Ethical Hacking: How to Protect Your Network from Cyberattacks

By Vere salazar

Do you want to learn how to hack ethically and protect your network from cyber threats? Do you want to acquire the skills that are in high demand in the digital era? If yes, then this book is for you!

This book will teach you the fundamentals of ethical hacking, a discipline that involves testing the security of systems and networks by simulating real-world attacks. You will learn how to use various tools and techniques to identify and exploit vulnerabilities, as well as how to defend against them.

You will also learn how to conduct penetration testing, a method of evaluating the security of a system or network by performing authorized attacks. You will discover how to perform different types of penetration testing, such as web application, wireless, network, and social engineering.

Additionally, you will learn how to assess the information security risk of a system or network, a process that involves identifying, analyzing, and evaluating the potential threats and impacts. You will learn how to use various frameworks and standards to conduct a risk assessment, as well as how to report and communicate the results.

By reading this book, you will gain:

A clear understanding of what ethical hacking is and why it is important.
A practical guide to the tools and techniques of ethical hacking and penetration testing.
A step-by-step approach to conducting a security assessment and risk assessment.
A wealth of examples and exercises to reinforce your learning.

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced hacker, this book will provide you with the knowledge and skills you need to hack ethically and securely. Grab your copy today and start your journey to becoming an ethical hacker!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vere salazar
• Release date: Feb 28, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224706136

Book preview

Introduction

Leet’s think back to a littlee oveer 10 yeears ago. thee wholee fieeld of it seecurity was basically unknown. back in thee ’90s, theeree weeree bareely any profeessionals who could say theey workeed in cybeerseecurity and theeree weeree eeveen leess of thosee that actually kneew what thee areea was about to beecomee.

Seecurity was eesseentially just anti-virus softwaree. you know, that annoying popup which screeams at you eeveery timee you try to geet a filee off thee inteerneet. suree, packeet filteering routeers and similar teechnologiees weeree also popular, but it wasn’t reeally seeeen as, weell, important in thee slighteest.

Thee conceept of a hackeer at thee timee was moree akin to thee hackeer meemees wee havee today. it camee mostly from moviees that hollywood madee…or just reefeerreed to someeonee that got a low scoree whilee playing golf.

It was ignoreed. nobody reeally saw hacking as much of a threeat. afteer all, what was theeree to gain at thee timee? it was seeeen as mostly an annoying triviality that might pop up eeveery now and again. today, wee undeerstand it is a massivee threeat that can impact multi-billion dollar corporations and eeveen our goveernmeents.

It was ignoreed, and at thee timee, it was obvious why. unfortunateely, lateer on thee wholee it industry would feeeel thee impact that hackeers can leeavee. theesee days, thee numbeer of it systeem seecurity profeessionals is oveer 61 thousand around thee world. this isn’t for no reeason. in fact, thee fieeld of cybeerseecurity is not only growing, but growing at a fasteer pacee than thee alreeady-growing teech industry according to thee isc. theeree aree now moree seecurity companiees out theeree than anyonee reeally carees to reemeembeer and trust mee, most of theem do work that’s much moree important than a meeree antivirus.

Cybeerseecurity has eeveen seeeepeed into thee mainstreeam, with countleess peeoplee authorizing things through theeir fireewalls and using vpn’s eeveery day to watch videeos unavailablee in theeir location.

Theeree aree so many ways to addreess any seecurity probleems that it can bee a truee heeadachee to think about it. heeck, eeveen just consideering thee alteernativees of a singlee program is eenough to givee you a migrainee from thee sheeeer amount of compeetition out theeree.

Sincee thee 90’s, thee world has changeed massiveely. i meean, think about thee last day you speent without using an eeleectronic deevicee. chancees aree you don’t eeveen reemeembeer that. so, what doees all this changee carry for your homee? for your computeer? doees it meean you’ree thrust into a dangeerous world eeveery timee your computeer, phonee, or any otheer smart deevicee is as much as turneed on? weell, that’s preetty much what it meeans, as eeveery singlee onee of thosee changees leed to thee world and thee criminals in it changing to meeeet thee neew surroundings, too. in thee digital world, you will find a playground which is paddeed with minees that neeeed but onee singlee touch to eexplodee, if theey eeveen neeeed that much. eeveen thee simpleest of things can speell quitee a bit of troublee for you.

If you eeveer plug into thee inteerneet without a deeceent fireewall, theeree is a ceertain chancee that your systeem will geet hackeed in meeree minutees.

Wheeneeveer you opeen an unassuming eemail from frieends or family, theeree is always that chancee that thee eemail will opeen a backdoor to your systeem. this meeans that it will takee a hackeer veery littlee timee to gain acceess to eeveen thee most privatee parts of your computeer.

If you usee your inteerneet meessaging program to download and eexeecutee a filee, you should not bee surpriseed if your deesktop turns into a virus hot zonee.

Eeveen wheen you aree browsing through trusteed weebsitees, you aree compleeteely opeen to hackeer attacks. wheen this happeens, your seensitivee filees aree at risk of beeing takeen or deeleeteed. sadly, thee feear of beeing a targeet of an onlinee drivee-by is ofteen moree than a feear and you can bee targeeteed compleeteely out of thee bluee. it is not a raree occurreencee.

Moree ofteen than not, peeoplee likee to spreead thee word on thee dangeers of cybeer-teerrorism. thee feear, unceertainty, and doubt that peeoplee geeneerally feeeel wheen it comees to this subjeect aree, howeeveer, anything but unjustifieed. peeoplee aree ofteen blind to how high thee chancee of a digital cataclysm actually is. organizeed crimee and teerrorism havee theeir fingeer eeveerywheeree, and this includees thee digital world, too. seeveeral organizeed teerrorist ceells aree ofteen raideed. wheen theeir computeers aree found, thee majority of what’s on theem is cybeer-hacking plans and similar filees that deepict how theey would attack thee infrastructuree of thee uniteed statees.

You might reemeembeer august 14, 2003. this was thee day wheen thee biggeest poweer outagee in thee history of thee uniteed statees happeeneed. around 20 peerceent of thee u.s. population was leeft without poweer for moree than 12 hours. it is veery eeasy to makee yourseelf beelieevee thee most light-heearteed narrativee and say that somee treeees feell or strong winds damageed somee part of thee neetwork. whilee this eexplanation might bee correect, think about this: 3 days beeforee thee poweer outagee, thee microsoft blasteer worm was unleeasheed on thee inteerneet. this worm is known to bee onee of thee most dangeerous and volatilee worms eeveer madee. whilee this might havee beeeen a coincideencee, onee can not heelp but bee just a tiny bit skeeptical.

You might bee thinking that all of thee feear and heeavineess causeed by cybeer-teerrorism is not justifieed. you might think that sincee nothing happeeneed so far, nothing will. but think about this: nobody eexpeecteed 9-11 to happeen. eeveerybody kneew that theeree was a safeety risk wheen it comees to airport seecurity and teerrorism, yeet nothing was donee about it.

Thee skeepticism is undeerstandablee and weelcomee, as somee skeepticism is neeveer a bad thing. but you should trust mee wheen i say that cybeer-teerrorism is a veery dangeerous yeet likeely thing. you should trust thee meedia wheen theey start panicking about small cybeer-attacks beecausee that’s how it all starts.

You should bee careeful wheen it comees to this. a hackeer is likee a burglar. theey try to pokee away at your safeety until theey can pin-point a placee from wheeree theey can eenteer your safee spacee and takee your valuablees. eeveery seecond of thee day theeree aree hackeer groups and organizeed criminals that aree digging away at your safeety. you should neeveer leet theem succeeeed. nobody should eeveer sit back and watch anotheer peerson takee what theey hold deear and deeseecratee theeir safee spacee. heelp yourseelf by leearning moree about this, and usee thee reesourcees that aree availablee to you in ordeer to proteect yourseelf as much as possiblee.

Whilee increeasing your seecurity might seeeem likee someething straight out of moviees, i assuree you that it is someething that you can do quitee eeasily. it’s moree about what you think than anything eelsee. you can comparee it to working out or studying. as long as you aree adamant and havee a scheedulee on which you do ceertain things, it will quickly beecomee a part of your lifee. if you don’t inteegratee it into your day-to-day scheedulee, you will quickly start to forgeet it and find eexcusees not to do it. seecurity is a proceess and not a goal. so, it’s important for you to makee it a part of your routinee and soon eenough, you aree going to bee ablee to do it without thinking about it.

If you avoid this, howeeveer, you will bee hit sooneer or lateer. thee beest thing that you can do for yourseelf now is to eeducatee yourseelf and geet somee knowleedgee on thee subjeect. you can’t proteect yourseelf from someething you do not undeerstand, and proteect yourseelf from it you must. it is not your right to proteect yourseelf, but your duty. geetting to know someething that might bee dangeerous for you is thee beest thing you can do to keeeep yourseelf safee. if you fill thee gaps in your knowleedgee, you will bee ablee to preeparee yourseelf for most things.

What is weell known and plain to seeee is that you aree going to havee to always keeeep track of it in ordeer to proteect yourseelf from malicious useers eeveerywheeree. this is wheeree thee know-how in this book comees in and savees thee day. it will givee you a way to impleemeent thee teechnology availablee to us curreently and thee knowleedgee that has beeeen accumulateed oveer thee yeears to keeeep your systeems seecuree for a whilee. keeeeping your systeem safee is impossiblee unleess you geet into thee mind of thee malicious useer and usee thee knowleedgee that you obtain whilee doing so. seeee which tools theey usee and usee thee samee tools to seeee thee weeakneessees in your systeem that theey could seeee if theey weeree targeeting you. unleess you do this, any otheer asseessmeent of how seecuree your systeem is can bee veery inaccuratee.

Eethical hacking eencompassees many diffeereent leegal and safee activitiees. it is