xendows

 The following are the five phases of hacking: 1) Reconnaissance 2) Scanning 3) Gaining Access 4) Maintaining Access 5) Clearing Tracks 1) Reconnaissance:- is an initial preparation phase for the attackers to prepare for an attack by gathering information about the target prior to launching an attack using different tools and techniques. 2) Scanning:- is a pre-attack phase. In this phase, an attacker scans the network through information acquired during the initial phase of reconnaissance.  3) Gaining Access:- is when the hacker gains control over and Operating System (OS), application, or computer network. 4) Maintaining Access:- Phase is the point where an attacker tries t maintain access, ownership, and control over the compromised systems. 5) Clearing Tracks:- an attacker must hide identity by clearing or covering tracks. Clearing tracks is an activity that is carried out to hide malicious activities.

 Black Hat:- Hackers are cybercriminals that illegally crack systems with malicious intent. White Hat:- hackers are ethical security hackers who identify and fix vulnerabilities. Gray Hat:- hackers uncover weakness such as zero-day vulnerabilities; they report them rather than fully exploiting them. Red Hat:- Hackers, known as vigilante hackers, are motivated by a desire to fight back against black hat hackers. Hacktivist:- is motivated by civil disobedience and seeks to spread and ideology. Script Kiddie:- refers to less experience malicious hackers who use existing software to launch hacking attacks.

 Social Engineering is the art of extracting sensitive information from people. Social Engineers play with human psychology and trick people into sharing their valuable information. Some basic engineering techniques are: Eavesdropping:- is a type of Social Engineering footprinting in which the social engineer gathers information by covertly listening to conversations. Phishing:- In this process of Phishing, emails are sent to a targeted group or individual containing malicious links or redirection to a malicious site to obtain information. Shoulder Surfing:- In Shoulder Surfing, information is collected by standing behind a target when they are dealing with sensitive information. Dumpster Diving:- is the process of looking for treasure in the trash. This technique is old but still effective.