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The recent advancements in technology have brought about tremendous innovations to satisfy the needs of modern businesses and users.
Technology, tools, and internet-driven products and services have transformed how we used to work and live.
They have simplified our lives and increased convenience in all aspects, whether business or personal life.
Businesses have been suffering losses in millions, along with customer trust and industry reputation.
Similarly, individuals have been under terror due to crimes and threats as a result of exposed personal data.
Hackers and their hacking methods are evolving since they are also skilled professionals.
Some use their skills to conduct crimes, whereas some are hired by organizations to combat bad hackers.
But first, lets understand the basics behind a hack.
What Is a Hack?
The misuse of devices and systems devastates a business in terms of finances and reputation.
They can trick users into opening malicious links and attachments, which further results in exposing sensitive information.
Hackers make you give up your personal information, including bank credentials, passwords, card details, etc.
The attacker sends an email to a person using tricky words that seem very real.
Flood attacks:This attack targets the servers with a flooding amount of data packets.
The attacker oversaturates the server capacity, resulting in DoS.
for make DoS flood attacks successful, the attacker must have more bandwidth than the targeted machine.
In the DDoS attack, the traffic flooding comes from various sources.
They trick users into visiting malicious sites and take all the details under users noses.
These attacks mainly form from the advertising space sold by websites.
Cookie Theft
Cookie theft is a hijacking tactic where an attacker gets access to user information.
Here, a third party copies the insecure session data and uses this to impersonate the user.
It generally pops up if a user visits trusted sites through public Wi-Fi or an unprotected data pipe.
Hackers insert code in the program and wait until someone runs the program.
This way, they infect other programs on a computer.
A trojan executes a program that says it is harmless and useful.
A worm is a malware similar to a virus.
It executes malicious payloads and self-replicates on computer systems.
The only difference is in their spreading technique.
A virus wants a host program, but a worm lives in its own independent program.
They sometimes are spread by themselves, without any human interference.
Suppose you are visiting a website and scrolling to check the page.
Thus, attackers route you to another page.
This is how ClickJacking attackers work.
This way, you lose your login credentials and personal information.
Fake WAP means doing the same thing by faking the technique.
Sometimes, they set Wi-Fi for the users, allowing free access and playing like a ninja.
In this way, they also hack your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other accounts.
It also has software that it’s possible for you to use on your smartphone.
Hackers often use a keylogger to steal login credentials, sensitive enterprise data, and more.
It is actually software that records every activity, including mouse clicks.
The hacker uses the data to compromise nodes by disrupting routing, degrading program performance, and networking.
Its vectors include email, cellular networks, and telephone lines.
Attackers then infect those websites through malware, and thus, some members also get infected by this attack.
The aim is to target the users system and gain access to the websites at the target.
This way, they access information kept safe in an organizations database.
They interfere with the app queries to view data, including users data, business data, and more.
In some cases, the hacker gains administrative rights, which are highly detrimental to an organization.
Attackers work through all the possible cases to get the right one.
Here, brute force means hackers use forceful attempts to force their path into private accounts.
This is an old method of attack but is still popular and effective with hackers.
There are different kinds of brute force that attackers are using to gain access.
For example, you are new to your college, and your seniors change the classroom numbers.
So, you end up in the wrong classroom.
This goes on happening until you get the correct campus directory.
DNS spoofing works in the same way.
This attack comes under a deceptive cyber threat.
Cracking Passwords
Cracking passwords is the way hackers use to get login credentials.
A brute force attack is also a password-cracking technique.
In this, all the passwords must be stored with the Key Derivation Function (KDF).
If it is stored as plaintext, the attacker hacking the database gets all the account information.
Who Is a Hacker?
This does not mean that all hackers are bad actors.
They can be both good and bad.
They take advantage of a data pipe or system weakness to enter and launch attacks.
These weaknesses are of two types technical and social.
Not all hackers are the same, however.
Different Types of Hackers
You know what hacking is and its types.
But who is behind all this hacking, and how can you identify and differentiate between them?
Since all hackers are not criminals, lets understand different types of hackers and differentiate between them.
They have the right to hack the systems to check security vulnerabilities to stay protected from criminal hackers.
They are called cybercriminals who break into the systems with criminal or malicious intent.
Black hat hackers have advanced skill sets to carry out possible attacks.
They come between black hat hackers and white hat hackers.
They engage in these activities either to help the website owner know the vulnerabilities or to steal information.
According to their activities, they are categorized.
Some gray hat hackers perform hacking for their enjoyment.
They do not have any authorization, but they choose how to use their skills.
They follow the scripts of experienced hackers to hack systems and networks.
Generally, script kiddies perform these activities just to get attention from experienced hackers.
For example, script kiddies can hack during Black Friday shopping deals.
Hacktivists perform certain activities to support political causes.
He intentionally misuses and exceeds their data access limits illegitimately.
Cloud security is also compromised due to malicious insiders.
They are not familiar with the security mechanisms and inner workings of the web.
They are not necessarily threat actors but can cause harm while practicing their design.
Sometimes, they are dangerous as they do not know the outcomes.
These can cause the worst case that can be difficult to resolve.
They are revenge seekers who hack computer systems to take personal revenge on an organization.
They use techniques to gain access to various accounts or emails.
Once they have the information, they start to exploit the profiles by sending inappropriate messages, etc.
Red hat hackers do everything and take every step to stop black hat hackers or other hackers.
They are known to launch a war against illegal hackers and bring down their servers and resources.
Sometimes they choose an illegal way to plan hacking.
In short, red hat hackers do the right thing by following the wrong path.
Elite Hackers
Elite hackers are the most skilled hackers in the field of hacking.
They choose their path either as a white-hat hacker or a black-hat hacker.
Breaking into the systems and collecting information is an easy task for them since they are exceptionally skilled.
Elite hackers write their very own exploits from the skills and understanding they have about the systems.
Any cyberattack that harms the population by indirect means is known as cyber terrorism.
They want to achieve ideological or political gains through intimidation or threat.
Experienced cyber terrorists can cause massive destruction to the government systems leveraging their skills.
They might leave a terror message for further attacks.
Conclusion
Knowing about different hacks and hackers will keep you informed about the current cybersecurity risks.
It will also help you distinguish between hackers since they are not bad actors.
