Ethical Hacking Essay

Today, one of the most sought after individuals and/or companies are those who employ ethical hackers. Although the term “hacking” might seem vague and distrustful for most individuals because of how hackers are portrayed in mass media such as unlawful and people who are hunted by the government. Nevertheless, there are plenty of times when hacking is useful and productive.

In some cases, hacking can be used to fix systems and software, and more importantly to prevent future probabilities of these systems being hacked themselves. This useful application of hacking is called ethical hacking. Ethical hacking simply means attempting to hack one’s system, network, or software in order to identify the threats to it and mitigate it in the future. In other words, ethical hackers are the “preventers” for hackers such as black hats, who are generally regarded as cyber criminals for trying to infiltrate security systems simply for their own gain. Another term for these ethical hackers are “white hats” and most industries today, ranging from digital companies, security providers, and especially banks have hired them.

Because of the demand for these ethical hackers more and more people today are engaging and trying to learn to hack, both inside and outside educational systems. For one, this is important since it is believed that the technologies today and the abilities of the companies which create them, are just in their inception and thus more and more companies would need the help of these ethical hackers in the future. In other words, an increase in the jobs available even in the comforts of their own homes and just as any online jobs, could mean the decongestion of our cities.

However, not all people are thrilled with the continuous increase of white hats in the society. For them, since white hats are just humans and are equipped with the knowledge that black hats have, then more black hats could also come from this population. Adding to the fact that these white hats are usually allowed more freedom with the use of such technologies, these increases the worrying of these people.
Following from the statements above, it is apparent that the number of white hats is continuously increasing. Therefore, in response to this situation and the potential risks that it carries in the future, I believe that it is necessary that more rules and regulations must be established in order to prevent any thing detrimental that might happen not only for these technologies but also for the people who use them. One of the most prominent tech savvy and entrepreneur in the world, Elon Musk, has already warned us about the dangers of AI.

He said in an interview that “the machines will win”. In line with this, I believe that hacking (both ethical and unethical) is one of the things that would determine the fate of the world as AI technology continues to grow. For one, black hats might start the use of “destructive AIs” which could pose potential dangers for the existence of human life in this planet. On the other hand, White hats could then serve as the saviors if and when such a time comes. Countering the decisions that AIs could make regarding how the world should run, especially when taking the human factor is a part of its equation.

In conclusion, what this means is that hacking could be productive and essential for the advancement of technology in the world especially in this ever growing environment. However, as this trade grows, additional rules and regulations must be placed in order to keep hacking more helpful than destructive.