How long does it take a hacker to penetrate your system?

A poll conducted by Australian cybersecurity firm Nuix revealed that 81% of white hat hackers say they can identify and extract a victim's personal information in less than 12 hours.

The poll was taken at last years cybersecurity conferences; Black Hat USA and DEFCON 24. White hat hackers are often hired by companies to test their security measures.

Sixty-nine percent of polled hackers say they were never detected by a company's security team. Fifty percent say they change their attack measures with each test. But they all agree that once your data is compromised, there's little you can do to get it back.

“The only difference between me and a terrorist is a piece of paper (a statement of work), making what I do legal. The attacks, the tools, the methodology; it’s all the same," one surveyed hacker told Nuix Chief Information Security Officer Chris Pogue.

Why do hackers do it? Most often it is for monetary gains, entertainment, ego or intellectual challenge, status, an ethical cause, or security testing.

Source: WTAE