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#Introduction to Hacking and Types of Hackers
When computers emerged as the mandatory devices to successfully run businesses, process personal data, and save information, it was only a matter of time before the society became wholly dependent on them for every aspect of life.
The emergence of the Internet marked a point of no return to the relationship that humanity has with machines. We now depend on computers for almost all types of communications, shopping, business, entertainment, and mainly to stay alive. This networking of computers to facilitate communication has however exposed our personal and business information to the outside world and cyber crime.
Cybercrime is the use of computers to commit fraudulent acts that may include privacy invasion, sabotage, fraud, and disseminating confidential information among others. Cybercrime has grown to become a very serious threat to people’s lives and costs many individuals, organizations, businesses, and governments around the world billions of dollars every year.
Most people committing these cybercrimes are hackers. Paradoxically, the people that the victims of this crime need to protect themselves, their data, and information infrastructure against such attacks are also hackers… except they are a different kind of hackers.
Before we can dive deep into understanding hackers, first let us understand what hacking is.
1.1 What is hacking?
The definition of hacking is very broad. For the purpose of this book, we can define hacking as the process of finding weaknesses in computer systems and computer network systems and exploiting them to gain access to information.
We can, therefore, say that a hacker is a person who identifies and exploits weaknesses in computer systems and/or networks to access information. A hacker is typically a skilled computer programmer with knowledge of computer and network security.
1.2 Types of Hackers
The word hacker is usually synonymous with someone attacking a computer or computer network for malicious or selfish reasons, but that is not always the case. Now that we have established what a hacker does, we can classify them into four based on the intent of their actions.
White Hat (Ethical) Hacker
You are taking this crash course to become a White hat or ethical hacker. You will learn the skills and have the ability to gain access to computer and network systems to identify and fix weaknesses. You will also perform various computing tasks such as vulnerability assessment and carry out penetration testing.
Grey Hat Hacker
Somewhere between a white hat (ethical) and black hat (criminal) hackers lies the gray hat hacker. This individual breaks into a computer or computer network system without prior consent from the authority to (or “intending to”) identify weaknesses in the system and reveal them to the system owner for a reward or a job to fix the weakness.
Black hat (Criminal) Hacker
Also a criminal hacker, a black hat hacker is an individual who gains unauthorized access to a computer or network system for personal gain. A black hat hacker typically accesses a system to demonstrate his prowess in hacking, to violate policy rights, steal corporate data, etc. or deny legitimate users service.
Hacktivist
A hacktivist is a new type of hacker who uses his skills of penetrating a computer system or computer network driven by a social, political, humanitarian, or religious agenda. Hactivists, often in groups, typically hijack websites, social media accounts, and other platforms to send their messages.
Script kiddie
The term ‘script kiddie’ refers to an unskilled person who uses hacking tools available on the internet to penetrate a computer or network system. It can also be used to refer to a skilled hacker who chooses to use pre-written code or scripts to do the dirty work.
1.3 What is Cybercrime?
You have probably already heard of people being taken to court and jailed for committing computer crimes, increasingly being referred to as cybercrimes. All over the world, people are going to jail for creating and spreading computer viruses, bullying other people online, committing fraud, phishing, accessing classified information, and stealing corporate and user data.
Cybercrimes specifically refer to illegal actions committed over the internet. Some cybercrimes may also be carried out through telephone lines and mobile phones, on chat and social platforms, and on the location where the computer or network is physical. Here is a list of different types of cybercrime to help you understand better what constitutes it.
Computer fraud Electronic funds transfer Espionage
Privacy violation Electronic money laundering Data harvesting
Identity Theft ATM Fraud Phishing
Intellectual property theft Denial of Service Attacks Spoofing
Copyright infringement Spam Scamming
1.4 What is ethical hacking?
As we have explained earlier, hacking is the act of identifying weaknesses in a computer system or computer networks, then coming up with counter measures that can take advantage of the found weaknesses to penetrate the system. What sets an ethical and criminal hacker apart is the motivation behind the hack and not the process itself.
To be an ethical hacker, one must abide by the following rules:
1. Identify the devices or networks to hack or test and determine the hacking processes.
2. Get written permission from stakeholders of the computer or network before the hack.
3. Protect the privacy of the system and information of the organization being hacked.
4. Create a clear report of all the identified weaknesses and present to the organization.
5. Inform software and hardware vendors of any identified weaknesses in their products.
1.5 Do we need ethical hackers?
Private companies, organizations, government agencies, and individuals today are in constant need of ethical hackers as their first defense in protecting their computers and networks from the bad guys. The increasing use of computers in processing, transmitting, and storing information means that IT security needs more than just a steel door with a lock.
The primary purpose of an ethical hacker is to determine whether a client’s computer or network is adequately protected. As information becomes, the most valuable asset organizations have, keeping it secure protects not only the interest and image of an organization but also safeguards the data integrity of their users.
Black hat hackers cause thousands of businesses millions of losses every year. Ethical hacking has emerged as a step ahead of the hackers that the organizations take to preempt and prevent attacks on their computer systems and information network. It is, therefore, justifiable to say that white hat hackers are the necessary tech-savvy guardians that individuals, businesses, and even governments can depend on to protect their interests.
1.6 Legality of ethical hacking
As long as the hacker abides by the five core rules of ethical hacking stipulated in section 1.4, the hack is considered legal if the stakeholders approved it in writing. The International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council) offers a certification program that you can test your hacking skills, and if you are up to it, you get a recognized certificate. Note, however, that because of the rapid advancement in computer and information security, you will be required to renew the certificate after a while.
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