Definition

What is Ethical Hacking?

The authorized practice of using offensive attack techniques against a system to identify security weaknesses before malicious actors can exploit them. Ethical hackers — also called white-hat hackers or penetration testers — operate under a formal agreement that defines scope, rules of engagement, and explicit legal authorization. The term encompasses penetration testing, red teaming, vulnerability research, and bug bounty hunting.

Related terms

Penetration Testing →

A structured, authorized simulation of a real-world cyberattack against a system, network, or application with the goal of identifying exploitable vulnerabilities before malicious actors do.

Red Team →

A group of security professionals who simulate sophisticated, persistent adversaries to test an organization's ability to detect and respond to real-world attacks.

Bug Bounty →

A crowdsourced security program that offers financial rewards to independent security researchers who responsibly disclose vulnerabilities in a product or service.

Exploit →

A piece of software, command sequence, or technique that leverages a known vulnerability to cause unintended or unauthorized behavior in a target system.

Put this into practice

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