2. So…what is hacking?
• Hacking is the practice of modifying the features of a
system, in order to accomplish a goal outside of the
creator's original purpose.
(http://whatishacking.org/)
• Computer hacking
– is the practice of modifying computer hardware and
software to accomplish a goal outside of the creator’s
original purpose.
– is most common among teenagers and young adults
(http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-computer-hacking.htm)
3. Why hack?
• Profit
– Information can be sold
– Information can be used to steal
• Protest
– Eg. Hactivism: a hacktivist is someone whom utilizes
technology to announce a social, ideological, religious, or
political message
• Challenge
– Fun, problem-solving skill, the thrill of power
4. Why hack? Some examples…
• Hackers want to
– use the victim’s computer to store illicit materials
i.e pirated software, pornography, etc.
– steal the victim’s personal information in order to
access accounts or the accounts of the website
visitors. The data can be used to gain access to
important databases; billing, merchant accounts,
etc.
5. Why hack? Some examples…
• Hackers want to
– set-up fake ecommerce sites to access credit card
details; gain entry to servers that contain credit
card details and other forms of credit card fraud
– spy on friends, family, co-workers for personal
reasons
– revenge
(http://www.website-guardian.com/why-do-hackers-hack-websites-va-5.html)
6. Effects of hacking
• Damage to information
• Theft of information
– Credit card details, social security numbers, identity fraud,
email addresses
• Compromise/damage of systems
• Use of victim machines as “zombies”
Hacking attacks cost large businesses an average of about
$2.2 million per year (Symantec 2010 State of Enterprise Security
Study)
7. Effects of hacking
• Businesses may suffer from damaged reputations
and lawsuits
• Business secrets could be stolen and sold to
competitors
• Computing system/infrastructure could suffer from
performance degrading as the resources used for
malicious activities
In an education institution, hacking can cause damage to the institution’s
credibility/reputation ie. If examination system is compromised and
sensitive data tampered
8. A hacker…
Can fall into one of these types:
• Black hats
Individuals with good computing knowledge, abilities and
expertise but with the intentions and conducts to cause
damage on the systems they attack
Also known as crackers
• White hats
Individuals with good hacking skills
They perform defensive activities against hacking
Also known as security analysts
9. A hacker…
• Gray hats
Individuals that perform both offensive and defensive
hacking activities
• Suicide hackers
Individuals whom want to fail a computing system for a
personal ‘reason’ or ‘cause’
Not worried about the serious consequences that they may
have to face as a result of their damaging activities i.e being
jailed for many years
10. Types of attacks …
• DoS/DDoS Attacks
• Password Guessing Attacks
• Man-in-the-Middle Attacks
• Identity Spoofing
• Interception
• Eavesdropping
• Backdoor Attacks
… and many more!
11. How to hack?…
Many of the hacking tools
and guides are available on
the Internet
BackTrack is a Linux distro
with many tools; Metasploit,
Aircrack-ng, Nmap,
Ophcrack, Wireshark, Hydra
and many many more!
The real reasons for
BackTrack development are
for digital forensics and
penetration testing
12. How to hack?…some examples
System Hacking; Keyloggers, password
cracking
Trojans
Viruses
Sniffers
Social Engineering
Denial of Service
SQL Injection
13. How to hack?…some examples
Password cracking - dictionary attacks, brute
forcing attacks, hybrid attacks, syllable
attacks and rule-based attacks
Other types of password cracking attacks –
shoulder surfing, social engineering,
dumpster diving, wire sniffing, Man-in-the-
Middle, password guessing, keylogger
There are also other types of hacking that I came across; brain hacking, biohackingSince the word “hack” has long been used to describe someone who is incompetent at his/her profession, some hackers claim this term is offensive and fails to give appropriate recognition to their skills.Many hackers are true technology buffs who enjoy learning more about how computers work and consider computer hacking an “art” form. After this, the term hacking in this presentation is relevant to computer hacking only