Empathy in Ethical Hacking

How do you remain empathetic when your job is to act like an attacker and point out issues with security systems?With all its military language, cybersecurity can feel very aggressive but this offensive security specialist shows us that it doesn’t have to be.Today I’m joined by Alexei Doudkine, penetration tester and co-founder of Volkis. I deeply resonate with how he puts his 10+ years of experience on the offensive side of cybersecurity to good use and challenges the status quo. He shares with us his views on empathy and how it embeds into his work as an ethical hacker.For example, the belief that you are too good and technologically advanced that you can’t be hacked is actually a weakness in cybersecurity - and this is because it is still a very young field with new threats popping up every day and old threats evolving very fast.This is why many companies seek the services of ethical hackers to test the robustness of their current security setup. They also get guidance on how to improve or change their security to reduce the chances of being compromised by malicious attackers.In this episode, you’ll find out what penetration testing involves and the role it plays in a company’s cybersecurity resilience. You’ll also hear about how empathy supports the efforts and approaches adopted by ethical hackers. Lastly, you’ll discover the considerations that help the most when designing security architectures. In this episode, you will learn:How ethical hackers practice empathy (03:21)What to consider when building security architectures (07:43)How putting people in the attacker's shoes for a minute changes their perception of cybersecurity (10:26)The role of transparency in building trust within a company (17:04)Resources: The Volkis Independence PolicyConnect with Alexei:WebsiteLinkedInTwitterLet’s connect!WebsiteLinkedInTwitter