INTRODUCTION TO ETHICAL HACKING
Ethical hacking and ethical hacker are terms used to describe hacking done by a company or individual to help identify potential threats on a computer or a website or a network. An ethical hacker attempts to bypass system security or network and search for a weakness that could be exploited by hackers. This gathered information is then used to improve the system security, and to decrease any weaknesses used for potential attacks.
What constitutes ethical hacking?
For hacking to be deemed ethical, the hacker must obey the following dos and don’t :
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Should get permission to probe the network and attempts to identify potential security risks.
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Should respect privacy or policy of individual or company.
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Should not leave the work open for any other individuals else to exploit the work.
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Should inform the software developer or hardware manufacturer about the vulnerabilities that you have located in their software or hardware, if not already known by the company.
The term ‘ethical hacker’ has received much criticism at times from people who say that there is so such things as an ‘ethical’ hacker. However the work that ethical hackers do for organizations has boosted system security and can be said to be quite effective and successful. Individuals interested in becoming an ethical hacker can work towards getting certificate to become a Certified Ethical Hacker or CHE. This certificate is provided by the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants. The exam consists of 125 questions which costs $500 to take.
TYPES OF HACKING
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Website Hacking : Hacking a website means taking unauthorized control or access over a web server and its software by using different IP address or VPN system.
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Network Hacking : Hacking a network means gathering information about a network by using tools like Telnet, NS lookup, Ping, Tracert, Netset, etc. with the intent to harm the network system and harm its operation as well as its client.
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Email Hacking : Its the process of getting illegal access to an Email account and using it without the permission of its owner.
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Ethical Hacking : Ethical hacking involves the process of determining the weaknesses of any system or computer or websites for testing purpose and recovering them.
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Password Hacking : It is the process of recovering the passwords of the data that has been stored in.
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Computer Hacking : It is the process of stealing the password or ID by applying different techniques for stealing important data or information.
Advantages of Ethical Hacking
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To recover lost information, especially in case you lost password or any important data.
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To perform penetration testing to strengthen computer and network security.
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To protect and prevent software and websites.
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To prevent computer system that prevents malicious hackers from gaining access.
Hackers Types
Hackers can be classified into different categories such as white hat, black hat, and grey hat, best on intent of hacking a system.
White Hat Hackers
White hat hackers are also called as Ethical Hackers. They never try to harm others or software but rather try to find weaknesses in a computer or a network system as a part of penetration testing. They work according to the rules and regulations and are considered to be legal.
Black Hat Hackers
Black hat hackers are considered to be illegal and are also called crackers. They try to gain unauthorized access to a system and harm its operations or steal sensitive or personal information. They have bad intent of stealing corporate data, violating privacy, destroying system, blocking network communication, etc.
Grey Hat Hackers
Grey hat hackers are those hackers who work as both black and white hackers. They act without malicious intent but for their fun. They also try to exploit a security weakness in a computer system or network without the owners permission or knowledge. Their intention is to bring the weakness to the attention of the owners and getting appreciation or a little bounty from the owners.
