The Career

There are a lot of career opportunities in the cybersecurity field, and one that really stands out is ethical hacking. Ethical hackers are responsible for testing an organization’s systems to find any security weaknesses. They are basically known as the “good hackers” in the hacking world, as they get permission from the organization to simulate real cyberattacks in order to see where the system could be vulnerable. This helps companies fix problems before malicious hackers can exploit them. Ethical hacking plays a key role in protecting sensitive information and ensuring that systems are secure. With the constant rise in cyberattacks, ethical hackers are in high demand. In fact, according to Glassdoor (as cited in Coursera, 2024), “the median salary for an ethical hacker in the United States is $106,198.”.

Social Science Principals

One principal that can apply to ethical hacking is ethical neutrality. Ethical neutrality means that researchers must adhere to ethical standards when they conduct their research. This means that ethical hackers need to respect their client’s privacy and confidentiality while still identifying vulnerabilities. Another principal is parsimony which means researchers should give the simplest explanation or solution to a problem. Ethical hackers will use the most straightforward and efficient method to identify and fix vulnerabilities. Finally, skepticism promotes the idea that all systems and security measures should be questioned and examined. This makes ethical hackers rigorously test systems and consider different ideas for vulnerabilities to ensure that no weakness is overlooked.

Social Science Research

Some research methods that ethical hackers can use are field studies and experiments. In field studies, ethical hackers collect information from active networks to see the possible security problems. They look for things like which computers are active, where the open ports are, and how the network is set up. With experimenting, ethical hackers will have a controlled environment in order to test various tools for task like OS fingerprinting, service detection, and network scanning. By changing variables, ethical hackers can see the effectiveness of different methods and find what works best when identifying vulnerabilities.

Marginalized groups

Marginalized groups like low-income communities, racial minorities, and people with disabilities usually face bigger challenges when it comes to technology. “Lack of affordability of secure hardware and software puts lower socioeconomic groups at greater risk” (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2023). These groups may have limited access to the technology or education that helps protect themselves online. Ethical hackers can play a huge role in fixing security weaknesses that affect these groups. They can test websites, apps, or online systems that cater to these marginalized groups to ensure they are safe from cyberattacks. Ethical hackers can also ensure that the security measures are accessible for all users.

Conclusion

In conclusion, ethical hacking plays a vital role in today’s world where cybercrime continues to evolve. By using social science principals such as skepticism and ethical neutrality, ethical hackers can neutrally test and question all systems to identify vulnerabilities. Using research methods such as experimentations and field studies allow ethical hackers to better understand the vulnerabilities that impact individuals and organizations, which in turn, improves cybersecurity strategies. Through the use of ethical hacking, we can work to a more inclusive cyber environment where all individuals, regardless of where they come from, can safely use the internet.

References

DianApps. (2021, December 12). Ethical Hacking and its Methodology – DianApps – Medium. Medium. https://medium.com/@DianApps/ethical-hacking-and-its-methodology-41468bc2ea67

Staff, C. (2024a, March 5). Ethical Hacker Salary (2024): What you’ll make and why. Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/articles/ethical-hacker-salary

Staff, C. (2024b, November 21). How to become an Ethical Hacker: A career guide. Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/articles/ethical-hacker

{“@type”: “Person”,”name”: “Aubra Anthony”}. (n.d.). Cyber resilience must focus on marginalized individuals, not just institutions. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2023/03/cyber-resilience-must-focus-on-marginalized-individuals-not-just-institutions?lang=en