In an era, where online security is getting compromised every day, it’s very important for companies to make a separate cell of cybersecurity professionals for privacy and security assurance. The need for cyber security enthusiasts and ethical hackers are growing every day. The first step to stop hackers and other cybercriminals are you need to think like them. Ethical hackers also follow the same procedure and try to break the company network for good. They access personal data just to validate its security and ensure it’s locked behind many layers of security. Ethical hacking is a fairly new career and a very important part of cybersecurity. It’s future-proof and can give you a great career progression. Today, I will share some very important reasons for people who have an interest in hacking why they should go for white hat and become an ethical hacker. Read: What skills are required to become an Ethical Hacker?
Reasons To Become An Ethical Hacker
1. Enormous Opportunities
The world is becoming digital and opening new ways for businesses to not only reach more audience but now they can also target a specific audience. With the strengthening of data protection laws like GDPR, PECR, and various others, consumers now expect companies to protect their data. Not only consumers but businesses now also understand the risks and want to ensure their defences can keep cyber criminals out. This means you will have enormous opportunities regardless of your industry and as the competition is also normal, the chances of landing on a perfect job are more.
2. Ever-Changing Industry
If you do the same thing for years, you probably get bored. But that’s not going to happen if you are an ethical hacker. The cyberspace is expanding at a very fast pace, covering new threats for new technologies. People might be thinking they are using cutting-edge technology like the Internet of Things and cloud computing, that are above the various security risks. But in fact, they also have their own set of unique security issues. Overall, as cyber-criminals come with a new strategy each time, you will also have to constantly improve and try new ways to break through a business’s protections and enhance its security.
3. Social Side of the Job
Penetration testing, finding the vulnerability and post exploitation are not the only responsibilities of an ethical hacker. A well recognized white hat hacker also possesses the skills of social engineering. You should know how to manipulate employees to give their personal data or help you access files through backdoors. You can send convincing phishing emails or go for tailgating. If you don’t know, tailgating is a kind of cyber attack to gain access into a secured restricted area by simply walking behind someone who has legitimate access. Also Read: Top 10 Kali Linux Tools for Ethical Hackers and Penetration Tester
4. High Salary
While someone may prefer to ignore this, but a handsome salary always keeps the employee motivated. The demand for ethical hackers are increasing day by day and so their salary. Though the actual compensation always depends on the skillset and experience, ethical hacking comes under one of the highly paid jobs in the United States. According to indeed, an average ethical hacker earns $107,951 per annum. Moreover, you will face no salary constraint if you have the required skills and take responsibility.
5. Fun and Job Satisfaction
While most of the black hat hackers live with the worry of being arrested, you can enjoy hacking others system in exchange for your time and money. After all, the company itself hired you to try breaking their system so that they can make their systems even more secure. Being an ethical hacker, you just have to give your best and in return, you will get respect, praise, salary and sometimes bonus too. On the other hand, cybersecurity jobs also come with a great deal of satisfaction. Knowing your work is going to keep the data of countless people secured is quite self-motivating. Recommended: Top 10 Bug Bounty Programs for Ethical Hackers
Wrapping Up
So these are some of the reasons to become an ethical hacker. Yes, I do understand that each one us has different skills and it’s not possible for everyone to switch with such ease. But if you have an interest in hacking, curiosity to know more about cyber security and contribute to this industry, you will have a very progressive career as an ethical hacker.