Researchers examine role of 'white hat' hackers in cyber warfare
Thursday, January 22, 2015 - 07:40
in Mathematics & Economics
From the Heartbleed bug that infected many popular websites and services, to the Target security breach that compromised 40 million credit cards, malicious hackers have proved to be detrimental to companies' financial assets and reputations. To combat these malevolent attackers, or "black hats," a community of benign hackers, i.e., "white hats," has been making significant contributions to cybersecurity by detecting vulnerabilities in companies' software systems and websites and communicating their findings. Researchers at Penn State's College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) are studying white hat behaviors and how the talents of the white hat community can be most effectively used.