On the 8th day of A2Z Challenge 2019, I shall talk about Hacking. In this post, I shall talk about the A2Z of hacking, except ‘How to hack?’. This post will give you an outline and some preventive tips. In simple terms, hacking refers to unauthorized intrusion into a system or a network. The person who is trying to hack into the system is known as a hacker.

A hacker may use a variety of techniques to hack into a system. They are:

• Vulnerability scanner: Assessing computers, networks and programs for known weaknesses.
• Password cracking: It’s the process of guessing or recovering passwords from data stored or transmitted by computer systems
• Packet sniffer: It’s a computer program that can intercept and capture packets of data that flows across a computer network.
• Spoofing attack: In a spoofing attack, a person or program successfully masquerades as another by falsifying data. By doing so, they try to launch attacks against network hosts, steal data, spread malware or bypass access controls.
• Root-kit: A set of computer applications that are designed to enable access to an unauthorised user.
• Trojan horse: It is a computer program that serves as a back door in a computer system to allow an intruder to gain access to the system later
• Viruses: Same as Trojan Horse. Viruses can self-replicate but Trojan Horse can’t.
• Key loggers: It’s a software that records every keystroke that you make.

A2Z of Hacking: Types of hackers and How to stay safe?

Hackers are of three types:

• Black Hat Hacker: They try to gain access to a system to steal something or for maliciousness.
• White Hat Hacker: They are also known as Ethical Hackers. They try to break into a system to assess the security of the system. Some organisations hire them to check for vulnerabilities before black hat hackers detect them.
• Gray Hat Hacker: They are placed between White Hat and Black Hat hackers. They try to break into a system but their intentions aren’t malicious. They might report their findings to the administrator and may offer it to fix it up for a fee.

Now, I shall share some tips for staying safe.

• Divide a large network into smaller subnetworks.
• Implement the principle of least privilege (PoLP, also known as the principle of minimal privilege or the principle of least authority). It is the practice of limiting access rights for users.
• Schedule regular back-ups.
• Enable Multi-Factor authentication.
• Keep your software updated.
• Scan Email attachments before opening.
• Change your password at regular intervals.