Benton - Computer Hacking: A beginners guide to computer hacking, how to hack, internet skills, hacking techniques, and more!

Computer Hacking

A beginners guide to computer hacking, how to hack, internet skills, hacking techniques, and more!

Table Of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 What is Hacking?

Chapter 2 Ethical Hacking 101

Chapter 3 Hacking Basics

Chapter 4 Network Hacking Basics

Chapter 5 Hacking Your Own Windows Password

Conclusion

Introduction

I want to thank you and congratulate you for downloading the book , Computer Hacking.

This book contains helpful information about computer hacking, and the skills required to hack.

This book is aimed at beginners, and will take you through the basics of computer hacking. You will learn about the different types of hacking, the primary hacking methods, and different areas of a system that can be hacked.

This book includes great tips and techniques that will help you to begin developing your own computer hacking skills! You will discover some basic hacks you can do right away, and be pointed in the direction of software that will assist your hacking escapades.

However, keep in mind that hacking should be done in an ethical manner. White hat hacking is the only hacking you should be doing, so remember to keep your morals in check as your hacking skills improve!

Thanks again for downloading this book, I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1 What is Hacking?

The term hacker today has garnered a negative connotation. Youve heard about hackers breaking into computer systems and looking at or even stealing some very sensitive and very private information. Millions of computer users worldwide have felt the effects of hacking activity. That includes virus attacks, spyware, and other forms of malware that slow down, break into, or even cripple your computer system.

However, not all hackers are dubious and unscrupulous souls who have nothing better to do in life. In fact, the term hacker originally had a very positive and beneficial meaning to it. Traditionally, a hacker is someone who likes to tinker with computers and other forms of electronics. They enjoy figuring out how current systems work and find ways to improve them.

In other words, he used to be the guy who had to figure out how to make computers faster and better. Nowadays, a hacker is just someone who steals electronic information for their own self-interest. Nevertheless, there are still good hackers (white hat hackers) and bad hackers (black hat hackers).

It basically takes a hacker to catch a hacker and the good news is that a lot of them are on your side of the playing field. The premise of this book is to help you learn the basics of ethical hacking (the stuff that white hat hackers do). But in order to know what to look out for, you will have to catch a glimpse of what black hat hackers do.

The bottom line here is that hacking is no more than a set of computer skills that can be used for either good or bad. How one uses those skills will clearly define whether one is a white hat or a black hat hacker. The skills and tools are always neutral; only when they are used for malicious purposes do they take a turn for the worse.

What are the Objectives of Ethical Hacking?

If hacking per se today is bent on stealing valuable information, ethical hacking on the other hand is used to identify possible weak points in your computer system or network and making them secure before the bad guys (aka the black hat hackers) use them against you. Its the objective of white hat hackers or ethical hackers to do security checks and keep everything secure.

That is also the reason why some professional white hat hackers are called penetration testing specialists. One rule of thumb to help distinguish penetration testing versus malicious hacking is that white hat hackers have the permission of the systems owner to try and break their security.

In the process, if the penetration testing is successful, the owner of the system will end up with a more secure computer system or network system. After all the penetration testing is completed, the ethical hacker, the one whos doing the legal hacking, will recommend security solutions and may even help implement them.

It is the goal of ethical hackers to hack into a system (the one where they were permitted and hired to hack, specifically by the systems owner) but they should do so in a non-destructive way. This means that even though they did hack into the system, they should not tamper with the systems operations.

Part of their goal is to discover as much vulnerability as they can. They should also be able to enumerate them and report back to the owner of the system that they hacked. It is also their job to prove each piece of vulnerability they discover. This may entail a demonstration or any other kind of evidence that they can present.

Ethical hackers often report to the owner of the system or at least to the part of a companys management that is responsible for system security. They work hand in hand with the company to keep the integrity of their computer systems and data. Their final goal is to have the results of their efforts implemented and make the system better secured.

The Caveat

There is of course a caveat to all of this. For one thing, you cant expect to have all bases covered. The ideal of protecting any computer system or electronic system from all possible attacks is unrealistic. The only way you can do that is to unplug your system from the network and lock it away somewhere and keep it from all possible contact. By then the information contained in your system will remain useless to anyone.

No one, not even the best hacker in the world, can plan for everything. There are far too many unknowns in our highly connected world. John Chirillo even wrote an entire tome of possible hack attacks that can be performed on any number of systems. Thats how many loopholes there are. However, you can test for all the best as well all the known possible attacks. If there is a new way of breaking in, then you can hire an ethical hacker to help you figure out a way to create a countermeasure. Using those means, you can tell that your systems are virtually safe for the time being. You just need to update your security from time to time.

Chapter 2 Ethical Hacking 101

As part of ethical hacking, you should also know the actual dangers and vulnerabilities that your computer systems and networks face. Next time you connect your computer to the internet or host a WiFi connection for your friends, you ought to know that you are also opening a gateway (or gateways) for other people to break in.

In this chapter well look into some of the most common security vulnerabilities that ethical hackers will have to work with and eventually keep an eye on.

Network Infrastructure Attacks

Network infrastructure attacks refer to hacks that break into local networks as well as on the Internet. A lot of networks can be accessed via the internet, which is why there are plenty out there that can be broken into. One way to hack into a network is to connect a modem to a local network. The modem should be connected to a computer that is behind the networks firewall.

Another method of breaking into a network is via NetBIOS, TCP/IP, and other transport mechanisms within a network. Some tricks include creating a denial of service by flooding the network with a huge load of requests.

Network analyzers capture data packets that travel across a network. The information they capture is then analyzed and the information in them is revealed. Another example of a fairly common network infrastructure hack is when people piggyback on WiFi networks that arent secured. You may have heard of stories of some people who walk around the neighborhood with their laptops, tablets, or smartphones looking for an open WiFi signal coming from one of their neighbors.