Prevent Cyber Security Incidents by Utilizing Ethical Hacking

Serious cyber security incidents continue to grow in diversity and number. Successful cyber criminals have evolved from using brute force attacks to manipulating people psychologically. Social engineering and phishing attacks are often just as successful and sophisticated as more technically challenging cyber attacks.

Preventing compromises in cyber security defenses remains a huge challenge for both organizations and businesses. A skills shortage in cyber security is one of the biggest issues that the industry faces. This article describes a potential solution to the cyber security skills shortage in the form of ethical hacking.

Turning to Managed Security Services Companies

Many businesses overlook dedicated Managed Security Services Companies, like Barricade, as a possible solution to the cyber security skills shortage. When conjuring up an image of a hacker, it is a mistake to assume the stereotype of a disgruntled teenager trying to gain access to classified government information.

There are many amateur hacking communities in which the users share information about the technical challenges of different types of hacking techniques. These individuals are ethical hackers who are passionate about cyber security. Its these individuals that we at Barricade employ to expand our ethical hacking abilities for your clients.

What Is Ethical Hacking?

An ethical hacker is someone who is adept at finding vulnerabilities in computer systems, however, the hacker doesn’t exploit those vulnerabilities for nefarious purposes. Ethical hackers are more concerned with the technical skills involved in finding cyber security flaws than exploiting those flaws for a profit. Such communities often agree that it would be for the best if the flaws they found were publicly revealed because sensitive data is often at risk.

Addressing the cyber security skills gap through existing methods alone is clearly not working. Industry surveys repeatedly report that the cyber security skills gap continues to widen. Depending on the source, some surveys have found over 50 percent of companies suffer from a lack of expertise at preventing, mitigating, and responding to the range of attacks that threaten them in the current technology landscape. Managed Security Services Companies like Barricade aim to address this skills gap by providing customized cyber security solutions and ethical hacking services to industries that are vulnerable to attack.

Employing Hackers

Some amateur hackers make a living by being paid to disclose vulnerabilities they unearth in IT systems to large corporations. However, the majority of ethical hackers remain self-taught and unpaid. We provide our ethical hacking team with industry leading training and tools to perform their jobs to the fullest extent.

Thought-leaders in cyber security agree that formal education programs will not suffice to reduce the skills shortage. Most undergraduate computer science degrees do not offer enough modules in cyber security.

With the cyber security skills shortage going nowhere, companies and organizations will be exposed to greater risks from data breaches. Closing the skills gap requires thinking outside the box and looking towards Managed Security Services Companies who already have the knowledge and skills needed for these roles.

Closing Thoughts

Ethical hackers are an untapped pool of talent just waiting to help address the skills shortage in cyber security. Protecting sensitive systems and data is a priority for most businesses, which means hackers can command a decent salary as cyber security experts. If key stakeholders look towards employing ethical hacking teams at Barricade, it’s likely that serious data breaches and other incidents will decline.