Table of Contents
Highlight
- Ethical hackers defend systems through structured and consent-based testing; cyber mercenaries sell their skills to regimes.
- Cyber mercenaries use zero-days and spyware for surveillance, implying that in many instances, they may be acting contrary to human rights.
- The hacking economic division occurs along the lines of intent for protection against profit, changing how cyber-warfare and accountability are seen worldwide.
The online universe has emerged as a very important battlefield for strategic competition, resulting in intricately complex issues with regard to cybersecurity and data protection. It has promoted two different, but technologically identical, careers: the ethical hacker and the cyber mercenary. Although both factions have highly skilled skills in taking advantage of online vulnerabilities, their fundamental motivations and their effect on international security are overwhelmingly different.
Hacking itself would be described as obtaining unauthorized or privileged access to an establishment using computer technology or software to break into networks and uncover prevalent threats. Historically, three categories of hackers are identified by the color of hats they wear: white, black, and grey.
The White Hat: Protectors of the Digital World
White hat hackers, or ethical hackers, are known to utilize their vast knowledge and technical strength for the good of all. Their main objective is to safeguard information, systems, and networks against malicious actors, also known as black-hat hackers. Ethical hacking involves testing the security controls of systems and networks using the mindset and methods of an attacker, but always with the expressed consent of the system’s owner. Large firms hire ethical hackers, usually contractors or employees, to discover, fix, and disclose security vulnerabilities before criminals can exploit them.
Their central driving force is proactive protection: identifying vulnerabilities to prevent financial and reputational loss from cyberattacks. It is a step that must be taken because companies lose billions of dollars every year due to uncontrolled hacking. The primary objective is to conduct a review of the target system’s security infrastructure to identify weaknesses that can be exploited and determine whether unauthorized individuals could gain entry or execute malicious behaviors.
The activity of an ethical hacker has a strict methodology, referred to as the ethical hacking life cycle, which starts with reconnaissance.
The first step is to acquire vast amounts of information about the target environment, such as by applying techniques like fingerprinting and enumeration to determine IP addresses, network ranges, and the operating systems in use.
The second step is scanning, in which hackers actually search for open ports, live hosts, and running services on the network. This involves port scans, network scans, and vulnerability scans to create a comprehensive picture of potential entry points. After scanning, the next step is to acquire access.
At this point, ethical hackers attempt to infiltrate the system, evading security controls by exploiting vulnerabilities or using password-cracking methods to verify authorization levels. When access is acquired successfully, the intruder moves to the maintaining access level. This involves abusing system resources, possibly installing tools such as a rootkit or Trojan horse to mimic the way a persistent attacker would maintain control, usually gaining higher-level administrative privileges.
Lastly, the ethical hacker will erase their trail. This process, simulating that of a black hat hacker, entails deleting any evidence, like changing or eliminating log values and de-installing programs, to allow the company to properly mimic how hard it would be to track a true breach.
Ethical hackers employ a variety of robust tools, most of which were initially designed for malicious use but are now used for defensive probing instead. Some examples include Nmap for mapping and scanning networks, Metasploit for planning vulnerability exploits, and custom vulnerability scanners used to identify flaws in operating systems or web applications.
The Grey Hat: The Rise of Cyber Mercenaries
Unlike the white-hat code of ethics, grey-hat hackers often work as cyber mercenaries or ‘hire-hack.’ They are private organizations or groups that are hired to conduct offensive or defensive cyber operations for compensation, and thus, they are extremely dangerous because of their flexibility in loyalty.
Cyber mercenaries flourish amid today’s geopolitics, fueled by global strategic conflicts and the imperatives of insecure authoritarian regimes for maintaining power. Their market is considerable, having already crossed the $12 billion threshold in recent years,, and is growing rapidly. Their motivation is nearly purely economic, driven by the high demand for intrusion technology. They are prepared to flip rapidly between offensive operations, typical of a black hat, and defensive operations, depending on whoever is willing to pay the most.
Governments account for a large share of their customers. The use of cyber mercenaries enables state actors to obtain offensive cyber tools without having to fully compromise their respective requirement for plausible deniability. This unattributability protects the hiring state against the legal repercussions or retribution involved with directly initiating cyber operations.
The services provided by these groups of mercenaries are broad and usually harmful. These include simple cyber intelligence, digital forensics, and penetration testing, up to actually compromising computer networks, hijacking sensitive data (such as banking details and locations), and performing DDoS attacks. Most importantly, cyber mercenaries are repeatedly hired by governments for sinister domestic objectives, including attacks on political rivals, journalists, human rights activists, dissidents, and civil society groups. The practice in many cases entails flagrant violation of human rights and poses a threat to the security of the targeted individuals.
The Weapons of War
The weapons used by these mercenaries are advanced, sometimes based on zero-day exploits, unknown holes in the software, which are then exploited before a patch can be developed. A well-known illustration is the Pegasus spyware, created by the NSO Group private company. The technology enables mass mobile surveillance, capturing calls, SMS messages, contacts, audio recordings from the microphone, photos, and location data, and has been licensed to dozens of nations worldwide.
Another case in point is Predator, spyware software developed by Cytrox that has been deliberately used by various national governments for eavesdropping. These highly advanced cyber weapons make private corporations useful instruments of state power, acting beyond prescribed human rights and ethical limits.
Conclusion
The rise in the number of these private belligerent actors has prompted tech firms to react by institutionalizing agreements, such as the Tech Accord Principles, to break up the utilization of their products and platforms as springboards for mercenary attacks. The hack business is sharply bifurcated by motive. Ethical hackers are guardians, busily working to challenge and protect the cyber infrastructure.
Cyber mercenaries, on the other hand, are mercenary actors who can do enormous harm and enable state-sponsored surveillance and human rights abuses, operating in a relatively unregulated “grey zone” of global cyber war.
