Introduction to Ethical Hacking

Introduction to Ethical Hacking

What is hacking ?

Hacking is the practice of modifying the features of a system, in order to accomplish a goal outside of the creator’s original purpose. The person who is consistently engaging in hacking activities, and has accepted hacking as a lifestyle and philosophy of their choice, is called a hacker.

Computer hacking is the most popular form of hacking nowadays, especially in the field of computer security, but hacking exists in many other forms, such as phone hacking, brain hacking, etc. and it’s not limited to either of them.

Hacking has been a part of computing for almost five decades and it is a very broad discipline, which covers a wide range of topics. The first known event of hacking had taken place in 1960 at MIT and at the same time, the term "Hacker" was originated.

Hacking is the act of finding the possible entry points that exist in a computer system or a computer network and finally entering into them. Hacking is usually done to gain unauthorized access to a computer system or a computer network, either to harm the systems or to steal sensitive information available on the computer.

Hacking is usually legal as long as it is being done to find weaknesses in a computer or network system for testing purpose. This sort of hacking is what we call Ethical Hacking.
A computer expert who does the act of hacking is called a "Hacker". Hackers are those who seek knowledge, to understand how systems operate, how they are designed, and then attempt to play with these systems.

Types of Hacking

We can segregate hacking into different categories, based on what is being hacked. Here is a set of examples −

• Website Hacking − Hacking a website means taking unauthorized control over a web server and its associated software such as databases and other interfaces.
  
• Network Hacking − Hacking a network means gathering information about a network by using tools like Telnet, NS lookup, Ping, Tracert, Netstat, etc. with the intent to harm the network system and hamper its operation.
  
• Email Hacking − It includes getting unauthorized access on an Email account and using it without taking the consent of its owner.
  
• Ethical Hacking − Ethical hacking involves finding weaknesses in a computer or network system for testing purpose and finally getting them fixed.
  
• Password Hacking − This is the process of recovering secret passwords from data that has been stored in or transmitted by a computer system.
  
• Computer Hacking − This is the process of stealing computer ID and password by applying hacking methods and getting unauthorized access to a computer system.

Advantages of Hacking

Hacking is quite useful in the following scenarios −

• To recover lost information, especially in case you lost your password.
• To perform penetration testing to strengthen computer and network security.
• To put adequate preventative measures in place to prevent security breaches.
• To have a computer system that prevents malicious hackers from gaining access.

Disadvantages of Hacking

Hacking is quite dangerous if it is done with harmful intent. It can cause −

• Massive security breach.
• Unauthorized system access on private information.
• Privacy violation.
• Hampering system operation.
• Denial of service attacks.
• Malicious attack on the system.

Purpose of Hacking

There could be various positive and negative intentions behind performing hacking activities. Here is a list of some probable reasons why people indulge in hacking activities −

• Just for fun
• Show-off
• Steal important information
• Damaging the system
• Hampering privacy
• Money extortion
• System security testing
• To break policy compliance

Classification of hackers

Hackers are classified according to activity they perform on system or network,below are the main nine classification of hackers:-

Black hat – A Black Hat hacker, also known as a cracker,  is a computer professional with deep knowledge in Computer Networking, Network Protocols and System Administration . Black Hat hacker has also good knowledge in many hacking tools and know how to program hacking tools. A Black Hat hacker uses his skills for unethical reasons. A Black Hat hacker always has malicious intention for intruding a network.

Gray hat – Gray hats are the individuals who work both offensively and defensively at various times.Gray Hat hacker is someone who is between White Hat hacker and Black Hat hacker.Gray Hat normally do the hacking without the permissions from the administrators of the network he is hacking. But he will expose the network vulnerabilities to the network admins and offer a fix for the vulnerability for money.

White hat – A White Hat hacker has deep knowledge in Computer Networking, Network Protocols and System Administration. White Hat hacker has also good knowledge in hacking tools and know how to program hacking tools.

Suicide hackers – Suicide hackers are those who hack for some purpose and even don’t bother to suffer long term jail due to their activities. They can be bad as well as good.

Script kiddies – A Script Kiddie is basically a hacker amateur who doesn’t has much knowledge to program tools to breaks into computer networks. He often use downloaded hacking tools from internet written by other hackers/security experts.Script kiddies usually focus on the quantity of attacks rather than the quality of the attacks that they initiate.

Spy hacker – Spy hackers are individuals who are employed by an organization to penetrate and gain trade secrets of the competitor. These insiders can take advantage of the privileges they have to hack a system or network.

Cyber Terrorist – A programmer who breaks into computer systems in order to steal or change or destroy information as a form of cyber-terrorism.

State sponsored hackers – State sponsored hackers are individuals employed by the government to penetrate and gain top-secret information and to damage information systems of the governments.

Hacktivist: A hacktivist is kinda hacker who thinks hacking can bring out some social changes and hacks government and organizations to show his discomfort over some trivial issues.