Ethical Hacking Concepts

Hackers and hacking are usually associated with criminal activity, but it wasn’t always that way. In the 1960s, learning and working on computers wasn’t readily available. They were difficult to work with and those that could get things working often hacked things together. In other words, hackers were innovators who could solve complex problems.

In the late 1970s, computers became accessible to the public through homebrew kits, and at that time, curiosity and innovation were still a part of the hacking community. It wasn’t until the 1980s that hacking took on a negative tone, with the release of movies such as WarGames and Hackers, and the image of a hacker changed from an enthusiast to a criminal. Since this time, the term hacker has been associated with criminal and malicious activity.

Fast-forward to today and we have a concept known as ethical hacking, meaning we take the concepts and techniques used by hackers and apply them for the benefit of organizations and individuals in an attempt to elevate their security posture. This is the first chapter in your journey to understand and apply the concepts of hacking in an ethical manner.

In this chapter, we’re going to cover the following main topics:

• What is ethical hacking?
• Elements of information security
• Why do intrusions and attacks happen?
• Types and profiles of attackers and defenders
• Attack targets and types
• The anatomy of an attack
• Ethical hacking and penetration testing
• Defensive technologies
• Lab – setting up the testing lab