Hacking Phases and Techniques

Reconnaissance and Scanning

• Attacker gathers information about a target to launch an attack
• Scan for open ports, operating systems, applications, and services

Gaining Access

• Hacker exploits the system to gain unauthorized access
• Hacker may use social engineering tactics to trick users

Maintaining Access and Covering Tracks

• Hacker tries to retain access to the system
• May harden the system against other hackers
• Hacker covers tracks to remain undetected for a long time

Social Engineering Attacks

• Phishing: fake web page to steal sensitive information (username, password, credit cards)
• Hijack attack: hacker takes over a session and disconnects the other individual
• Insider attack: involves a disgruntled employee attacking the network
• Spoof attack: hacker modifies source address to bypass firewall rules

Types of Attacks

• Buffer overflow attack: sends more data than expected, gaining administrative access
• Password attack: tries to crack passwords stored in a network account database
• Dictionary attack: uses a list of words to crack passwords
• Brute-force attack: tries all possible combinations to crack passwords
• Hybrid attack: combination of dictionary and brute-force attacks

Malware and Viruses

• Backdoor or trapdoor: secret entry point into a program, often used by developers
• Trojan horse: program with hidden side-effects, allows attackers to indirectly gain access
• Virus: malicious software attached to another program, propagates itself and carries a payload
• Worms: replicating malware that spreads over a network, often used to create zombie PCs
• Zombie: program that secretly takes over another networked computer, used to launch distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks

Ransomware and Denial of Service Attacks

• Ransomware: malware that locks a computer or encrypts data, demands a ransom to restore access
• DoS attack: denies service to users by consuming host resources (memory, processor cycles) and network resources (bandwidth)

Learn about the different phases of hacking, including reconnaissance, scanning, gaining access, maintaining access, and covering tracks. Understand the tactics and techniques used by hackers to compromise a system.