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This paper discusses the issues of implied trust in ethical hacking. Unlike many other long-established professions, such as lawyers, doctors, and accountants; ethical hackingis a relatively new profession.As a result, this profession does not currently have a uniformed or mandated code, nor does it require any form of licensing. Because ethical hackers could gain access to highly sensitive and confidential information and there is potential for misuse of such information, the need to ensure professionalism is maintained through ensuring competence and ethical behavior is critical.

Across the globe, there has been a noticeable increase in the adoption of breach disclosure laws that are designed to protect the privacy of individuals. To validate the security controls implemented by an organisation to protect sensitive data, penetration testers are often engaged to test the security of information systems and to report any vulnerabilities. Using an interpretivist, constructivist approach, this article reports on a pilot study that compares USA and Australian approaches to ethical hacking. The need for regulation of ethical hacking to help protect organisations from unethical conduct was a recurring theme. With the changes in privacy regulations across the world, unauthorised disclosure of personal and privileged information could result in significant consequences. This paper explores the importance of ethical conduct by penetration testers based on empirical research and the potential for misuse of information.

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