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Hacking - The Truth

Hacking. A word often misinterpreted and stereotyped. The original meaning and definition of hacking is to modify the source code of a program to make perform functions its not intended to. The popular usage, though, refers to the illegal access of a computer or something similar.

Hacking is not necessarily illegal. The illegal part of it is called Cyber-crime and the legal part is called Cyber-security or Ethical Hacking. Cyber-crime is related to malicious attacks, digital fraud, illegal access, etc while Cyber-security/Ethical Hacking is utilised to break into or penetrate your own software and test if it is secure. Cyber-security has a bright future ahead because of the increasing shift of focus from actual crimes to digital crimes. Cyber-crimes have also increased during the current Covid-19 situation. Examples include the recent Air India Data Breach leaking 4.5 million passengers’ personal data and Domino’s Pizza Data Breach leaking personal data including mobile numbers, address and credit card details of 18 crore orders.

So is hacking something that should exist? If you use it for malicious purposes, you would have a high chance to land in prison, but with ethical purposes, you can actually make your digital world a strong fortress against people with malicious intent.

Hackers are divided into 3 categories - White Hat, Grey Hat and Black Hat. White Hats are hired by companies to test their software. Grey Hats on the other hand are individuals who hack for pleasure and alert the companies about the vulnerabilities later. Black Hats are the typical illegal ones.

The media loves to portray (any) hackers as hooded individuals with their face veiled in the darkness or with a Guy Fawkes mask and a background of 0s and 1s, but this is false. Even our next door neighbour could be a hacker!