THE GOVERNMENT can leverage white hat hackers to conduct ethical tests that simulate real-life threats to improve its cyber resilience, but must put in place the appropriate safeguards and policies to prevent abuse, cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks said.

“Ethical hackers are an important part of cybersecurity measures for organizations, enabling them to proactively detect and respond to vulnerabilities before actual attackers exploit them,” David Rajoo, ASEAN senior systems engineering specialist at Cortex by Palo Alto Networks, told BusinessWorld in an online interview on Aug. 13.

Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Undersecretary David L. Almirol, Jr. this month called on white hat hackers and cybersecurity experts to help conduct vulnerability assessment and penetration testing on e-government platforms.

A white hat hacker utilizes the same methods, tools, and techniques as malicious attackers but in a safe and controlled manner, without causing disruptions to organizations.

“Any digital assets or digital footprint that any of the agencies are putting out, DICT should provide guidelines or mandate these ministries or government agencies to proactively test the security of their applications when they are putting out onto the cloud itself,” Mr. Rajoo said.

Conducting a vulnerability test requires dialogue between two parties and should be done with permission and defined rules from the organization, he said, adding that ethical hackers must also disclose any “security loopholes” to the relevant agency, and their focus should be on demonstrating potential risks to improve security.

While organizations now often use artificial intelligence (AI) for operational efficiency, threat actors are also using AI to enhance their attacks, Mr. Rajoo said.

Thus, being prepared for cyberattacks is crucial, as it allows organizations to stay ahead of potential threats and mitigate risks before they materialize, he added.

“This evolving landscape further highlights the value of ethical hacking, which creates a controlled environment for simulating new attacks — including AI-powered threats — and provides customized recommendations to organizations.”

Palo Alto recently used AI to conduct an ethical test for a large corporation to understand what can be sold from its public domain information, he said. Using deepfake audio, the team targeted specific individuals within the organization to influence them to perform certain actions – an example of incorporated reconnaissance testing.

“We were actually able to take that voice, ran it through our AI algorithms and be able to generate actually a deepfake of that voice,” he added.

Palo Alto’s 2024 State of OT Security: A Comprehensive Guide to Trends, Risks, and Cyber Resilience report showed that more than 70% of local industrial organizations experienced cyberattacks in their operational technology environments in 2023.

It supports both public and private sectors with assessments services through its Unit 42 team, while also providing integrated AI-powered security through its Precision AI offering. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante