The word “hacker” has been traditionally associated with a criminal activity. However, among definitions listed in the Oxford English dictionary, you will find:
- A person who uses computer skills to try and gain unauthorized access to computer files or networks
- A person with an enthusiasm for programming or using computers as a means to an end.
Whichever of the definitions you choose, we must remember that most of the population consists of good people — only a small percentage are criminals. In fact, one could guess that the percentage of hackers versus the total computer savvy population is likely the same as of traditional thieves versus the total population of the world.
Good people have always had to find ways to protect themselves. Learning defensive skills in martial arts is one example. The way one learned to defend oneself has been implemented by simulating being attacked by someone who knows how a bad actor would behave. The outcome of such practice is interesting in the sense that the individuals learning how to defend themselves see a collateral effect of also becoming skilled to attack, should they ever need it.
The analogy is also valid for the world of cybersecurity. By learning attack practices, cybersecurity professionals become more capable in defending the infrastructures they aim to protect.
Further expanding the analogy, the attack-defense world is not static. In fact, in cybersecurity, it is quite dynamic — the only limit being one’s imagination. Therefore, for the defenses to keep improving and outperform attack strategies and tactics, there must be continuous testing.
Just like equipment testing, individuals’ capabilities need to be continuously tested and competition is the most effective way to do that. Therefore, the use of CTF (Capture the Flag) being so popular.
Once defined that using attack expertise and the concept that competition is an effective way to continuous improvements, the only thing left is how to put it all together.
Here appears a great partner of BAMMTECH’s, hackrocks.
hackrocks is the first platform for integral development of capabilities. In the scope of cybersecurity in fact, it offers practices created by hackers and a space for community growth.
The whole idea is for the participants to continuously learn by having to overcome hacking attempts in a measurable way.
Who do participants compete against and what is measurable on the training?
The hackrocks platform can be available on the cloud or on-site. If on the cloud, while maintaining all demanded confidentiality, participants can compete solely with individuals in their entity of with an open array of competitors.
The participants are awarded grades which demonstrate improvements as well as their capabilities versus those of their peers.
What is the content of the cybersecurity training?
There is no fixed content and that is purely of the buyer’s choice. It is also good to point out that customer specific content can be added rather easily as well as the success parameters.
Enrique Serrano is the founder and CEO at hackrocks, with an immense and reputable history in Cybersecurity. When asked what drove him to create hackrocks, he answered:
“Many years ago, I realized that the world of hacking had two very defined faces: the one that uses it to do evil, cybercriminals, and the one that uses it to do good, hackers. The great paradox was that to make good use of hacking it was mandatory to first go through the dark side, learn to hack by committing illegalities. And the time has come to unite this idea: to make possible a legal way of being a hacker and learning cybersecurity.”
Regarding the hackrocks philosophy, Enrique states:
“The philosophy of hackrocks is based on overcoming challenges via customer defined courses.
There is a guided learning circuit, by stages and levels of knowledge, in which you can overcome all phases one by one and grow. Our training is also based on the standards of IEEE and ACM, two of the most internationally renowned institutions in the technological world.”
Enrique believes that the hackrocks significantly assists the world addressing a very serious problem every entity is facing of a shortage of cybersecurity professionals!
We at BAMMTECH are extremely proud to be considered a hackrocks partner.
For more details and inquiries, click here and contact BAMMTECH’s team of specialists right now or write to sales@bammtech.com.