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What Everyone Should know about Hacking!
21 February 2024The general public usually has two competing viewpoints of hackers. Some
people revere them as brilliantly minded individuals while others look down on
them as petty criminals.
Hi! Welcome to TKH, where we simplify tech for everyone!
Today, we will try to answer a few questions as it concerns hacking and hackers in general and perhaps, you could learn a thing or two.
Okay, without further ado, let’s get started.
Disclaimer: This article is generally aimed at the ‘non-techy’ fellas, but if you’re a professional, just enjoy the read and feel free to drop your comments in the comment box.
What is Hacking?
The term ‘hacker’ usually carries a negative connotation to it. If you ask any
non-technical person who a hacker is, they will most certainly say something like this;
“They’re the bad guys that steal people’s credit cards, take over people’s social media accounts, and work with terrorist organizations.” Some might even say, “they are the weirdos, with something cryptic always showing on their laptop”.
Well for some reason this could be accredited to how the entertainment media has presented hacking and hackers in movies and TV series. And some how, this has stuck as a stigma.
Technically, hacking is using a computer device to gain unauthorized access to another computer system or data that is protected or restricted.
Basically, hacking involves gaining ‘illegal’ access to a computer or network.
Not all hacking is illegal, some huge organizations pay ‘hackers’ to try hack into their their corporate network to find security loop holes.
Is Hacking good or bad?
I will try to be direct here.
Hacking is neither good nor bad, what is bad is the intention of the hacking.
It’s just like having money, it is not the money that is bad or good, it is the usage that determines the outcome, and most of the time this has to do with the personality of the “owner of the money” or the person using the money.
A hacker can attempt an attack on a network with the intention of exposing the security loop holes, and reports his findings to those concerned, which resultantly strengthens the network after the attack.
While another hacker, might do that with a different intention, even though the techniques, tools and processes might be the same.
This leads us to our next question, what are the types of Hackers?
Types of Hackers?
Yes, hackers are in types, just like we have in the usage of money (the spenders, the savers, and those that are kind of in between)
There are basically three types of Hackers and they are named after the color of a hat 🤠 (although they don’t wear them literally). They are:
- The White-Hat Hackers
- The Gray-Hat Hackers
- The Black-Hat Hackers
Of course, you can tell how they utilize their skills by the color of hat they ‘wear’.
I must say Black hat hackers are what most people typically think of when they hear the
word “hacker.”
Simply put, a White hat hacker is the hacker that uses his hacking skills for good. They’re the good guys who do everything in their power to find potential security flaws and
correct the errors so the black hat hackers can’t break a system.
A Black Hat hacker is the opposite of a white hat guy, his intentions are malicious and bad.
Joel Tope in his book- ‘How to hack Computers’ said this about black hat hackers and I totally agree, he said, “A black hat hacker is the type of nefarious Internet user who exploits weaknesses in computing systems for personal gain or in order to
disrupt an organization’s information systems to cause them harm…”
By now, you can tell who a Gray Hat hacker is, right? He is the guy in-between, with the shade of white and black, he does the good and does the ‘bad’, humorously speaking, I think their hat eventually turn black.😁
What are the common types of hacking?
There are different kinds of hacking techniques and tools that hackers use. I will try not to be very technical here and keep it as brief as possible. And we will restrict it to the most common ones.
- Social Engineering:
This is one of the most used techniques when a hacker wants to gain access to personal individual data. They rely on psychological manipulations to deceive you to release confidential information with which they can have access to restricted data.
They do this through several media like SMS, social media platforms, websites, emails, even via phone calls.
It mostly involves getting the victim or the target to click a link or release an information that might get their device or data compromised. There is more to this but we will pause it here.
Please note, that most social media hacks happen through Social Engineering.
- Spoofing
Spoofing in hacking refers to the act of falsifying data or information to deceive computer systems, networks, or users. It involves impersonating a legitimate entity or source by manipulating data packets, IP addresses, email headers, or other identifiers.
Spoofing attacks can pose significant security risks and are commonly used by hackers to carry out various malicious activities, including identity theft, fraud, data interception, and malware distribution.
- Brute Force Attack
A brute force attack in hacking is like trying every possible combination of keys to unlock a door, but for computers. Hackers use special software to guess passwords or encryption keys by trying millions of different combinations until they find the correct one. It’s like trying every possible password until they get access to your account or data.
Brute force attacks can be very effective if the password is weak or easy to guess, so it’s important to use strong and unique passwords to protect your information.
- Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attack
Occurs when a hacker intercepts and alters communication between two parties, allowing them to eavesdrop on sensitive information, modify data, or impersonate legitimate users.
How can you protect yourself from ‘bad hackers’?
- Avoid clicking any link impulsively, double check before you click on any link and be sure it is from a secure and trusted source.
- Use strong and updated anti-virus and Malware blockers.
- Guard your social presence, and be careful not to join multiple groups as bad hackers tend to use this as an advantage to target vulnerable and ignorant group members.
- Avoid connecting to public Wi-Fi as most of them are unsecured and vulnerable. And like I usually say, you do not know who may be ‘listening’ to the network.
- Tell your friends and neighbors about this post 😊.
Facts:
- It takes a great amount of time and patience to complete a successful hack.
- EVERY hacking is an exploration of a loop hole that already exists!
- Hacking cannot happen without your involvement, knowingly or unknowingly.
- Not all hacking is bad!
- There is what is called Ethical Hacking (it’s actually a profession in digital and network security)
Final Thoughts 💭
There’s obviously a lot to talk about when it comes to hacking and about hackers, but I hope that you’ve been able to learn a few things from this article.
Please feel free to drop your comments in the comment section and let me know what you think or topic suggestions that you would like me to ‘simplify’.
Adios! See you in the comment section.