Ethical hackers are the good guys in the cybersecurity industry – Here are 5 instances where these hackers have rescued companies from cyberattacks.
We have all heard the tale of Black Hat hackers who exploit the vulnerabilities missed by companies to their own advantages and more often than not, they do it for personal gains or for criminal gains.
However, just like these people with evil intentions, there are also various good guys who work in the shadows to help protect companies from cyber attacks by finding the loopholes in their security system and fixing them accordingly.
These are called White Hat hackers or ethical hackers and here are five instances where these hackers have rescued companies from cyberattacks or brought their attention towards blind spots in their security systems that could have incurred huge losses or harmed the users of that firm.
1. WordPress plugin vulnerability leaked Twitter user data
On 17th January 2019, a French researcher, Baptiste Robert, who goes by the online handle of Elliot Alderson, found a vulnerability in a WordPress plugin called Social Network Tabs that allowed personal details to be exposed by leaking a user’s Twitter account info.
It was given the vulnerability ID- CVE-2018-20555 by MITRE. The plugin was used to allow websites to help users share content on social media sites. Twitter was informed about this vulnerability and revoked the keys, rendering the accounts safe again.
2. Critical Vulnerability in Oracle’s WebLogic Servers
A security firm that goes by the name cases ethical hackers saved companies devastating hacks
