Must Know Key Terminologies as an Ethical Hacker.

In cybersecurity, various terminologies are commonly found in literature, discussions, and learning resources. As a good ethical hacker, it’s important to understand key terminologies and how they relate to penetration testing.  Here’s a collection of common cybersecurity terms:

Asset – In cybersecurity, an asset is defined as something valuable to an organization or individual. Assets are systems within a network that can be exploited by hackers to gain administrator-/root-level access or remote access. Assets extend beyond technological systems and should not be limited to them. Humans, physical security controls, and data within networks are also considered assets to protect.

Assets can be divided into three categories:

1. Tangible Asset – These include tangible items like networking devices, computer systems, and appliances.
2. Intangible Asset – Intangible assets include intellectual property, business ideas, data, and records.
3. People – These are the people who power the business or organization. Humans are one of the most vulnerable assets in the realm of cybersecurity.  Additionally, organizations must safeguard customer data from theft by threat actors.

A good Ethical Hacker must identify assets and potential risks to ensure their safety.

Threat – In cybersecurity, a threat refers to anything that can endanger a system, network, or individual. Identifying threats is crucial for both offensive and defensive cybersecurity roles. Organizations worldwide confront daily attacks, and their cybersecurity teams work 24/7 to protect assets from threat actors. Cybersecurity professionals must stay ahead of threat actors to identify and mitigate security flaws in systems, networks, and applications. This can be both exciting and overwhelming. Organizations must protect their assets, which often have security flaws that hackers might exploit.

Vulnerability – A vulnerability is a security fault in technological, physical, or human systems that hackers can use to obtain unauthorized access or control over a network. Common vulnerabilities in organizations include human error, device misconfiguration, weak user credentials, poor programming practices, unpatched operating systems, outdated applications, and default system configurations.

Threat actors prioritize vulnerabilities that are easily exploitable. The same principle applies to penetration testing. Penetration testers employ numerous approaches and tools to identify and exploit vulnerabilities on target systems, starting with simple faults and progressing to more complicated ones.

Exploit – An exploit is a tool or code that takes advantage of a system vulnerability. For instance, consider a hammer, a piece of wood, and a nail.
The vulnerability is the soft and permeable quality of wood, whereas the exploit is the act of pounding the nail into it. When a vulnerability is discovered on a system, threat actors or penetration testers may create or seek out an exploit to exploit the security flaw. Before launching an exploit, it’s crucial to test it on a system to guarantee its effectiveness. An exploit may work on one system but not on another. Experienced penetration testers evaluate exploits based on their success rate per vulnerability.

Risk – Penetration testers are employed to replicate real-world cyber-attacks on a target business, but their purpose goes beyond that. After the penetration test, the cybersecurity specialist will provide vulnerabilities and remedies to lower the risk of cyber-attacks.

What is risk? Risk refers to the possible impact of a vulnerability, threat, or asset on an organization when compared to other similar factors. Evaluating risk assesses the potential of a data breach affecting an organization’s finances, reputation, or regulatory compliance. Many organizations prioritize risk reduction. Various certifications, legal standards, and frameworks exist to assist firms in identifying, reducing, and managing risks.

Zero-day – A zero-day attack is an exploit that is unpatched by the product’s vendor and unknown to the general public. These attacks are routinely used by both nation-states and major criminal organizations. Ethical hackers and penetration testers can earn a bug reward for identifying zero-day exploits. Vendors provide incentives to security researchers who find undisclosed vulnerabilities in their programs.

Many corporations now provide bug bounty programs to encourage individuals to report vulnerabilities in vendor systems. The person who reports a zero-day flaw receives a reward. Some hackers purposefully exploit systems or networks for personal gain, referred to as the hack value.

Conclusion: There are discovered key terminologies that are commonly used within the cybersecurity industry.