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Ethical hacking is the authorized practice of simulating attacks to find and demonstrate security weaknesses before criminals exploit them. It may include penetration testing, red-team exercises, vulnerability validation, and reviews of applications, networks, cloud environments, or physical controls. The defining requirement is explicit permission: a written scope should identify approved systems, methods, testing dates, source addresses, safety limits, and contacts for urgent issues.
For practitioners, the main concerns are controlling testing risk and turning findings into useful remediation. Tests can expose personal or confidential data, disrupt production, or cross into systems that were not authorized; safeguards include least-necessary access, synthetic test data where possible, rate limits, secure evidence handling, and prompt cleanup. Reports should distinguish confirmed vulnerabilities from theoretical paths, explain business-relevant conditions and impact, and provide reproducible evidence without retaining unnecessary secrets. Coordinated disclosure and retesting help verify fixes, while legal, contractual, and privacy requirements determine what activities and data handling are permitted.
Weekly headline count for the current query.
WormGPT 4 Sells for $50 Monthly, While KawaiiGPT Goes Open SourceThe cybercrime-as-a-service model has a new product line, with malicious large language models built without ethical guardrails selling on Telegram for $50 monthly or distributed free on GitHub. Others groups are taking the open-source route.
Integrity's Ed Parsons on How Regs Are Pushing Firms Toward Proactive SecurityThe NIS2 Directive has driven significant improvements in vulnerability management across Europe. Organizations are accelerating vulnerability discovery by engaging with crowdsourced security communities and ethical hackers, said Ed Parsons, chief operations officer at Integrity.
Live Hacking Event Offers New Insights Over Traditional TestingIn today's threat landscape, as attackers grow more sophisticated, organizations are finding that direct collaboration between ethical hackers and development teams offers advantages traditional testing methods can't always match.
Hacking Was the Easy Part, Notifying McDonald's the Extremely Difficult BitA security researcher gained access to McDonald's global marketing portal by changing a single word in its URL, uncovering a slew of additional vulnerabilities. The hard part was notifying the burger giant about the flaws, says self-described ethical hacker "BobDaHacker."
Anthropic Says Top AI Models may Deceive or Coerce to SurviveArtificial intelligence models will choose harm over failure when their goals are threatened and no ethical alternatives are available, say researchers who tested 16 popular large language models. The goal was to evaluate how systems behave. The result: blackmail and deception.
HackerOne CEO Warns AI Can't Replace Creativity, Intuition in Cyber Defense EffortsDespite AI advances, human intuition remains essential in security, says HackerOne CEO Kara Sprague. Machines detect patterns, but only people can anticipate the unexpected. Ethical hackers and human-led defense are vital to addressing evolving threats and the cybersecurity talent gap.
Ulla Coester on Ethical Design and the Role of the EU AI ActUnclear threats and unpredictable behavior complicate global trust in AI. Building a shared understanding through adaptable governance helps create consistent expectations for responsible development across societies, said Ulla Coester, project director, Fresenius University of Applied Sciences.
Lawyer Jonathan Armstrong on Legal, Ethical Fallout From Looming 23andMe AuctionThe financial collapse of personal genomics giant 23andMe raises an urgent question: What happens to your most intimate data when the company holding it goes bankrupt? Jonathan Armstrong, partner at Punter Southall Law, warns of cascading legal, ethical and security consequences.
Security Leaders From Three Continents Convene to Address AI Adoption ChallengesISMG recently concluded its tri-continental Virtual AI Summit, where experts from the Americas, EMEA and APAC explored governance, supply chain risks and ethical concerns. The summit addressed growing concerns related to AI, highlighting the urgent need for tailored security strategies.
Days Are Dwindling, But Biden White House Unveils New AI Roadmap for HHSWith 10 days left in office, the Biden administration released an artificial intelligence strategic plan for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service. HHS called the plan a "comprehensive roadmap" outlining the department’s "commitment to trustworthy, ethical and equitable AI use.
Attorney James Gong Examines Upcoming Regulations Related to Non-Personal DataIn 2025, companies in China will face additional obligations when data protection audits become mandatory, setting a new benchmark for compliance with privacy laws. China is also expected to introduce regulations on non-personal data to establish a framework for ethical and secure data usage.
Scrutiny Over Ethics of Profit-Sharing Prompts End to Cyberstarts CISO CompensationAllegations of conflicts of interest in Cyberstarts’ Sunrise program have sparked debate in the CISO community. While the program connected CISOs with startups for advisory purposes, its profit-sharing incentives drew criticism, leading some participants to resign and the firm to halt compensation.
Companies Race to Hire Chief AI Officers as Tech Reshapes Business StrategyBoeing, NASA and Pfizer have established chief artificial intelligence officer positions to lead ethical deployment and innovation in 2023. Federal requirements are pushing agencies to create CAIO roles, accelerating enterprisewide adoption across a variety of industries.
Engineer Dennis Giese on Hacking Robot Vacuum Cleaners and Running HackathonsDennis Giese, a security researcher and engineer, built his first computer at around age 8 using spare parts. Years later, he hacked his first robotic vacuum cleaner. Giese reflects on his journey as a researcher and ethical hacker during HardPwn, a hardware hackathon hosted by Hardwear.io in Amsterdam.
Justice Department Aiming to Emphasize Privacy and Security in AI DeploymentThe U.S. Department of Justice is drafting new guidelines for law enforcement on the use of artificial intelligence and facial recognition tools to enhance public safety while safeguarding civil rights and ensuring ethical deployment, a senior official said Wednesday.
ISMG Compendium Showcases More Than 50 Interviews on Threats, Emerging SolutionsWelcome to Information Security Media Group's Black Hat and DEF CON 2024 Compendium featuring latest insights from the industry's top cybersecurity researchers and ethical hackers, as well as perspectives from CEOs, CISOs and government officials on the latest trends in cybersecurity and AI.
Pontiff Calls for Ban of Autonomous Weapons and for Ethical Use of Emerging TechPope Francis during a speech at the G7 summit in Italy called for a ban of autonomous weapons and urged world leaders to keep humans and ethics at the forefront of the artificial intelligence revolution, making him the first pope to address the annual meeting of the world's wealthy democracies.
AI's Transformative Impact and Challenges in Developing RegionsAI presents enormous opportunities for reducing inequalities and promoting inclusivity in developing regions, but its deployment must be guided by ethical practices and a conscious effort to integrate diversity and inclusion at every stage. We must leverage AI responsibly.
We Need Cryptocurrency Forensics Now More Than Ever BeforeA new analysis has unearthed that cryptocurrency scammers siphoned off a staggering $43.6 million in 2022. Those who enjoy forensics should have a field day in this domain. From ethical hacking to penetration testing and incident response, there are tons of well-paying opportunities.
Sunil Dadlani, CIO and CISO of Atlantic Health System on AI Promise, RisksAI holds enormous potential for transforming and reimagining all aspects of healthcare, but mitigating the risks requires a collaborative, comprehensive approach prioritizing data security, regulatory compliance, and ethical considerations, said Sunil Dadlani, CIO and CISO at Atlantic Health System.