We get asked this a lot! It has happened to the best of us and it is probably something you have wanted to do too. There are some concerns that we need to point out, because most people who get interested in hiring hackers have just watched one too many episodes of shows like Mr. Robot or movies that feature hackers who seemed to be almost magical beings, able to circumvent any security system in their way. Truth however is usually a bit more complicated.
So – who and what is a hacker?
A hacker is someone who is highly skilled in computer security and can make malicious changes. They can penetrate any type of device or piece of software. Of course now let’s not forget that there are good hackers, known as ethical hackers, who worked to find bugs in software or to patch vulnerabilities in computer networks. These individuals are often employed directly by large corporations or they may be freelancers on popular websites.
What tools are they using?
Hackers use a number of different tools to attack various systems. These include, but are not limited to, malware, viruses, bots, phishing and exploits.
Why would someone want to hack you?
There are many different reasons why someone would want to hack you. Perhaps they’re just interested in testing a company’s security, testing security patches, looking for leaks, and modifying personal information for criminal purposes. Hackers on the dark web specialize in activities like these.
Hacking is definitely something you need to be slightly concerned about if you’re a business owner. Everyone does. But they are also looking for new targets. You don’t have to feel paranoid though. If however you want to be a vigilante and recover information of a sensitive nature, then there are a number of ways you can hire a hacker.
You can use a website like freelancer.com or Upwork and hire a freelance ethical hacker. These are often referred to as ‘white hat hackers’ or ‘ethical hackers’. Typically, these ‘ethical hackers’ will provide a list of reasons as to why they want to get into your system and how they would attack it.
Another way is to hire a contractor through word of mouth assuming you have business connections already and can ask friends who have employed hackers in the past or who may have somebody in their IT department who’s willing to work for a fee on a project basis. Ideally, you’re looking for someone that has a good track record of carrying out penetration testing against corporate and government websites. They use the latest tools and techniques to try and break into websites (for good). They may have also created their own hacking tools to test for vulnerabilities.
Another form of hacking is hiring one of the Hackers for hire on LinkedIn. There are thousands of different profiles with people claiming to specialize in different things, including penetration testing, hacking websites, and so on.
A lot of people rely on personal recommendations from people they know. For example, someone may say “I work with someone who hired a hacker on the dark web”, or “this hacker was the best I ever met”. You should take these recommendations with a pinch of salt unless you know the person. Give the hacker a small task at first to test their skills before doing a bigger project.
Finally, there are hackers for hire who are good and can provide proof of their work. However, unfortunately there are also a lot of people out there that will offer a service, but don’t use good tools.
Moral of the story
If you do decide to hire a hacker make sure that they are trustworthy.
If you are worried about it, get someone to look at your systems for you.