Review on The Hacking

In this paper, I have discussed in detail about hacking. My paper consists of three main topics which are an introduction to hacking, hackers’ motivation & hackers attacking, hacking techniques. In the intro, I’ve defined and discussed the types of hackers. Under the second topic, I’ve discussed their motivation and their personal reasons to attack. Under the third topic, I’ve given an overview of their techniques and discussed how they gather information and launch attacks. I hope you’d like the paper. Sit back and enjoy!

Introduction to Hacking

The Internet, like any other new media historically, provides new methods of engaging in illegal activities. Unfortunately, many of these common interests include pornography (writing, picturing), trading Warez (pirated software), trading illegal MP3 files, and engaging in all kinds of fraud such as credit card fraud.

Hacking, on the other hand, is a greatly misrepresented activity as portrayed by the wider media and Hollywood movies. Although many hackers go on from being computer enthusiasts to Warez pirates, many also become system administrators, security consultants or website managers.

A Definition of Hacking

• Hacking generally refers to the act of a person abusing computer access, breaking into computers, or using computers without authorization.
• This is a simple definition, one which we will have to go beyond to understand. Firstly, there are in essence two types of hackers, often referred to as 'white-hat' hackers and 'black-hat' hackers.

White-Hat Hackers

This type of hacker enjoys learning and working with computer systems, and consequently gains a deeper understanding of the subject. The word 'hacker' was originally used to describe people such as these.

Black-Hat Hackers

This is the more conventional understanding of the term 'hacker', one that is portrayed in newspapers and films as being essentially 'chaotic', an obsessive social misfit hell-bent on the destruction of everything good about the Internet. In reality, nobody really fits into either camp neatly. It is down to the individual's set of ethics to decide what path that they will take in their hacking career.

Hacker Motivation & Hackers Attacking

The factors that affect the motivation of someone who is drawn to illegal hacker activities are not always clear. It is well known, for example, that few hackers are motivated by financial gain.

Factors of Motivation

Some of the factors that may motivate a person into becoming a hacker are curiosity, money, spying, anarchy, and money.

Why Do Hackers Attack?

Understanding the motivation behind attacks can help organizations understand more about the risks they face so that they can tackle them.

So why do cyber-attacks happen?

For financial gain

This is the most likely reason an organization gets attacked. Criminals are looking to gain financially in three main ways: Data breaches to feed identity theft.

Criminal gangs are well-organized and operate on a commercial basis – there is a supply chain, those that steal data are unlikely to be the same criminals who commit the identity theft and fraud. The dark web provides a marketplace for stolen credentials – with those that have stolen personal data selling it on to those who wish to commit fraud.

Cyber-attacks with financial demands: A modern take on blackmail, this can affect organizations of all sizes as well as individuals. There are many variations — for example, hackers take over a victim’s computer and freeze it, they then offer to reinstate access after a ransom has been paid.

Attacks to perpetrate a direct fraud on a business: This type of attack usually involves the diversion of funds from their legitimate destination to a fraudster’s account. Criminals use techniques such as phishing and vishing to tease out enough information to enable them to mount an attack. A variation of this attack is invoice fraud when an email is received that looks like it is from a legitimate supplier and is advising of a change of bank account details – unfortunately, the bank account details supplied are those of a fraudster.

To make a political or social point

Hacktivism involves breaking into a system for political or social reasons. Until relatively recently, this was seen as the domain of underground organizations such as Anonymous. The recent US election has put the focus on the role that governments might play in furthering their aims through hacking activity.

Hackivists look to access information that can damage their intended target. Hacktivists also mount cyber-attacks to stop their targets carrying out their normal activity, known as Denial of Service or DoS attack. Governments and political bodies are often the targets of DoS attacks.

If someone objects to your operations, you could find yourself at the wrong end of a hacktivist attack.

For the intellectual challenge

Those who hack for intellectual stimulation are not necessarily criminals. They could be “white hat” hackers who help organizations to explore their vulnerabilities so that they can put defenses in place.

While white hat hackers work with or for companies and are a force for good, other inexperienced hackers motivated by intellectual challenge can cause harm.

The “why” of cybercrime is complex. In addition to the motivations already mentioned, hackers could also be motivated by revenge or wish to spy to gain a commercial or political advantage.

Clues and Signs

Some signs that your computer or user account may have been hacked include:

• Files disappear or are modified unexpectedly
• Hard disk space shrinks without reason
• The computer slows considerably, or problems appear suddenly
• Strange messages or dialog boxes appear on the screen
• The computer starts crashing frequently
• Your internet connection slows dramatically for an extended period

Hacking Techniques

Overview of Hacking Techniques

The depth and variety of techniques employed by hackers to illegally enter a computer system are vast, for this reason, I intend to provide a brief overview of some of the more common techniques involved, without going into to much detail on any particular technique. Hacking a system is a two-step process, Gathering Information and Launching an Attack.

Gathering Information

A dedicated hacker may spend several months gathering information on the intended target before launching an attack armed with this new information.

Launching Attacks

There are many attacks employed by hackers. Here is an overview of just an example of the more common: Denial of Service (DOS): A denial of service attack is basically an act of sabotage against a service running on a port on a targeted system. The aim is to disable the service.

Password Cracking: A password cracker is a program that attempts to decrypt or otherwise disable password protection. Often simulation tools are used to simulate the same algorithm as the original password program.

Operating System Exploits: All operating systems (Windows NT, Unix, Red hat Linux etc.) have their own specific vulnerabilities and bugs that need to be resolved by 'patching' the OS in order to keep it up to date. Unfortunately, many system administrators neglect to do so frequently enough, leaving their systems open to attack. Hackers, however, are very thorough in keeping abreast of all the possible vulnerabilities in all operating systems.

The main appeal of the Internet to me is the ability to communicate complex ideas in a fast, cheap and creative way. This may include e-mail, web design or even chat rooms and message boards. I am certainly not saying that the threat does not exist.