JEDDAH, 7 October 2005 — For the first time, a young Saudi security system consultant Manal Al-Sharif was awarded an “Ethical Hacking” certificate from the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants in America.
Speaking to Arab News Al-Sharif said her work was acknowledged because of its importance for business concerns. She said that when companies build up a network system and implement it, they ask “ethical hackers” to try to crack the system down. They do that in order to evaluate the system’s efficiency so the company can be aware of it and make changes to prevent crackers from penetrating the system.
“That is the difference between an ‘ethical hacker’ and a ‘cracker,’ Al-Sharif added. Then, they present preventive plans to the companies.
She started working in the “Ethical Hacking” project at Aramco along with her colleagues in the security system section cooperating with special experts from outside. At the end of their project they were able to form a sample lab. Its purpose was to imitate crackers’ actions.
The international certificate that Al-Sharif received did not only require passing the tests but the applicants should also have appropriate experience in the field of security systems. Aramco provided the needed training courses for Al-Sharif and six male participants at the project.
Twenty-six years old Al-Sharif has worked in the field of electronic safety at Aramco for three years after graduating from King Abdul Aziz University with a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
She said that she was determined to specialize in the security systems profession that only a small percentage of women work in — not only in the Kingdom but also around the world — when she started as a student at KAAU.
“Since the Internet service was available in the Kingdom in 1997 I was very fond of the technical part of it, I did not want it to be merely a hobby I wanted to be professional in that field.”
