Ethical hacker shares the one job he regrets that was totally immoral
This 'unethical' method made him a lot of money
Featured Image Credit: 0day/Instagram / Witthaya Prasongsin/Getty
Ethical hackers help the world by using their cyber skills for good, but one has recent revealed the one job that he took that wasn't exactly up to his current code of conduct.
Cybersecurity is a huge thing that you have to consider in your daily life, as you can find yourself vulnerable to attacks in nearly every place you look.
From covert QR codes to phishing emails that use Google Maps to show you exactly where you live, you can always be under threat of attack or extortion on the internet if you're not careful.
While 'ethical hackers' have often used their skills and knowledge for good, aiding those who have been left in a computer crisis, some have switched sides in the past to prey on the vulnerable for their own gain.
Advert
One such of these cases involved Ryan "0day" Montgomery, who is one of the most well known ethical hackers who proclaims himself as a 'Child Safety Warrior'. He specifically uses his hacking skills to expose alleged pedophiles, and also holds the #1 rank on cybersecurity tutorial site TryHackMe.
He revealed on the Shawn Ryan Show that there is one job that he used to do that made him a lot of money, but he regrets it and wishes that he could take it back.
While he refrains from going into the specifics due to the illegal nature of his actions, he explains that he was part of a cryptocurrency mining operation that used injected malware to mine crypto on the PCs of unsuspecting targets.
Montgomery was far from the only person doing this, and he received a a portion of profits related to the output of his targeted individuals, but this incredibly profitable venture is very much contradictory to his now ethics-focused approach.
With Bitcoin specifically around an all-time high of $100,000 per coin, you can imagine why this approach would be appealing to some if you disregard the major ethical and legal concerns.
Montgomery explains that he probably infected "tens of thousands" of computers with the crypto-associated malware, each of which was contributing to a pool that was at large making a significant amount of money.
He has since stopped this approach, however, explaining why he cut the cord in simple terms: "I have morals, you know."
There is perhaps nobody better to protect others against security issues such as these than someone who is more than experienced in conducting them, so you could maybe see it as a bit of market research - albeit with a highly illegal slant.
Some on social media don't think that the law is harsh enough against unethical hacking action though, as one user claims that "hackers don't go to jail when they get caught, they get promoted to a job in the NSA."
That's because these individuals have a skillset that only a select few posses, and it's more valuable for companies like the NSA to have them on their side than be fighting against them.
Montgomery certainly isn't working for the NSA, but he's now using his expertise to protect and inform others, which is definitely a more noble, albeit less profitable pursuit.