News Tuesday May 1, 2007
KUALA LUMPUR: The International Council of e-Commerce Consultants (ECCouncil) wants to increase the number of certified ethical hackers in Malaysia, and to boost awareness of such professionals.
“Keeping up with technology and understanding how firewalls or networks function is one thing,” said Erik Laykin, EC-Council’s honorary chairman. “
But a capable IT security professional should also know how a hacker thinks.”
He said government agencies and corporations are always looking for talented IT professionals who understand security technology and hacking.
“When a professional is certified as an ethical hacker, it shows he knows what he’s doing and that would definitely give an employer more assurance (of the professional’s skills,” Laykin said.
He is a former president of the FBI’s (Federal Bureau of Investigation) Los Angeles Chapter of Infragard, and specialises in the investigation and analysis of security-related issues in cyberspace, such as digital theft and corporate espionage.
Laykin was speaking at an event to announce the Hacker Halted conference that will take place in the capital from Aug 13 to 16.
The US-based EC-Council is a global IT security certification authority that is known for its Certified Ethical Hacker courses.
According to EC-Council, IT security professionals should have practical experience with hacking but this should not involve illegal acts, of course.
People often misunderstand the meaning of the phrase “ethical hacking,” said Sanjay Bavasi, president of the EC-Council. “In this context, it does not refer to the ethics of a person but to the processes and methods used in a hack,” he said.
Ethical hacking, he said, involves operating within a certain set of rules and regulations, which includes getting permission from the owner of a network before attempting to hack into it.
This allows the owner to see if there are holes in his network security. “Since the concept is new, ECCouncil is often criticised for promoting ‘legalised’ hacking, but ethical hacking is necessary in security,” Sanjay said.
“If you’ve just bought an expensive burglar alarm system, wouldn’t you want to put it to a real test to see if it is actually effective?”
Playing host To raise awareness of ethical hacking as well as IT security issues and trends, EC-Council is hosting its Hacker Halted conference.
The conference, which is also held in other countries, is expected to attract 500 IT security professionals, captains of industry, government officials, as well as product and services exhibitors.
In addition to security talks, Hacker Halted will include a capture-the-flag (CTF) hacking competition, said Sean Lim, vicepresident of the EC-Council.
The first Hacker Halted conference in Malaysia was held in 2004.
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(SOURCE: The STAR)