By Nidhi Khurana:
“Nothing in the world–indeed nothing even beyond the world–can possibly be conceived which could be called good without qualification except a good will.” When Emmanuel Kant laid down the foundations of deontological ethics, he might not have thought of something like ethical hacking. Ethical hacking refers to a group of people hired to hack into a specific industry’s network: the idea being that these so-called ‘ethical hackers’ will be able to expose certain weakness in networks before other hackers with malicious intentions hack into their networks. So, it can be argued that ethical hacking is not unethical because it is guided by good will and it is only this goodwill to save the highly valued information from malicious hackers, which makes it ethical.
The phrase Ethical Hacking seems like an oxymoron too, as it is natural for us to think of possibly the worst things when we hear a word like ‘hacking’. Whatever be the intentions, it remains that in today’s times, our information based economy needs new professionals like ethical hackers. Having someone perform ethical hacking has proved to be a million dollar saving boon for various companies. If your organization needs to upload sensitive information on an online database, hiring an ethical hacking team to check your security settings is a must to save yourself from any kind of assaults. That way, you will not only be able to protect your interests, but your clients’ as well. Indian corporations too are recognizing the need to protect information and data and are hiring professional hackers to save the sensitive data on websites.
Indeed, Ankit Fadia is someone we can really boast of when it comes to ethical hacking in India. This guy came into the limelight when he was just 14 years of age; he released his book ‘The Unofficial Guide to Ethical Hacking’. Today, he is one of the most celebrated figures in the IT industry and has demonstrated his ethical hacking skills time and again. Not just the IT sector, but government and the police also salute this cyber guru for his commendable services provided to the Intelligence Agencies.
There are so many other ethical hackers who are acting as the guardians of the information over internet. Crash courses in ethical hacking are also mushrooming in almost all parts of the country. So, the next time when your Facebook or Yahoo account gets hacked, think of someone in your circle who is pursuing this summer course. (Caution: It might be your ex, or your foe in disguise)
While it remains that hacking is punishable under Section 66 of the IT Act, 2000, and there is no such thing like ethical hacking covered under the law, yet the class of new professionals is booming day by day. What such an issue does is that it merely aggravates the age old debate: Do the means justify the ends or do the ends justify the means? And the answer is both, all you have to decide is which serves your interest better.