Ethical hacking and it security

Ethical hackers are employed to protect networks and computers from attacks from unethical hackers who illegally penetrate computers to access private and sensitive information. Though they possess technical skills to those of an unethical hacker, an ethical hacker utilizes these skills for protection. Using advanced software, an ethical hacker attempts to penetrate his company's system in much the same way a hacker does. The goal is to uncover any weak areas in the system. Once a weakness is found, it is patched. As part of the security team the ethical hacker also ensures that the system is firewalled, security protocols are in place and that sensitive files are encrypted.(by Asim)