Online threat actors are omnipresent on the web. One wrong move and they’ll find your devices, hack into them, and steal every bit of sensitive information. But, then, cybersecurity experts are no less brainy either. They offer so many online security techniques that can give hackers a very difficult time. One such practice that’s very effective is hiring ethical hackers. Surprised? Well, to make it simple, ethical hackers are different from the hackers from the dark part of the web. Ethical hackers use their skills to find out bugs but only to report them so that they can be patched.
Clearly, hiring them to work for you is an appealing option. And to be honest, these practices are urgent. If a hacker from the dark side of the web learns how to hack your company’s recorder, most of the sensitive information can be stolen within a span of seconds.
Having said that, you can’t be just sitting on a sofa, sipping coffee, and randomly handing over the code of the company in the hands of an ethical hacker. There’s a proper procedure that has to be followed to keep things under control.
Here’s how you should make an approach.
Locating Ethical Hackers
Consult cybersecurity experts to locate ethical hackers that are usually working as a part of some clean community on the internet. When you find them, send them an invite citing that you are in the need of hiring ethical hackers to find bugs.
Contract Signing
Don’t offer access before everything is formally signed. It’s necessary to make a contract because of the following reasons.
- Ethical hackers will have to use the tools you suggest. They can’t use the ones you think are risky.
- Since they are bound by a legal contract, they cannot release the bug they find. They have to report it. They have to usually wait for a span of 3 months that the company – you – utilizes in fixing the bug and releasing updated versions of the software for the public to install.
Clarity is Very Important
You don’t want to trigger them or exploit them, or any other employees as a matter of fact. Which is why you should be clear about a few things from the beginning.
The points that should be conveyed before ethical hackers sign the contract are as follows.
- They should know that it’s up-to you to decide how much bounty should be paid.
- Let them know that they will not be paid to discover an already discovered bug.
To sum up, ethical hackers can be an invaluable addition to your assets when hired properly.
