What is Ethical Hacking?

Ethical hacking, sometimes known as white hat hacking is when a digital forensics expert or OSINT investigator attempts to penetrate a computer system, network or app on behalf of the owners – with their permission. Ethical hacking is usually done to find if there is any security vulnerabilities that a hacker or cybercriminal could use to exploit someone.

The purpose of ethical hacking is to test the security of the systems involved and identify if there are any vulnerabilities in the system as well as the network or infrastructure. Investigators involved will often attempt to exploit the vulnerabilities themselves to see whether malicious activities are possible.

Black hat hackers are the unethical counterpart of ethical hackers. Rather than take advantage, ethical hackers will use their skills to document if there are any weaknesses in the systems and give advice on how to fix them and then strengthen their overall security systems.

Here are some ways ethical hacking done by digital forensics experts involve in OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) can help businesses and organisations:

1. Finding Vulnerabilities: By using ethical hacking you can discover if the IT security measures are working properly as well as whether they need to be updated. A business can use the advice from ethical hackers and improve their overall security to stay safe from cyber-attacks, including online scams and fraud.

2. Demonstrate Cybercrime Methods: These demonstrations can help show users how malicious hackers will attach their systems and create disasters for businesses. Those who have an in-depth knowledge of this are better able to prevent it from happening again in the future.

3. Prepare for a Cyber-attack: The one way to destroy a business is a cyber-attack, especially small businesses, but businesses are still not prepared! Ethical hackers know how cybercriminals work so they can assist businesses and business owners with prepare for the future and better adapt to online threats.

Some say that hacking is hacking, but ethical hacking is done by professionals to assist businesses and organisations with their security systems and ensure they are effective and successful.

Is your security system up to par? Contact the OSINT or digital forensics department on 021 110 0422 or email contact@osint.co.za | contact@tcgforensics.co.za. Alternatively, you can find out more on the website www.osint.co.za | www.tcgforensics.co.za

4 Important Steps to take if you’ve been Hacked!

Have you ever been hacked? Whether you are an individual or a business owner, getting hacked is a terrible experience that can cost you time, money and possibly destroy your business.

Hackers can get away with a lot of things, including stealing your sensitive data and your money. This data, whether it is your personal information and passwords or your customer’s private records can be used to target you in future attacks.

Here’s what you can do to recover from a hack…

Contact Customer Services. If the hack is on your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. profile be sure to contact their customer services as soon as you possibly can. Social networking companies are getting more efficient at cracking down on stolen accounts, so they should be able to help you fairly quickly.

Scan your System. If you manage to get your account under control, always check your entire system as well for suspicious files or strange behaviour. Simply fixing your Facebook profile page doesn’t mean all your other data hasn’t been affected. Always go through your entire system, this includes your emails, online banking, apps, etc.

Do the Basics right. If you’ve been the victim of an attack, you need to make sure you do through all the basics and get them right.

-- Change your passwords on a regular basis and always use a different passwords
-- Use two-factor authentication
-- Install a trusted anti-virus software
-- Patch and update your software on a regular basis
-- Back up your data
-- Be wary of putting too much personal information on your social media accounts

Contact the Professionals. If all else fails and the hack is too much for you to recover from on your own – always contact the professionals before you do anything else that may damage your system even more. While most companies have in-house and contracted skills to manage and administer their network, it’s not uncommon that outside specialist skills are needed to recover from a serious breach. Contact the TCG Digital Forensics team for quick, reliable and affordable hacking recovery.

When you have been hacked you may feel that you have lost a lot more than just your data, you’ll feel embarrassed and the business you’ve put so much time and money into may be compromised. Get your dignity back by using these 4 important steps!

Russian Hacker Sentenced to 27 years Behind Bars!

Next time you think about learning how to hack illegally, think about this man! The 32 year old son of Russian parliament member, Valery Seleznev, was recently sentenced to spend 27 years behind bars for his cybercrimes.

The hacker’s crimes were: stealing millions of payment card details from businesses by infecting malware into their point-of-sale systems.

27 years is a long time, in fact, it is the longest ever given out in the US for hacking or computer crimes!

The son of Seleznev, Roman Seleznev, was sentenced last Friday in Washington after being found guilty of a range of crimes including; wire fraud, intentional damage to a protected computer, obtaining information from a protected computer, possession of unauthorized access devices and aggravated identity theft.

In the dark world of cybercrime Roman Seleznev was known for trading stolen payment card data. He would use a few aliases – Track2, 2pac or nCuX – and he succeeded in selling millions of private credit card details to criminals all over the web.

Authorities in the US say that for about four years Seleznev infected malware into more than 500 businesses, where he would then capture all their card data and transfer it to servers under his control.

When he was arrested a few years ago, the laptop that he owned had more than 1.7 million stolen credit card numbers on it!

To try and get mercy Seleznev sent a letter to the judge earlier this month. He explained how his rough childhood including his life of poverty and his parents’ divorce had affected him deeply. His mother’s death when he was just 17 sent his world spiralling out of control; he had to drop out of college and try to pay the bills.

During this tough time is when he discovered the trading of credit card data and that he could use his computer skills to hack into businesses.

After Seleznev’s strict sentencing, he made a statement of a different tone, claiming he was a political prisoner that was kidnapped by the US government.

A hacker can target anyone - even you! It can happen to anyone, so if you feel your computer or private data has been hacked do not hesitate to contact our TCG Forensic Division. Our digital forensic experts will assist you in any way you need! Call 087 001 0511/2 or email info@cellularforensics.co.za