Ethical hacking — also known as penetration testing or white-hat hacking —
involves the same tools, tricks, and techniques that hackers use, but with one
major difference: Ethical hacking is legal. Ethical hacking is performed with
the target’s permission. The intent of ethical hacking is to discover vulnerabilities
from a hacker’s viewpoint so systems can be better secured. It’s part
of an overall information risk management program that allows for ongoing
security improvements. Ethical hacking can also ensure that vendors’ claims
about the security of their products are legitimate.