The digital mercenary

In my spare time, I watch a lot of cop shows; the various Law and Order and CSI series are personal favourites. In their simplest sense, these shows about the law (usually) triumphing over evil. But even the detectives and crime scene investigators find themselves in tough spots sometimes, and when that happens, they turn to outside sources to help them solve their cases.

You’re probably wondering, “This is a technology news website; what does that have to do with technology?” The connection between these seemingly unrelated subjects is not as far-fetched as you might think. 

Stories about major companies or social media services getting hacked for various reasons always make international headlines. The hackers wreak havoc on the sites, sometimes demanding ransom to restore everything to normal again. Time is money to the owners of these companies, and the more time they spend offline, the more likely their profits margins are to erode.

Hackers are persistent individuals, and often find a point of entry through a loophole deep within the coding and underlying digital structure of their victims’ websites. Once they find their way in, they exploit it to the max, causing mayhem with every keystroke. These people are generally considered evil because their actions have malicious intent, but not every hacker wears the same hat. 

In old Western films, the good guys – usually the sheriff and his deputy – and the outlaws were often distinguished by the colour of their Stetsons. The lawmen wore white hats, while their enemies sported black ones. It’s the same for hackers. 

Israel native Nir Goldshlager is one of those white-hatted individuals. The man behind security consultancy firm Break Security is a hacker himself, but he chooses to use his power for good instead of evil. Major companies commission Goldshlager and his team to hack into their system in order to find any exploitable bugs or loopholes through a process known as penetration testing. He then reports back to them on how these problems can be fixed.

In a world full of hackers and hacktivists, people of Goldshlager’s ilk act as digital mercenaries to combat the ongoing threat of large-scale security breaches and data thievery. Several white hats are actually former black-hatters who changed their ways after they were caught and arrested. 

Wondering why popular online services such as Facebook and PayPal are so secure today? It’s the direct result of Goldshlager’s work. He serves as living proof that not all hackers can be painted with the same brush. Other companies have taken note of the power these white hat hackers wield, and hire them as security consultants to make sure that their sensitive data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.