Ethical IT Hacking : Ethical IT Hacking Presented by: Marcus De Souza
U33227023
What is IT Ethical Hacking? : What is IT Ethical Hacking? Ethical hacking is when a person is trained to hack into a computer system by the owners to test security weaknesses.
(www.searchsecurity.testtarget.com)
Ethical hacking is also known by other names for example: intrusion or penetration testing!
When did it all start? : When did it all start? Ethical hacking started somewhere around the 1970’s
It was first introduced by the United States Government as a way to hack into their own computer systems to test security.
Ethical hacking has become more popular over the years and now well known companies like IBM have teams of Ethical hackers.
Too Much Information!!! : Too Much Information!!! Hacking Concerns Hacking Advantages There are becoming more and more web sites available with step by step instructions on how to hack into a computer.
Once trained to hack a person can use this to their advantage to steal others private information! When hacking is used properly it can be a very good thing. If the security is tested often it can stop the wrong people from being able to obtain private company information.
Different types of Hackers! : Different types of Hackers! Hacktivists- These people hack as a form of activism.
Hobbyist Hackers- People who think hacking is fun so they do it as a hobby.
Research and Security Hackers- Hackers that are worried about the vulnerability of a network and work to discover how to fix them. Enter Password
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How does hacking work? : How does hacking work? First the hacker must locate a network to hack into. This is done by using a tool called NetStumbler.
This tool can find a wireless signal that is within reasonable distance.
Hackers also use a tool called Kismet. This tool gives the hacker more information for locating a wireless network that is not available when using the NetStumbler tool. Kismet displays the SSID’s which are a critical part of the information needed to hack into a network.
Once a list of networks are located the hacker can choose which one they would like to connect too. This is easier with unsecured networks that are using no form of security features. Weather the hacker is connected to the network or not it is still easy to collect information. There is a tool called WireShark that allows information that is flying around to be captured.
A wireless hacker using any of these tools can easily obtain any information they want that is located on your computer.
Is there a way to protect against unwanted hackers? : Is there a way to protect against unwanted hackers? Make sure that the network you use is secured and do not share your SSID.
Use a 128 bit instead of a 40 bit encryption key. This will make it harder to hack into your network.
Use a very difficult WPA Pre Shared Key. This will be less likely to be located in a dictionary file making it much harder to guess.
Switch to a different EAP type.
Use encryption so that anything that may be taken from your network is nearly impossible to decode.
Slide 8 : The Computer Security Act of 1987 The Computer Protection Act of 1987 was designed to ensure the privacy and security of important federal information making sure it did not leak out to the public. Due to the September 11th Terrorist attack on our country this law has been more drastically put into effect. This makes is harder for hacktivism, hobbies, or research to take place.
(www.computerworld.com)
Slide 9 : Why is it becoming harder to hack into a network? Because the computer security act of 1987 is being more openly enforced hackers a much more closely watched. However there are other reasons behind why hacking is becoming almost impossible in some cases.
Companies and citizens are being made aware of the dangers of hacking, and how private information is being obtained by the wrong people.
The technology is becoming more and more advanced and the security settings are becoming more profound making it virtually impossible to hack into a system. There are many new built in computer security options as well as other software you can buy in addition to what your operating system already offers.
Ethical Issues of Hacking : Ethical Issues of Hacking In conclusion we ask ourselves is hacking ethical? The answer to this question is yes. We have the right to find faults in current security software and make sure it’s reported so corrections can be made in the future.
Hacking is only ethical from the standpoint of research. Hackers that are hacking into networks for their own profit or pleasure is wrong and it’s illegal.
Slide 11 : Sources www.searchsecurity.testtarget.com
www.computerworld.com
www.ethicalhacker.net