If you’re just beginning to learn about blockchain technology, it can seem quite complicated —  especially with buzzwords like decentralized, mining, token, cryptocurrency, and smart contracts. But don’t let these words and concepts intimidate you because the basics of blockchain technology are pretty straightforward.

Keep reading (or watch the video below) for our easy-to-understand explanation of blockchain, followed by an in-depth look at what blockchain is, how it works, and the ways it can be used now and in the future.

A simple explanation of blockchain

At its simplest form, a blockchain is a digital collection of information about transactions. This is also called a ledger, which is why this word is often used when describing blockchain technology.

When you have many different collections of data, they’re stored together using a system based on blocks of data chained together. Because each block is chained to those around it, they interact with each other.

This creates a system where if a block is altered, an adjacent block will immediately catch the error and prevent the invalid transaction. As a result, transactions on the blockchain cannot be changed — creating a permanent record that’s shared with everyone on the network.

The blockchain has the potential to unlock how we view and spend money, and how we’ll legitimize a variety of agreements, contracts, and technologies.

Where the blockchain came from

When most people think of the blockchain, prominent technologies like Bitcoin come to mind. Although blockchain technology isn’t dependent on Bitcoin, its development was powered by the crypto giant, and Bitcoin continues to lead the blockchain movement. But, originally, the blockchain had nothing to do with currency.

In 1991, the blockchain concept was invented as a way of verifying contents within a document using an immutable time stamp. The blockchain was designed as a way of authenticating what’s in a document and time-stamping the verification without revealing what’s inside the document. This gave blockchain transactions authenticity, immutability, and privacy.

The distributed ledger of a blockchain

A ledger is a record of transactions, and it includes important details like when the transaction was made, the parties involved, what was transacted, and any applicable amounts.

A common example of a ledger is a checkbook, which has the dates, amounts, and recipients of the checks, as well as how much you have left in your checking account. But, if you do most of your banking electronically, your monthly bank statement serves as a ledger.

On the blockchain, the ledger is distributed, which means entries are made and shared with everyone on the network. In this way, the ledger is “distributed” among many different users or peers. Every peer has a copy of the entire ledger.

How the blockchain is decentralized

Since everyone has access to the same ledger and no one person or institution controls it, the blockchain is decentralized. This makes the blockchain different from financial institutions like banks  because banks have control over transactions.

Here’s an example: Let’s imagine the blockchain is like Google Docs and traditional banks are like older versions of Microsoft Word. With Google Docs, everyone who has access to the document can add to it. With Microsoft Word, on the other hand, all you can do is send a saved file for someone else to read.

On the blockchain, anyone on the network can add to the ledger while a bank merely sends out a statement. You can’t add a transaction to the bank’s ledger or perform transactions without its approval because it’s centralized.

How the blockchain is immutable

The immutable, or unchangeable, nature of the blockchain is where the Google Docs comparisons stop. Unlike Google Docs, no one can change what’s been entered into the blockchain. Each peer on the network can only add transactions. In other words, nothing that’s already been added can be altered in any way.

How the blockchain works

There are several different kinds of blockchains, like public blockchains and consortium blockchains, but they all share some key core elements. A blockchain is made up of blocks. Within these blocks is data. The data contains information that needs to be kept on the blockchain’s ledger.

For example, with cryptocurrency, the data includes:

• Sender
• Receiver
• How much currency is being sent

Blockchains are also used in the process of tracking food. In this case, the block would contain data such as:

• Where the food was harvested
• The factory that processed it
• Where the food was purchased

Thanks to the blockchain, if there’s a food-born disease, you can quickly figure out where the food was produced and which facilities (or even people) handled it. You can then use that information to protect others from getting infected — all within a matter of minutes or hours.

If the automobile industry were to use the blockchain, you could ensure that the odometer readings of vehicles were accurate, preventing people from tampering with them to increase or decrease value.

For example, the block could contain an accurate odometer reading and the date it was recorded. This would be stored on the blockchain, and anyone could access it to see a true record of how far the car had been driven.

Why can’t data be changed on the blockchain?

If you’re thinking to yourself, why can’t the data be changed? of course it can be — just go in a change it! You’re not alone. This is a common question and the explanation is important.

So, data stored within each block on the blockchain has what’s called a hash value. This value is generated by ​​passing some data through a formula, and the result produced by the formula is called a hash. Usually, the hash is a string of characters, and hashes generated by a specific formula are always the same length, regardless of how much data you feed into it.

For example, the MD5 formula always produces 32 character-long hashes. It doesn’t matter if you feed just the letter C or the entire word Codecademy into the formula, you’ll always get a hash value that’s 32 characters long.

Also, the formula will always produce the exact same hash for a specific data. So, using the MD5 formula, the string for Codecademy always returns the value e2f38549c5d471e64f7c16cf44d2d36d. (Give it a try yourself.)

This is important because the hash serves as the unique digital fingerprint for each block. Along with a hash value, a checksum is also produced for a specific piece of data, and it verifies the authenticity of the data.

This helps protect against accidental changes, data-transmission errors, or hackers. Two files can be assumed to be identical only if the checksums generated for each file — using the same cryptographic hash function — are identical.

To be useful, cryptographic hash functions have to have four properties. They have to be:

• Computationally efficient
• Deterministic
• Pre-image resistant
• Collision-resistant

Here’s a bit more about each of these properties:

Computationally efficient

Computational efficiency means computers can perform the hash functions quickly. This makes it so a computer can perform the function without expending too much processing power. This enhanced power helps the overall blockchain function more efficiently.

Deterministic

The blockchain is deterministic, which means that for any given input, the hash function will always give the same result. For example, if you put in the same input a million times in a row, regardless of when you enter it, the hash function has to produce the same output every single time.

This is similar to how a regular mathematical function works. For instance, in the equation X + 2 = Y, if you make X equal to 3, Y will always be 5 or 3 + 2.

Pre-image resistant

A hash function being pre-image resistant means that its output doesn’t reveal any information about the input. So, even if you know the output, you can’t figure out the input used to create it. In this way, the pre-image-resistant nature of cryptographic hashes protects the privacy of those who transact on the blockchain.

With cryptographic hash functions, the input can be anything from numbers, letters, sentences, paragraphs, or entire books. It doesn’t matter how big or small the input is, the function itself doesn’t reveal any information about it.

Collision-resistant

When a hash is collision-resistant, it’s nearly impossible for two different inputs to produce the same output. The output of a hash is a fixed length, while the input can be any size. So, there’s a minuscule possibility of the output being the same given two different inputs.

Commonly used hash functions

Of the several different types of hash algorithms, the two most commonly used for authenticating data are MD5 and SHA-2.

MD5 (Message-Digest algorithm 5)

If you’ve heard of the MD5 hash function, you probably also know that it’s considered cryptographically broken. But, even though it has considerable vulnerabilities, it’s still commonly used as a checksum to verify data integrity. Producing a 128-bit hash value, it’s also used for a wide variety of other security applications.

SHA-2

Designed by the United States National Security Agency, SHA-2 is a family of six hash functions. One of them is the SHA-256 hash, which is used by Bitcoin. SHA-2 returns a hash value of 256-bits and is considered to be significantly more secure than MD5.

The key to the blockchain’s immutability: The hash pointer

Each block of data in the blockchain has a pointer pointing to the block before it, and each block is being pointed to by the block after it. The one exception is the first block, known as the genesis block or Block 0.

Since the genesis block is the foundation on which additional blocks are added to form a chain, it doesn’t have a previous block to point to. So, the value of the “previous hash” of a genesis block is set to 0. This simply means that there wasn’t any data processed before the genesis block.

Each block following the genesis block is numbered sequentially, starting at 1, and has a “previous hash” set to the hash of the previous block. This means each block can be traced back to the one before it and the one before that one and so on — all the way back to the genesis block.

The value of each block is determined by the hash function that runs on the data. So, if someone tries to change or manipulate the data, the hash value produced by the block will change, too. This flags the data on the blockchain as invalid, keeping the transaction secure.

For example, if you have three blocks in a blockchain, the second points to the first, and the third points to the second. If someone tries to change the data in the second block, they would also alter the hash value the block produces — because the hash function is deterministic and collision-resistant.

The pointer of the third block would no longer work because it’s looking for the original hash result. This causes the results in the blockchain to break, which then exposes the tampering attempt.

Every computer on the blockchain’s network would instantly see the invalidity of the transaction. Each computer, in effect, casts a vote regarding the validity of the data within each block. Someone would need control of more than 50% of all the computers on the network to try to validate a block that’s been tampered with.

The pointer works like a digital agreement between blocks in a blockchain, making the information in transactions such as currency exchanges, odometer readings, or where vegetables are grown immutable, or unchangeable. This level of security is one of the main appeals of blockchain technology.

The 4 qualities of the blockchain

Every blockchain has these same essential qualities:

• Peer-to-peer: The blockchain isn’t controlled by any central person or authority. Everyone on the network is an equal player, and all participants talk to each other directly without the input of any third parties.
• Distributed: The ledger is spread across the entire network, making it nearly impossible to tamper with. The only way to potentially alter the ledger would be to control at least 51% of the computers on the blockchain’s network.
• Cryptographically secured: Cryptography is used for security purposes, and it makes the ledger tamper-proof. There’s no way to derive the data that was inputted using the output, thanks to cryptography.
• Add-only: Data can only be added to the blockchain, and each entry is time-stamped, which also adds to the blockchain’s immutability.

Blockchain obstacles

While blockchain technology is, in many ways, revolutionary and extremely useful, there are a few significant obstacles.

Education

Without adequate knowledge of how to implement blockchain technology, many companies steer clear of it. Blockchain is a relatively new technology, so a lot of people don’t understand how it works or how to use it. This is slowing down the widespread adoption of the blockchain.

Even though adoption has been slow across the board, there are several companies using blockchain technology successfully today. One company taking advantage of blockchain’s transparency and data ledger technology is Spring Labs. With a mission to give businesses a way to transfer information faster and more securely, they tap into the inherent safety that comes from blockchain capabilities.

With approximately 68 million verified users, Coinbase is another company working to bring blockchain tech into our daily lives by making buying and managing cryptocurrencies easy.

Educating the public about how to use the blockchain and why it’s such an effective tool can make a big difference in the rate at which people welcome it into their day-to-day lives and business systems.

Banks and governments resist decentralization

With the blockchain, users can interact without a middleman, which removes much of the power and profit potential banks currently enjoy in the present financial system. For example, using the blockchain, you can send thousands of dollars to someone across the world in moments without paying a fee to a bank. If everyone were to adopt blockchain transactions, banks couldn’t collect wiring or transfer fees as they do now.

Governments like to have control over how people perform financial transactions, which includes knowing the identity of those receiving or sending money — or interacting in other ways, such as verifying where food was grown.

With the blockchain, the identities of the people involved in a transaction are never revealed. This makes it relatively easy for people to hide their identities when sending and receiving money and engage in a variety of contractual obligations while staying anonymous.

Usability and ease of use

Even though Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies can be used to purchase goods and services, the lack of widespread adoption makes Bitcoin more like gold — a means of storing value.

While Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency, it takes a lot longer to perform a transaction with Bitcoin than it does with a credit card. This makes some people hesitant to adopt it as a day-to-day currency.

Technology

Technological limitations also hinder the adoption of blockchain solutions. The design of some blockchains creates a bottleneck as the number of transactions grows.

The original design of the Bitcoin blockchain limited the number of transactions to seven per second. This is significantly low when compared to, say, the Visa network, which can complete thousands of transactions in the same amount of time.

The future of blockchain technology

The blockchain makes it possible for people from different parts of the world to instantly engage in business transactions and exchange, gather, and analyze data. The future of the blockchain will largely depend on people learning how it works and then adapting it to perform common tasks, as well as open up new possibilities.

Currently, some banks and financial institutions are already in the process of adopting and developing blockchain solutions because they provide fast, secure ways of sending and receiving funds.

One of the most flexible applications of the blockchain involves smart contracts. These are contracts, similar to what you’d put on paper, that allow two or more parties to agree to the conditions of a sale. When each facet of the contract has been satisfied, the transaction can go through.

For example, you could use a smart contract to facilitate the sale of a house. Everything from the home inspection to lien requirements can be included within the smart contract.

Blockchain can help with other real estate transactions, too. If someone who lives in the U.S. wants to purchase land in Jamaica but is currently visiting France, the transaction would be just as easy and inexpensive as it would if they were actually in Kingston, Jamaica. The more financial institutions adopt blockchain technology, the more common these kinds of transactions will become.

Another key factor in the future of the blockchain is the decentralized finance movement or Defi. Defi is simply finance using cryptocurrency. Defi systems make it possible for users to lend and borrow money, with those lending earning returns on the money they let others borrow.

The pros and cons of using the blockchain

As with all technologies, there are advantages and drawbacks to using the blockchain. Here are some pros and cons to consider:

Pros

• An open, shared ledger system that’s tamper-proof without control of 51% of computers on the network
• Decentralized management of transactions prevents large institutions or organizations from exercising central control over user’s funds
• Simple, inexpensive transactions across international borders
• The potential for building many types of smart contracts to facilitate a wide range of transactions and data exchanges

Cons

• Currencies on the blockchain often go through dramatic swings in value
• Limited adoption of blockchain solutions limits availability
• Some governments are targeting financial blockchain activity, seeking to limit it
• Hackers can penetrate cryptocurrency exchanges and anonymously steal funds

The future of the blockchain

In a paper about how blockchain technology can revolutionize international trade, the World Trade Organization (WTO) says that it can go far and beyond Bitcoin. The WTO predicts blockchain tech will be the beneficiary of “larger, focused investments” resulting in many successful models between 2022 and 2028. This will likely result in a “global, large-scale value-add” between 2027 and 2030.

The research also points to a spike in the business value of around 2% in 2021 to over 120% in 2030. The growth will be largely driven by the fact that the blockchain presents opportunities for:

• Numerous trade-related applications
• New opportunities to enhance the efficiency of processes
• Paperless trade processes
• A new generation of digital services produced by blockchain startups
• The efficient, transparent administration of intellectual property rights

Recap: Blockchain basics

The blockchain provides users with a unique, effective, inexpensive way of exchanging currencies, maintaining accurate data, and facilitating contracts. All of this is possible because of the following elements, which differentiate the blockchain from other methods of making transactions and exchanging information:

• A distributed ledger. No central organization or person controls the information. Peers on the network share the information in the ledger and everyone has an up-to-date copy.
• A decentralized structure. Transactions aren’t facilitated, controlled, or altered by a central entity.
• Immutable. Once the information has been entered into the blockchain, it can’t be changed.
• Cryptographically secured. The transactions are secure using cryptographic functions that make it impossible to derive the input from the output.
• Add-only. You can only add to the blockchain. You can’t alter previous entries.

These qualities hinge on the hash functions that form the basis of the blockchain. Hash functions are:

• Computationally efficient. This means computers can solve them quickly.
• Deterministic. As long as you put in the same input, you’ll get the same output.
• Pre-image resistant. The output of a hash function can’t be used to determine the input used to produce it.
• Collision-resistant. Two different inputs can’t produce the same output, practically speaking. The chances are less than 1 in 115, followed by 75 zeroes.

These are the basic, foundational concepts driving the blockchain, but there’s a lot more to learn. Blockchain technology is still relatively young, and, as more and more major institutions and companies — big and small — realize its potential, the market for blockchain designers is sure to grow.

With our courses, you can learn all you need to get started in a career using blockchain technology. In Learn the Basics of Blockchain with Python, you’ll gain an understanding of the fundamentals of the blockchain, as well as how to implement them using Python. If you want to take your learning to the next level, join us for free today.

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Learn the fundamental concepts of Blockchain and implement them in Python.

If you’re working on becoming a Front-End Developer, then you may already be familiar with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript as must-have skills.

But these aren’t the only useful tools for Front-End Developers. Many people who learn CSS go on to learn Sass for more efficient and consistent web design, especially for large, complex web development projects.

In this article (and in the video below), we’ll go through the basics of Sass — what it is, why people prefer it to pure CSS, how it works, and some of its more popular features.

What is Sass?

Sass (Syntactically Awesome Style Sheets) is an extension of CSS. Style sheet languages control where and how text appears on a webpage, from frame size and color to menu positions.

CSS is used all over the web, but that doesn’t make it the smoothest coding experience. It was designed to help developers write instructions on how to present text on a screen rather than to work with variables or perform complex decision-making tasks.

As you’ll find out, Sass addresses some of these serious shortcomings of CSS, saving developers time and effort on projects.

Why use Sass?

If it takes time and effort to learn Sass, why bother if you can do the same thing with CSS? There are a few major reasons why developers find learning Sass to be a worthwhile investment.

Sass code is more organized compared to CSS

While CSS and Sass theoretically have the same capabilities, Sass can do the same job using less code. That makes Sass code much easier to read and understand, particularly in large web projects involving multiple developers.

Sass syntax is easy to learn

If you already know CSS, then you’ll be relieved to find that a lot of Sass syntax is identical to CSS. While there are a few key differences between the two, most developers who already know CSS can pick up Sass after taking a brief course.

Think of Sass as a programming “dialect” rather than a whole new language.

Sass code is reusable

As you’ll learn in a moment, Sass allows for variables and chunks of code that can be reused over and over again. This saves developers a lot of time and reduces the risk of coding mistakes. It also makes it easier and faster to change styles in multiple places in your code, such as frame sizes, border styles, colors, and so on.

Sass is stable

Since its release in 2006, Sass has been supported by its core developers as well as large tech companies. As a result, Sass can be considered a mature yet up-to-date language.

How does Sass work?

Sass is a preprocessor language that’s interpreted into CSS. A preprocessor language takes input data and converts it to an output that’s used as input by another program.

This means when you run Sass code, you’re actually converting your code to CSS. That CSS code output is then used directly by a browser.

Why have this extra step of converting from Sass to CSS? Because browsers can only read CSS code.

Now that you understand how Sass works and why so many developers love it, let’s take a look at four features of Sass that make it so attractive.

Features of Sass

As you might be thinking, the way Sass works means there’s nothing you can code in Sass that you couldn’t code directly in CSS. But Sass includes a few distinct features that help developers code much more quickly and efficiently.

Sass has variables

If there’s one thing developers hate, it’s repeating themselves. Suppose that you’re creating a website with many pages. Of course, you’d want the different pages to look and feel connected by having consistent color schemes and fonts.

In pure CSS, you’d need to call out the colors and fonts on each page. Every single time. And, if you wanted a new color scheme, you’d need to go back and manually edit the colors and fonts in your CSS script. Every. Single. Time.

With Sass, there’s a wonderful solution. Sass allows you to define variables so you can easily change key values later, such as color, font size, and borders. Instead of retyping changes over and over in CSS, you can simply change the value of your variable of interest in Sass.

Sass Mixins save even more time

With Sass, not only can you define variables, but you can also package groups of variables known as Mixins. For example, if most of the pages on a website use the same fonts, colors, and border schemes, you can define a Mixin that includes all of these values.

In future web pages, all you need to do is call out the Mixin rather than remembering to individually call the font, color, and border values.

Inherited and extended properties

When you want to make parts of your website a bit different from the template, Sass still saves time. Say you want a page on your website that looks mostly like the other pages but with something new, like a new type of header.

Rather than redefining everything from the beginning, Sass allows you to keep or inherit the properties of a Mixin and add individual values as needed. So, using Sass, you can quickly import the fonts and colors you defined in an earlier Mixin while adding properties for that new header.

Sass functions

If you’re already familiar with other programming languages such as Python, Swift, or Ruby, then you’ve probably created your own functions before. Functions accept inputs from the user and run through specific lines of code to perform complex operations.

Many programming languages come with built-in functions, such as functions that calculate averages and string lengths. But, suppose that you have a very specific need, such as separately calculating the word count in every frame of a page.

Rather than coding in individual instructions on every page, Sass functions allow you to code in the instructions once. Later on, it’s easy to call your function to perform the same task as many times as you need to.

Sass helps CSS work more like a programming language

There’s still hot debate on whether CSS counts as a full programming language. But, no matter where you stand on the topic, it’s easy to see that CSS was designed to provide instructions on how a web page should look rather than to perform decision-making tasks and work with variables.

While everything done in Sass can be done in CSS, Sass helps you, the developer, write code in a way that looks and feels like a programming language.

SCSS: sassy syntax

As you learn Sass, you’re sure to come across SCSS, which stands for “Sassy CSS.” Sass can be written with two types of syntax: the original indented or newer SCSS. The original syntax uses indentation for nesting and provides a visual hierarchy in the code, similar to Python or Ruby but unlike CSS.

SCSS, on the other hand, uses syntax identical to CSS, with curly brackets to indicate nesting. The advantage of SCSS is that you don’t need to convert an SCSS file to CSS since all SCSS syntax is also valid in CSS.

It’s also easier to learn SCSS syntax if you’re used to CSS already. While SCSS syntax looks more like native CSS, both SCSS and the original Sass syntax can perform the same functions in Sass. Both syntax styles allow you to use variables, Mixins, functions, and other features not available in native CSS.

Who should learn Sass?

Anyone interested in becoming a Front-End Engineer can benefit from learning Sass. Along with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, Sass is a great way to help you stand out to potential employers.

Remember that Sass is, above everything, a way to write CSS code more efficiently. Knowing Sass is a signal to hiring managers that you can get the job done more quickly and have the skills to work on large, complex web projects.

How to learn Sass

Because Sass is so closely tied to CSS, we recommend that you learn CSS before learning Sass. That way, you’ll be able to directly build on your previous knowledge and skill as you learn how best to use Sass to save you time working in CSS.

Once you feel comfortable working with CSS, then it’ll be relatively easy to learn Sass.

Jump-start your developer career by learning Sass

Anyone looking to begin their career as a Front-End Developer would benefit from learning Sass to supplement their knowledge of CSS. But what about after that? We recommend taking a more advanced CSS course to help prepare you for the most complex web development projects.

Still not sure what direction you’d like to go in your development career? Our Career Paths help you decide with descriptions of each Path and which skills you should start learning to help you succeed as a developer.

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Web Design is essential to bringing a website to life and creating the experience that you want for your end users. The courses here will help you polish your HTML and CSS skills while learning about color design, navigation design, and more.

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Web Development is the practice of developing websites and web apps that live on the internet. Whether you’re interested in front-end, back-end, or going full-stack, the content in our Web Development domain will help you get there.

Hacking involves using technical skills to break into computer systems and access sensitive data. Even though hackers have been around for decades, with our increasing reliance on data and technology, they’ve been playing a far more significant role in recent years.

Still, hacking isn’t always a bad thing. There are good hackers, too, and you could become one. Keep reading to learn about the different kinds of hacking, how to protect yourself against malicious hacking, and how you can hack to help companies improve their systems.

The different types of hacking

There are three basic categories of hackers: black hat, gray hat, and white hat.

What is a black hat hacker?

Black hat hackers are the bad guys. They infiltrate systems without asking for permission, and they do it for personal gain or to sabotage a system.

When not motivated by greed, black hat hackers often hack to impress other hackers in their communities. When they penetrate a system known to have tough defenses, they earn the kudos of other hackers. Their skills can also earn them a spot within a team of hackers that exploit vulnerabilities to steal information for profit.

Generally, a black hat hacker programs malware, viruses, and ransomware attacks to:

• Steal identities
• Steal credit card information
• Steal money from bank accounts
• Leak sensitive information to the public
• Take one company’s sensitive data and give it to another
• Steal large amounts of personal information and sell it to third parties
• Cripple a company’s computer system by taking control of it and then asking for money in exchange for giving them control again
• Steal and sell login information

What is a gray hat hacker?

Gray hat hackers may not be malicious, but many consider their practices to be less than ethical. The typical gray hat hacker is, like black hat hackers, out for respect or monetary gain.

Here’s the kind of playbook you can expect from a grey hat hacker:

1. The hacker attacks your system and finds a vulnerability.
2. They reach out and inform you of your system’s weakness without going into the detail you’d need to fix the problem.
3. They then offer to fix the problem with your network for a fee.

This leaves you with a difficult decision. Do you reward the hacker’s shady tactic by paying them to fix the problem, or do you reject their offer on principle but leave the vulnerability in place? If you reject their offer, you may also be left wondering what other vulnerabilities exist in your system.

What is a white hat hacker?

Hackers can also provide crucial cybersecurity services to defend companies from these kinds of attacks. In this way, a hacker — specifically a white hat hacker — can be a powerful resource.

A white hat hacker hacks for the benefit of others, particularly organizations trying to discover (and close) security vulnerabilities in their system. The biggest difference between a white hat hacker and a black hat hacker is a white hat hacker always obtains permission before penetrating someone’s system. A black hat hacker invades a system without asking.

A white hat hacker will typically engage in a normal business meeting with a company and listen to their concerns. Then, they’ll attempt to hack areas of their network to reveal its weaknesses. After they finish, they provide a report to the company and potential next steps.

Generally, white hat hacking involves:

• Testing the strength of firewalls meant to detect malicious activity
• Finding vulnerabilities in the coding of web applications
• Discovering weaknesses in databases that could leave a company susceptible to SQL attacks, which target database codes and structures
• Checking if an organization is resilient against distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks
• Seeing how well a company can recover after a ransomware attack
• Testing backup systems for vulnerabilities

How to protect against malicious hacking

It’s difficult to protect against malicious hacking 100% of the time, but there are some steps you can take. For example, you can:

• Create complex, hard-to-guess passwords for all your online accounts.
• Never leave login credentials lying around for someone to steal.
• Use password protection for all your devices.
• Use different, complex passwords for every account you have online.
• Avoid logging into public networks, such as those at coffee shops or airports, because they have lax security measures.
• Connect to services where you have to enter private information using a VPN, which encrypts all data you send and receive while connected.
• Use a firewall when connected to the internet. Firewalls help filter out malicious data, protecting you and your devices.
• Learn to recognize and avoid phishing attacks and other types of social engineering.
• Only install software from trusted sources.
• Avoid websites that might host malicious code.

Jobs that involve hacking

As we explained, white hat hackers use their skills to benefit companies and public organizations. A white hat hacker can perform jobs like:

Penetration testing

A Penetration Tester is someone that a company hires to try to hack either their general network or a specific element of it.

For example, say a company is concerned about how easy it would be for a business partner to get inside their network. They can hire a Penetration Tester and give them the kinds of credentials a strategic partner may be granted. The Penetration Tester will then try to do one or more of the following:

• Access sensitive information
• Hack into web applications
• Access private databases
• Escalate their privileges to gain unauthorized access to an area of the network

Software testing

Hackers hired to do software testing will often be given a completed version of a software while it’s still in development. They’ll then be asked to try to hack it, and when they’re done, they provide written feedback to the dev team.

A hacker may also be hired to test a specific element of the application early on in the development life cycle. In this way, the hacker helps the company avoid accidentally coding in vulnerabilities.

Overall cybersecurity readiness testing

Suppose a company has purchased the services of a managed security provider, has all their hardware and software in place, and has installed a full suite of antimalware. They may then turn to a hacker to have them evaluate their system.

The hacker wouldn’t just try to penetrate it but also give advice — from a hacker’s perspective — on how to improve the company’s cyber defenses.

Cybersecurity testing for a managed security service provider (MSSP)

Some companies don’t want to go through the trouble — or invest the funds — in establishing an in-house cybersecurity defense team. Instead, they hire an MSSP, or managed security service provider, that gives them what they need to protect their on-premise and cloud-based digital resources.

As a hacker, you can work for an MSSP, giving them a perspective they couldn’t get from a regular Cybersecurity Admin.

While working for an MSSP, you may be called in to work as a consultant on an as-needed basis, or they may hire you and present your skillset as part of the package they offer to their clients.

Government Cybersecurity Specialist or hacker

Because governments are constantly trying to hack each other, many have teams of hackers on their payrolls. In this position, you may be asked to hack into sensitive areas of another government’s system.

You could also be tasked with testing various government-managed systems or those that support crucial infrastructures, such as water systems or power grids.

Getting started with hacking

If you’re interested in becoming a white hat hacker — or if you’d like to get familiar with the tools hackers use so you can stop them — our courses can give you a solid foundation. To learn how hackers think, as well as the languages they often use, you can use the following:

You can become an expert white hat hacker with the help of our courses. With us, you’ll gain the experience and knowledge you need to understand the technical aspects of hacking, as well as the systems hackers tend to target. To learn more, check out our catalog.

Cybersecurity Courses & Tutorials | Codecademy

Cybersecurity is a fast-growing field that addresses the security risks of our increasingly connected digital world. Learn cybersecurity, and you will learn how users, companies, and even governments protect themselves and recover from, cyber threats and attacks. Start defending yourself, or your or…