Whisper The News

In today’s world, Cybersecurity has emerged as a critical concern for individuals as well as for organizations worldwide. The rapid evolution of cyber threats poses significant challenges to the security of sensitive information and critical infrastructure. No organization, big or small, can survive without a security system in place due to the increase hackers, malicious acts, and individuals/groups trying to steal data or do harm to others. We call these individuals Hackers.

In the 1950s, the term ”Hacker” was invented in the United States. It was given to a Rail-road Club because they were admired for their ability to creatively solve technical challenges and push the boundaries of what possible with Technology. A shift of perception towards that term was taken, because in the 1980s and 1990s, as computer networks grew and hacking incidents became more known and relevant, media companies often portrayed hackers negatively as criminals or malicious actors. When the high-profile incidents, such as the Morris Worm that was committed in 1988, the media popularized the negative stereotype of hackers.

Nowadays, Governments in most of the countries defined hacking as an unauthorized access to computer systems, reinforcing the association of hackers with criminal activities. Therefore, the legal framework shaped the public perception of hacking as a threat to Cybersecurity.
In the hacking domain, we define 3 Hat Hackers: Black Hat Hackers, White Hat Hackers and Gray Hat Hacker. Here is the explanation of these terms:

• Black Hat Hackers, known as unethical hackers (bad hackers), are individuals that mean harm to others. They exploit security vulnerabilities and weaknesses for personal gain or advantage, malicious intent, and/or to cause harm. Some of their activities include: stealing sensitive data, spreading malware or virus, or disrupting systems for financial gain (ransomware) or for any other selfish reason.
• White Hat Hackers, known as ethical hackers (good hackers), are individuals who use their skill-sets to identify vulnerabilities in computer systems and networks. Their golden goal is to improve security and encryption by fixing weaknesses before malicious hackers exploit them.
• Gray Hat Hackers operate in the gray area. They take the middle ground between White Hat Hackers and Black Hat Hackers. They perform unethical activities but without malicious intents. They usually perform Black Hat Hackers’ activities on organizations without harming anyone or anything, but offer the solution to the Management of that organization for a big amount of money.

White Hat Hackers are usually divided into 3 teams: Red Team, Blue Team, and White/Purple Team.

• The Red Team, conducts pentesting and threat hunting attacks to test an organization’s security effectiveness. They play the role of a Black Hat Hackers mimicking the real-world threats to identify vulnerabilities and report them to the White/Purple Team.
• The Blue Team defends organizations from attacks and simulates incident response processes. They focus on detecting and responding to threats and improving the organization’s security posture.
• The White/Purple Team is a team of facilitator that facilitates the communication between Red Teams and Blue Teams. They may blend the roles of the 2 other teams and conduct joint exercises and provide collaborative approach to testing and improving security.