Is Ethical Hacking good?

[Meet8939]

Hey. I was trying to learn ethical hacking from youtube recently, but whenever someone knows I am learning to hack they freak out and just start telling me why it's not good and why shouldn't I learn it. I am really interested in computers, how it works and what else I can do with it. I am really interested in it but they just tell me not to do it. They just say it is dangerous but in my response I am not trying to hack some organization or anyone else I am just learning it as an interest that I have. 

So it bad or harmful to learn this, I am confused. can it do any harm to me or my family if I do so? 

I am learning it through Kali Linux interface and I had listened from a lot of people that it is more secure than any other out there including Windows OS so what should i do?

[Bsmith]

people usually don't see the difference between white hat, grey hat and black hat hackers, you are learning to be a white hat currently(someone that hacks with permission and to gain money) which basically is digital security.

[Guest]

Don't expect your grandmother to know the difference between white and black hats. They just have heard from the news that hacking is a scary and bad word, and that is what they go off on. You could say that instead of learning hacking, you are learning to be a cyber security specialist.

[Oshino Shinobu]

Don't refer to it as hacking. The industry doesn't use that term either, it will be something like system security analyst. It's basically the same thing, but doesn't have the misunderstanding or stigma that "hacker" does. 

 

If you'er interested in testing system security as a profession, you'll want to learn about system security, encryption and low level operating system design to get a proper understand of how it works and where the vulnerabilities lie. If you try to jump into learning to "hack", you'll find you're just copying commands that someone else has come up with and you won't understand how or why something can be exploited and how it can be fixed. 

 

EDIT: As for whether ehtical hacking/white hat hacking is good. It's an essential part of the development process for pretty much all computer systems. If there's no security testing on say, a new banking platform, then potential security exploits which could result in unauthorised access to accounts could be in the released product. 

 

EDIT2: As for whether it can do any harm. That really depends on what you're using it for. The difference between black and white hat isn't the methods, it's how it's used. A white hat hacker's job is to basically act as a black hat hacker, but under a controlled, legal and pre-agreed environment for an employer. 

 

Grey hat hackers are generally black hat hackers, typically with a moral message or otherwise trying to do something they consider good. In the eyes of the law, they'll generally be considered black hats though. 

[redbullvodka]

Just to clarify, are we talking about professional security, or grey hat hacking?

 

If we're talking grey hat, then I'd gladly share my opinion about it

[Christophe Corazza]

I wouldn’t call it ‘ethical hacking’. That’s a more popularised term used by the mainstream that are not really familiar with the principles of ‘hacking’.

They want to bundle all “hacking” together although there are obvious differences.

[Ithanul]

5 hours ago, Meet8939 said:

Hey. I was trying to learn ethical hacking from youtube recently, but whenever someone knows I am learning to hack they freak out and just start telling me why it's not good and why shouldn't I learn it. I am really interested in computers, how it works and what else I can do with it. I am really interested in it but they just tell me not to do it. They just say it is dangerous but in my response I am not trying to hack some organization or anyone else I am just learning it as an interest that I have. 

So it bad or harmful to learn this, I am confused. can it do any harm to me or my family if I do so? 

I am learning it through Kali Linux interface and I had listened from a lot of people that it is more secure than any other out there including Windows OS so what should i do?

Sounds like you need find some classes that fall under security analyst/pen-tester.

 

Like Oshino stated, if you don't understand the fundamentals, you basically are just copy/pasting code without knowing what you are really doing.  Plus, to get in that career field (security analyst), you need to really know the ends and out of securing a system and breaking into it (like no joke, I know quite a few in my Guard unit going for that career field and the study material is nuts).

[EPENEX]

What you're referring to sounds more like cyber security. It's a good thing to learn so you know how to protect yourself.

 

[Gofer01]

12 hours ago, Meet8939 said:

Hey. I was trying to learn ethical hacking from youtube recently, but whenever someone knows I am learning to hack they freak out and just start telling me why it's not good and why shouldn't I learn it. I am really interested in computers, how it works and what else I can do with it. I am really interested in it but they just tell me not to do it. They just say it is dangerous but in my response I am not trying to hack some organization or anyone else I am just learning it as an interest that I have. 

So it bad or harmful to learn this, I am confused. can it do any harm to me or my family if I do so? 

I am learning it through Kali Linux interface and I had listened from a lot of people that it is more secure than any other out there including Windows OS so what should i do?

Hacking period is not good. 

[2FA]

9 minutes ago, Gofer01 said:

Hacking period is not good. 

Where's my downvote button?

 

Hacking as defined is hijacked by a negative connotation. Other terms are used instead by professionals in the field to avoid that connotation but it's the same thing.

 

[Christophe Corazza]

18 minutes ago, Gofer01 said:

Hacking period is not good. 

 

What is your definition of "hacking"?

 

2 minutes ago, 2FA said:

Where's my downvote button?

 

[RollTime]

15 minutes ago, Gofer01 said:

Hacking period is not good. 

If you think that clearly you're new to the world of tech. While the word does have a negative connotation in popular culture, ethical hacking is not only good, it's necessary to prevent security breaches. The only way to find flaws is to exploit them. Hacking is a two-faced coin- the bad kind that as in attempting nefarious deeds, and the good kind as in trying to stop the bad kind.

 

I sometimes think this forum needs a downvote button...

[descendency]

 

This is why people get paid to be 'hackers'. What he did happens second by second and literally cost nothing. 100% guarantee you that he could have made $$$$$$ doing that. 

 

So, while people worry about you using Metasploit inside of something like Kali Linux or BlackArch... the real bad guys will keep stealing. The point of all of that is to educate people on how easy it is to do and how much damage can be done. Most hackers aren't out to steal credit cards or read your email. In fact, most want to prevent that. Some do it professionally for their company (White hat), some do it for a 3rd party to prevent really bad ones from finding something first (Grey hat), and some are just criminal assholes (black hat). 

 

Regardless, they all do the same thing and use the same processes. In the end, someone has to do it - or we'd all be getting wrecked by criminals. 

[LividPanda]

Ignore them. I work in the infosec field as a penetration tester, which is what the job is called and is being incorrectly identified as a security analyst. Generally a security analyst and a penetration tester will have wildly different responsibilities. You should stick with it (hacking) because it is in super high demand and pays very well, it is also incredibly challenging and interesting. The quickest way into the penetration testing field is by getting a certification called the Offensive Security Certified Professional. It is technically an introductory level certification but penetration testing is not a introductory level field. The OSCP is a grueling 24 hour long hands-on only exam. It is best to start out as a system administrator or help desk, move to a Jr Security Analyst position, then a Security Engineer position, and then finally Penetration Tester. A good place to get some experience for free is https://www.hackthebox.eu/ which has a network you VPN into with machines to hack very similar to the OSCP.

[Gofer01]

Lol I went to that course website and looked at and then filled out that form. Basic security 101. It asked for my middle name and wouldn't proceed until I gave it. So I didn't fill out the form

[Canada EH]

There is no such thing as Ethical Hacking, its a oxy moron.