The power of hackers, two sides of the same coin

Also known as “computer pirates,” hackers have until recently been considered computer experts with illegal aims and the intention of taking control of systems, stealing company data, hindering government work, or blackmailing them...

Hackers, experts in cybersecurity

However, little by little the role of hackers has begun to be valued, since, just as they can use their experience to do harm, they can be hired by companies and institutions to protect their users, alert them to faults, and defend cybersecurity on the network.

Ethical hacking is a practice based exactly on carrying out attacks that outside hackers might make to test the strength of a company’s security system.

Hackers who report system faults

Often they themselves are the ones who have discovered security gaps in company systems and have reported the fault so it can be fixed.

That was the case of Jaime Andrés Restrepo, chief executive officer of Drangonjar, a company focused on computer security and digital forensic analysis.

On his blog, Restrepo tells how he found a crack in the computer system of a car company that allowed access to the data of all the owners of the brand’s cars from a personalized “newsletter” they sent to email addresses.

After several inquiries and having contacted the company to inform them of their security fault, Restrepo encouraged in a talk at one of the hackers congresses to report those security faults they find throughout the network.

“Report it, because if we who have some knowledge don’t do it, who will?” wondered Restrepo during his speech at the congress.

In other cases, as several computer experts explained at Mundo Hacker Day 2018—the most important event in the sector in Spain—other cracks had recently been discovered in the computer networks of gyms, for example, which allowed access to the personal data of all registered users.

There are hackers who have also decided to take an active role on the networks and help spread awareness about the importance of cybersecurity, such as Chema Alonso, who is CDO (Chief Data Officer) of Telefónica, worker at ElevenPaths, and writer of a blog on the subject.

The value of information and the role of hackers

Currently, databases are very valuable information for companies and with the massive spread of open Wifi networks and devices connected based on the Internet of Things (IoT), among other things, the possibility of accessing that personal information is higher.

In fact, society is increasingly aware of the need to defend its privacy on the web in the face of the development of the digital economy, and that is why personal and business cybersecurity becomes more important every day.

There are cases like last year’s WannaCry attack that have made society open its eyes and realize the importance of having protected networks and securing their companies against malicious attacks by hackers, who can also be computer criminals.