Introduction to Ethical Hacking

Hacking

Hacking is the process of exploiting system vulnerabilities and compromising security systems to gain unauthorized access to the system resources. It involves modifying system or application features to achieve a goal outside of the creator’s original purpose.

Ethical Hacking

Ethical Hacking is the process to identify vulnerabilities to assure system security by use of hacking tools, tricks, and techniques. It focuses on simulating methods used by attackers to verify the existence of exploitable vulnerabilities in the system's security.

Hacker

Hackers are intelligent individuals who spend enormous amounts of time exploring computing resources like networks, websites, mobile devices, etc.

Ethical Hacker

Ethical Hacker is an expert in computer internals and networking concepts, who tries to find out potential vulnerabilities on the target systems before a hacker could use, without actually doing any harm to the information systems on behalf of the owners of the IT Assets.

Types of Hackers

Black Hat (Crackers): Individuals utilize computing skills for malicious or destructive activities.
White Hat: Individuals utilizing hacking skills for the defensive purpose
Gray Hat: Individuals who work both offensively and defensively
Suicide Hackers: Hackers who aim to shut down the critical infrastructure for a cause and are not worried about facing punishment.
Script Kiddies: An unskilled hacker who compromises the system by running scripts, tools, and software developed by real hackers.
Cyber Terrorists: Individuals with hacking skills, motivated by religious or political beliefs to create fear by large-scale disruption of computer networks.
Hacktivist: Hackers who promote a political agenda by hacking, especially by defacing or disabling websites.
Government Sponsored: Individuals employed by the government to penetrate and gain confidential information.

Steps to Perform Ethical Hacking
1. Reconnaissance refers to the pre-attack phase where an attacker observes a target before launching an attack. It may include the target organization's clients, employees, operations, network, and systems
2. Scanning is the phase immediately preceding the attack. Here, the attacker uses the details gathered during reconnaissance to identify specific vulnerabilities. An attacker can gather critical network information such as the mapping of systems, routers, and firewalls by using simple tools such as the standard Windows utility Traceroute.
3. Gaining Access In this phase in which real hacking occurs. Attackers use vulnerabilities identified during the reconnaissance and scanning phase to gain access to the target system or network. Attackers gain access to the target system locally, over a LAN, or over the Internet.
4. Maintaining Access of the target machine and remain undetected. Attackers install a backdoor or a Trojan to gain repeat access. They can also install rootkits at the kernel level to gain full administrative access to the target computer. Rootkits are used to gain access at the operating system level, while a Trojan horse gains access at the application level. Both rootkits and Trojans require users to install them locally.
5. Clearing Tracks is for avoiding legal trouble, attackers will overwrite the server, System and application logs to Avoid suspicion and erase all evidence of their actions. Attackers can execute scripts in the Trojan or rootkit to replace the critical system and log files to hide their presence in the system.

Terminology

Vulnerability: In simple words, vulnerability is a loophole, Limitation, or weakness that becomes a source for an attacker to enter into the system.
Exploit: It is a software tool designed to take advantage of a flaw (vulnerability) in a system for malicious purposes.
Payload: A payload is an action, or set of operations has to be done on the target, once the exploit successfully launched. It can be any control or Denial of service, etc.

Elements of Information Security
Information Security is a state of well-being of information and infrastructure in which the possibility of theft, tampering, and disruption of information and services is kept low or tolerable.
● Confidentiality
● Authenticity
● Integrity
● Non-Repudiation
● Authorization
● Availability

some useful links

Security and vulnerability Research Websites:
● Securityfocus.com
● Secunia.com
● Packetstormsecurity.com
● Governmentsecurity.org

Exploit Research Websites:
● Exploit-db.com
● Corelan.be
● 1337day.com

Hacking Conferences:

● Defcon Conference
● Shmoocon Conference
● Blackhat Conference
● Nullcon Conference
● Malcon Conference
● Club hack Conference

Hacking Forum Sites:
● Hackforums.net
● Alboraaq.com
● Hackhound.org
● Garage4hackers.com
● Irongeek.com
● Forum.tuts4you.com
● Ic0de.org( ic”Zero”de.org )

Hacking Magazines:

● Phrack.org
● hackin9.org
● 2600.Com
● Magazine.hitb.com
● Pentest magazine
● Hack
● ers5.com

● Club hack Magazine chmag.in