true vulnerabilities.

Ethical Hacking Complements Audits

and Security Evaluations

No doubt, someone in your organization understands higher-level security

audits better than this ethical hacking stuff. However, if you can sell that

person on ethical hacking and integrate it into existing security initiatives

(such as internal audits and compliance spot checks), the auditing process

can go much deeper and improve your outcomes. Everyone wins.

Clients and Partners Will Ask, “How

Secure Are Your Systems?”

Many businesses now require in-depth security assessments of their business

partners. The same goes for certain clients. The bigger companies might

want to know how secure their information is on your network. The only way

to definitively know where things stand is to use the methods and tools .

The Law of Averages Works

against Businesses

Information systems are becoming more complex by the day. Literally. It’s

just a matter of time before these complexities work against you and in the

bad guys’ favor. A criminal hacker needs to find only one flaw to be successful

in his efforts. Security professionals have to find them all. If you’re going to

stay informed and ensure that your critical business systems and the sensitive

information they process and store stay secure, you have to look at

things with a malicious mindset .

Ethical Hacking Improves Understanding

of Business Threats

You can say passwords are weak or patches are missing, but actually

exploiting such flaws and showing the outcome are quite different matters.

There’s no better way to prove there’s a problem and motivate management

to do something about it than by showing the outcomes of ethical hacking.

If a Breach Occurs, You Have

Something to Fall Back On

In the event a malicious insider or external attacker still breaches your

security, your business is sued, or your business falls out of compliance with

laws or regulations, the management team can at least demonstrate that it

was performing due diligence to uncover security risks on a periodic and

consistent basis. A related area that can be problematic is knowing about a

problem and not fixing it. The last thing you need is a lawyer and his expert

witness pointing out how your business was lax in the area of information

security testing or follow-through.

Ethical Hacking Brings Out

the Worst in Your Systems

Someone walking around with a checklist can find security “best practices”

you’re missing, but he isn’t going to find most of the in-depth security flaws

that ethical hacking is going to uncover. You know, the ones that can get you 

into the worst trouble. Ethical hacking brings out the warts and all.

Ethical Hacking Combines the Best

of Penetration Testing and

Vulnerability Assessments

Penetration testing is rarely enough to find everything in your systems

because the scope of traditional penetration testing is simply too limited. The

same goes for vulnerability assessments that mostly involve security scans.

Ethical hacking combines the best of both and gets you the most bang for your luck.

Ethical Hacking Can Uncover

Weaknesses That Might Go

Overlooked for Years

        Ethical hacking not only uncovers technical, physical, and human weakness

but it can also reveal problems with IT and security operations, such as

        patch management, change management, and lack of awareness, which may

not be found otherwise.

IP THEFT RAMIFICATIONS

While not all IP has clearly definable value, a significant proportion of the value of many
companies today rests in their IP. As such, IP theft can have a detrimental impact on a
company’s success. As the digital age blossomed, companies began turning their attention
to the value of their IP and in protecting that IP. At the same time, related IP theft and the
accompanying investigations and litigation also increased proportionately.

  In many ways, the theft of customer data, technology, or other proprietary information may be
difficult to measure because it may not have an immediate or direct impact on a company.
Unlike the theft of cash or other physical assets, IP theft, as well as the results of IP theft,
can be more difficult to see. Eventually, however, the loss of customers, the company’s
competitive position, and loss of profits can be unmistakable signs of stolen IP.

   IP is typically a source, and sometimes the key, to a company’s competitive advantage
in the marketplace, and its ultimate success. Stolen IP can be used by a company’s
competitors to equalize the playing field or gain unfair advantage, or by former employees
interested in establishing a foothold in the market through competing interests. The
impact to the IP owner can be negligible, but it can be worth hundreds of millions to
billions of dollars.                                                        

                                                                                                              BY   Aaron Philipp