24 August 2011

Hacking - Menaka N III IT "B'

HACKING

What is hacking?

Hacking is unauthorized use of computer and network resources. (The term "hacker" originally meant a very gifted programmer. In recent years though, with easier access to multiple systems,   it now has negative      implications.)

Hacking is a felony in the United States and most other countries. When it is done by request and under a contract between an ethical hacker and an organization, it's OK. The key difference is that the ethical hacker has authorization to probe the target.
 

HACKER
A hacker is a person who breaks into computers and computer networks for profit, in protest, or because they are motivated by the challenge. The subculture that has evolved around hackers is often referred to as the computer underground but it is now an open community.

 

The number of really gifted hackers in the world is very small, but there are lots of wannabes.... When we do an ethical hack, we could be holding the keys to that company once we gain access. It's too great a risk for our customers to be put in a compromising position. With access to so many systems and so much information, the temptation for a former hacker could be too great -- like a kid in an unattended candy store.

 

How They Hack Your Website: Overview of Common Techniques

We hear the same terms bandied about whenever a popular site gets hacked. You know… SQL Injection, cross site scripting, that kind of thing. But what do these things mean? Is hacking really as inaccessible as many of us imagine — a nefarious, impossibly technical twilight world forever beyond our knowledge?

Not really.

When you consider that you can go to Google right now and enter a search string which will return you thousands of usernames and passwords to websites, you realize that this dark science is really no mystery at all. You'll react similarly when you see just how simple a concept SQL Injection is, and how it can be automated with simple tools. Read on, to learn the basics of how sites and web content management systems are most often hacked, and what you can do to reduce the risk of it happening to you.

 

Ethical hacking

Ethical hacking is the process of hacking the information that is considered to be confidential. The information through the ethical hacking does not remain secret at all. The ethical hacking process is also known as the intrusion testing, penetration testing or red teaming. However the ethical hacking also gives s professional certification to the certified ethical hacker where the hacking of the computer system or some other devices takes place. This service had been made available to the people by the international council of e-commerce consultants.

Moreover for the ethical hacking the user has to be an ethical hacker which is somehow the name that is given to the person and for this the person must be a penetration tester. The ethical hacker is responsible for the performance of different activities. The main role that had been allotted to the ethical hacker is that he is the person who is mainly working for an organization or the organization hires the ethical hacker for the purpose of penetrating the information from different networks or systems. The organization trusts the ethical hacker as he is responsible for providing different services to the firm.

The ethical hacking service is very much similar to that of the hacking and the ethical hacker is also working in the same way as the hacker is working for different purposes. The ethical hacker is the person who is found to be a computer expert and at the same time he is also responsible for the working of the networking systems as well. He is the person who works on behalf of the members of the organization. At times the hacking service that is being provided by the hacker can also be dangerous for the firm and hence it can exploit the systems of the company

Ethical hacker

 

An ethical hacker is a computer and network expert who attacks a security system on behalf of its owners, seeking vulnerabilities that a malicious hacker could exploit. To test a security system, ethical hackers use the same methods as their less principled counterparts, but report problems instead of taking advantage of them. Ethical hacking is also known as penetration testing, intrusion testing and red teaming. An ethical hacker is sometimes called a white hat, a term that comes from old Western movies, where the "good guy" wore a white hat and the "bad guy" wore a black hat.