Blog
The Good, the Bad, and the Hacked
By Zach Young | October 13, 2015
Queue the sunset, the cheesy music, and the... laptop? 
So what is ethical hacking? It sounds like an oxymoron, how can hacking anything be ethical? As with most things in our wonderful world, they can be used for good or for bad. It all depends on how they're applied. Just like an old Clint Eastwood western, the good guys wear white hats and the bad guys wear black hats. Things aren't much different in the modern age of hacking, though we've likely traded in the 10 gallon Stetson for something a little more sporty. My apologies to any 10 gallon cowboy hat lovers out there.
Ethical hackers, or "White Hats", use their knowledge for the good of the program or company; testing vulnerabilities and possible weaknesses, as well as suggesting ways to proactively correct them. Non-ethical hackers, or "Black Hats", can use the same skill set for personal gain, bringing down a competitor, or just causing general vandalism electronically. We've all heard about millions of consumers having their personal data stolen when a large corporation is hacked, and this can be extremely costly for both the company and for the consumer.
Protecting that sensitive information is paramount, and many corporations are turning to ethical hackers to combat the onslaught of potential attacks. Let's face it, the more secure your system is, the more likely a customer is willing to do business with you. Enter our brand new Certified Ethical Hacking course coming in late October! IT expert and Systems Architect Rafiq Wayani was in our studio just 2 weeks ago to film this course. Rafiq also hosted a live webinar during his visit, and archival footage of that event can be viewed on our webinars page. www.learnnowonline.com/webinars
Check out our webinars, and our various security training courses, to ensure that your defenses are up to par with today's Black Hats. Giddy up!
Zach Young
Zach Young manages the LearnNowOnline customer support department. In addition to making strange but surprisingly delicious smoothies, Zach divides his time between the LearnNowOnline recording studio, providing sales demos for new and existing clients, and ensuring that each customer is taken care of. In his spare time, Zach enjoys globetrotting with his wife, playing and recording music, and attempting to get the required 1.21 gigawatts for Doc Brown’s DeLorean.