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Know more About Hacking and Hacker.
There are many widely held perceptions when it comes to hackers today. Those perceptions mostly evolve around people identifying hackers with a specific color, and that very color denotes their overall posture.
Well you would be correct in assuming that, for much as the color white infers purity, the white hat hacker has excellent ethics. What do ethics really mean to a hacker though?
There are thee types of hackers:
White
If a white hat hacker finds a fault in a securety system ie. a website then they will inform the owner immediatly.
Grey
If a grey hat hacker finds a fault he will do what he feels like at the time ie. exploiting the site OR informing the owner.
Black
A black hat hacker if they find a fault will immediatly exploit the site for there own benefitial gain ie. advertising and infecting other computers with "viruses" to gain access to more sites.
Script kiddie
A script kiddie is a non-expert who breaks into computer systems by using pre-packaged automated tools written by others, usually with little understanding. These are the outcasts of the hacker community.
Hacktivist
A hacktivist is a hacker who utilizes technology to announce a social, ideological, religious, or political message. In general, most hacktivism involves website defacement or denial-of-service attacks. In more extreme cases, hacktivism is used as tool for Cyberterrorism. Hacktivists are also known as Neo Hackers.
So a hacker can be many things from protecting systems by informing the owners or Exploiting and stealing data.The most commen name for the destructibe type of "hacker" is a "cracker".
For indepth understaning of different colours of hackers. Please read the article
The Different Shades of Hackers by Don Parker.
Classifing hackers by the technology they deal with can be complicated. Because networking and computer technology is so vast, hackers often specialize in one or a few specific areas. For exampl, some focus on a particular O.S. (Ex. Unix, Mac, Windows), some master the workings of individual applications (Ex. e-mail servers, firewalls, Web servers), and some focus on particular types of attacks (Ex. DoS, dial-in-penitration, Web hacks). Still others use social engineering as a way to gain inauthorized access. There are a few hackers who have mastered more than one of the above issues, but only a select few have a great deal of experience in all topics.
Below are few more definitins of hackers.
Hacker (computing), a contentious term used for several types of person:
Hacker (computer security) or cracker, who accesses a computer system by circumventing its security system
Hacker (programmer subculture), who shares an anti-authoritarian approach to software development now associated with the free software movement
Hacker (hobbyist), who makes innovative customizations or combinations of retail electronic and computer equipment
A typical activites which and hackers intents to do is:
Network enumeration: Discovering information about the intended target.
Vulnerability analysis: Identifying potential ways of attack.
Exploitation: Attempting to compromise the system by employing the vulnerabilities found through the vulnerability analysis.
In order to do so, there are several recurring tools of the trade and techniques used by computer criminals and security experts.
Social engineering
Social Engineering is the art of getting persons to reveal sensitive information about a system. This is usually done by impersonating someone or by convincing people to believe you have permissions to obtain such information.
Trojan horse
A Trojan horse is a program which seems to be doing one thing, but is actually doing another. A trojan horse can be used to set up a back door in a computer system such that the intruder can gain access later. (The name refers to the horse from the Trojan War, with conceptually similar function of deceiving defenders into bringing an intruder inside.)
Key loggers
A keylogger is a tool designed to record ('log') every keystroke on an affected machine for later retrieval. Its purpose is usually to allow the user of this tool to gain access to confidential information typed on the affected machine, such as a user's password or other private data. Some key loggers uses virus-, trojan-, and rootkit-like methods to remain active and hidden. However, some key loggers are used in legitimate ways and sometimes to even enhance computer security. As an example, a business might have a key logger on a computer that was used as at a Point of Sale and data collected by the key logger could be use for catching employee fraud.
Security exploit
A security exploit is a prepared application that takes advantage of a known weakness. A common example of a security exploit is an SQL injection, which abuses security holes that may result from substandard programming practice. Other exploits would be able to be used through FTP, HTTP, PHP, SSH, Telnet and some web-pages. These are very common in website/domain hacking.
Vulnerability scanner
A vulnerability scanner is a tool used to quickly check computers on a network for known weaknesses. Hackers also commonly use port scanners. These check to see which ports on a specified computer are "open" or available to access the computer, and sometimes will detect what program or service is listening on that port, and its version number. (Note that firewalls defend computers from intruders by limiting access to ports/machines both inbound and outbound, but can still be circumvented.)
Password cracking
ssword cracking is the process of recovering passwords from data that has been stored in or transmitted by a computer system. A common approach is to repeatedly try guesses for the password.
Packet sniffer
A packet sniffer is an application that captures data packets, which can be used to capture passwords and other data in transit over the network.
Spoofing attack
A spoofing attack involves one program, system, or website successfully masquerading as another by falsifying data and thereby being treated as a trusted system by a user or another program. The purpose of this is usually to fool programs, systems, or users into revealing confidential information, such as user names and passwords, to the attacker.
Rootkit
A rootkit is designed to conceal the compromise of a computer's security, and can represent any of a set of programs which work to subvert control of an operating system from its legitimate operators. Usually, a rootkit will obscure its installation and attempt to prevent its removal through a subversion of standard system security. Rootkits may include replacements for system binaries so that it becomes impossible for the legitimate user to detect the presence of the intruder on the system by looking at process tables.
What do hackers target?
Most hacking tools exploit weaknesses in one of the following four areas:
Operating systems
Many systems administrators install operating systems with the default settings, resulting in potential vulnerabilities that remain unpatched.
Applications
Applications usually aren’t tested for vulnerabilities when developers are writing the code, which can leave many programming flaws that a hacker can exploit. This is especially true in the case of open source applications where the code is in full view of potential hackers.
Shrink-wrap code
Many off-the-shelf programs come with extra features the common user isn’t aware of, which can be used to exploit the system. One example is macros in Microsoft Word, which can allow a hacker to execute programs from within the application.
Misconfigurations
Systems can also be misconfigured or left at the lowest common security settings to increase ease of use for the user, which may result in vulnerability and an attack.
HOW TO BECOME HACKER
Everyone wants to be a hacker.But hacking into computers is highly illegal and punishable, i would rather gladly not encourage you to become a real hacker - professionally.
Few things you can do to make your own computer safer from hack attacks. Here are those things you need to learn on how to become a hacker.
Hackers solve problems and build things, and they believe in freedom and voluntary mutual help. To be accepted as a hacker, you have to behave as though you have this kind of attitude yourself. And to behave as though you have the attitude, you have to really believe the attitude.
As with all creative arts, the most effective way to become a master is to imitate the mind-set of masters, not just intellectually but emotionally as well.
Unfortunately there is no magical software to prevent hackers; and it will never exist.
It doesn't matter how much money or resources you invest in designing the perfect system, someone will find the way to crack it.
Some famous white hats which you most probably have already heard about are Steve Wozniak, Tim Berners-Lee and Linus Torvalds:
Steve Wozniak
“Woz”, as he is nicknamed, is famous for being the “other Steve” of Apple. Wozniak, along with current Apple CEO Steve Jobs, co-founded Apple Computer. Woz got his start in hacking making blue boxes, devices that bypass telephone-switching mechanisms to make free long-distance calls. Together with Jobs he built and sold blue boxes to their classmates in college. Eventually Wozniak dropped out of college and came up with the computer that made him famous.
Tim Berners-Lee
Berners-Lee is famed as the inventor of the World Wide Web. He has received numerous recognitions, most notably the Millennium Technology Prize. While still a student at Oxford University, Berners-Lee was caught hacking with a friend and subsequently banned from University computers. While working with CERN, a European nuclear research organization, Berners-Lee created a hypertext prototype system that helped researchers share and update information easily. He later evolved this into the World Wide Web, an idea for which he did not receive any royalties, so technically this guy made no money from one of mankind’s greatest inventions.
Linus Torvalds
Torvalds fathered Linux, the very popular Unix-based operating system. He calls himself “an engineer,” and has said that his aspirations are simple, “I just want to have fun making the best damn operating system I can.” He has even had an asteroid named after him and received honorary doctorates from different Universities.
Let’s take a look at some Famous black hats:
Adrian Lamo
Lamo’s claim to fame is his break-ins at major organizations like The New York Times, Yahoo! and Microsoft. Dubbed the “homeless hacker,” he used Internet connections at coffee shops and libraries to do his intrusions. He was sentenced to six months of home confinement and two years of probation. Lamo is currently working as an award-winning journalist and public speaker.
Kevin Mitnick
Kevin Mitnick was one of the most famous black hat hackers. The United States Department of Justice described him as “the most wanted computer criminal in United States history”. His exploits were eventually detailed in two movies: Freedom Downtime and Takedown. Some of these exploits include hacking into computers, stealing corporate secrets, scrambling phone networks and breaking into the national defense warning system. He served five years, about 8 months of it in solitary confinement but today Mitnick has been able to move past his role as a black hat hacker and become a productive member of society. In fact he is now a computer security consultant, author and speaker.
Kevin Poulsen
Also known as Dark Dante, Poulsen gained recognition for his hack of LA radio’s KIIS-FM phone lines, which earned him a brand new Porsche, among other items. His hacking specialty revolved around telephones. Since serving time, Poulsen has worked as a journalist and is also currently a senior editor for Wired News.
Movies on Hackers
Swordfish
The Net
The Net 2.0
Antitrust
Enemy of the State
Tron
WarGames
The Matrix series
Hackers
Sneakers
Untraceable
Firewall
Die Hard "4": Live Free or Die Hard
Eagle Eye
Take Down
Weird Science
References:
Taylor, Paul A. (1999). Hackers. Routledge. ISBN 9780415180726.
a b Sterling, Bruce. "Part 2(d)". The Hacker Crackdown. McLean, Virginia: IndyPublish.com. p. 61. ISBN 1-4043-0641-2.
Blomquist, Brian (May 29, 1999). "FBI's Web Site Socked as Hackers Target Feds". New York Post. Retrieved on October 21, 2008.
TAP Magazine Archive. http://servv89pn0aj.sn.sourcedns.com/~gbpprorg/2600/TAP/
Tim Jordan, Paul A. Taylor (2004). Hacktivism and Cyberwars. Routledge. pp. 133–134. ISBN 9780415260039. "Wild West imagery has permeated discussions of cybercultures."
Hacking approach
Boyd, Clark (30 July 2008). "Profile: Gary McKinnon". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4715612.stm. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
Thomas, Douglas. Hacker Culture. University of Minnesota Press. p. 90. ISBN 9780816633463.
Staples, Brent (May 11, 2003). "A Prince of Cyberpunk Fiction Moves Into the Mainstream". http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/opinion/11SUN3.html?ex=1367985600&en=9714db46bfff633a&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND. Retrieved 2008-08-30. "Mr. Gibson's novels and short stories are worshiped by hackers"
Wikepedia
http://www.jeangalea.com/security/an-introduction-to-hacking/
Related literature
Kevin Beaver. Hacking For Dummies.
Code Hacking: A Developer's Guide to Network Security by Richard Conway, Julian Cordingley
“Dot.Con: The Dangers of Cyber Crime and a Call for Proactive Solutions,” by Johanna Granville, Australian Journal of Politics and History, vol. 49, no. 1. (Winter 2003), pp. 102-109.
Katie Hafner & John Markoff (1991). Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-68322-5.
David H. Freeman & Charles C. Mann (1997). @ Large: The Strange Case of the World's Biggest Internet Invasion. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-82464-7.
Suelette Dreyfus (1997). Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier. Mandarin. ISBN 1-86330-595-5.
Bill Apro & Graeme Hammond (2005). Hackers: The Hunt for Australia's Most Infamous Computer Cracker. Five Mile Press. ISBN 1-74124-722-5.
Stuart McClure, Joel Scambray & George Kurtz (1999). Hacking Exposed. Mcgraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-212127-0.
Clifford Stoll (1990). The Cuckoo's Egg. The Bodley Head Ltd. ISBN 0-370-31433-6.