The advent of the internet in the past few decades has also led to cyber-attacks and caused Billion-dollar worth of damage. Any cybercriminal would use common hacking techniques such as phishing, clickjacking, DDoS, etc., to gain unauthorised access to the systems and compromise critical data. In this blog, we are going to tell you about the most commonly used hacking techniques by cybercriminals.
Malware (Hacking Techniques)
Using malware is perhaps the most commonly used method by cybercriminals. They can infect your system when you mistakenly download malicious files on your computer. Hackers use malware for getting complete control over a computer effectively. Malware can be classified as viruses and ransomware, each having a unique purpose. Once the malware infects a computer, it can easily hijack the entire machine, record actions and keystrokes, leak data to anonymous servers, and more. Cybercriminals use various methods to spread malware into computers. However, most of them usually requires the user to take the first step of installing the malware. The file might look completely harmless at first, but it has hidden malware. An ethical hacking certification training could be helpful to learn more about different types of malware.
Phishing (Hacking Techniques)
Hackers have become smart enough to know that people aren’t going to open random links or attachments without verifying the identity of the sender. They know that the user must have a compelling reason to open the link or attachment. For this reason, hackers use phishing tactics to pretend to some individual or organisation that you might trust. It becomes really hard to stop a strategic phishing attack since these attacks are based on impulses and human curiosity. The phishing attacker sends an email, which might seem legitimate at first and might have urgency with it. An attachment or a link will be present in the email, prompting you to open it. After opening the malicious file, you will automatically install the malware on your computer. There are some legitimate-looking websites, which capture your credentials when you try to use its services. Understanding the verification of email senders is very important to avoid phishing attacks.
SQL Injection Attacks (Hacking Techniques)
SQL is a programming language most commonly used for managing and communicating with databases. The effective use of SQL is very important for storing critical data for websites and web applications. Hackers commonly use SQL injection attacks to attach these types of servers to corrupt the information in the database. This could cause huge damage if the server is being used for storing private information such as login credentials, credit card information, personal identities, or more. Hackers have their prying eyes on servers with these types of data. Hackers can strategically exploit one known SQL vulnerability that might allow the server to execute malicious code. There are various vulnerabilities in a SQL server; hackers rely on these vulnerabilities to perform their malicious acts. The best ethical hacking course could give you in-depth knowledge of SQL injection attacks.
Cross-Site Scripting (Better Known as XSS)
If a hacker wants to attack a website’s users directly, then instead of an SQL injection attack, he/she might use a Cross-Site Scripting attack. In this type of attack, the hacker would inject malicious code into a website. However, the website itself won’t be attacked in such an injection. Instead, the users will be attacked once they visit the website or open a link. The visitor is directly affected instead of the website. Comment sections are often used for launching a cross-site scripting attack that can automatically run. Ignoring such attacks could drastically damage a website’s reputation in the online world. The users’ information could be at risk without even realising the problem in the first place.
Denial-of-Service (DOS)
Denial-of-Service usually takes place when a website gets overloaded with more traffic than it is intended to handle. When we intentionally overload the website’s server, it will automatically crash, and visitors won’t be able to access any content. This event can happen naturally, say if a massive flash sale breaks out in an e-commerce website or a video gets viral. However, some events could occur when this type of traffic overload is malicious. A hacker might be flooding the website with vast traffic to make it inaccessible for all users. They may use multiple computers at once to perform a DoS attack on a website. It is very hard to overcome such a complex attack because the attacker uses different IP addresses from around the world at once. This makes it very hard to track the source of the attack for cyber security experts and ethical hackers.
The Reuse of Credentials
The digital world has made us remember so many logins and passwords at the same time. For this reason, many of us take the easy way of having the same credentials. However, security best practices always advise people to have unique credentials for each service they use. Attackers are cunning enough to take advantage of this laziness and have a huge collection of most commonly used credentials. They usually acquire this critical information from a breached website and have knowledge where the credentials could be used again. Reusing credentials might be a common mistake made by millions of netizens. However, one day there are high chances the hackers might breach a website where the exact credentials have been used and gain easy access to your bank or email account. An ethical hacking certification can help you understand better about secure credentials and password managers.
Eavesdropping
The idea of such an attack is not to harm the computer or a network. Instead, hackers use them as a passive attack to monitor a computer or network to access critical information. These attacks are generally used to gain access to instant messaging services, email account, web browsing details, phone calls, etc.
Keyloggers
Keyloggers are very common these days and are often found in public computers. Basically, it’s computer software used to record the keystrokes of your keyboard. In the abstract, its motive might seem a bit vague, but in practice, hackers use keyloggers to capture keystrokes of personal email IDs, passwords, and critical information. The software-based keyloggers often install as malware on computer systems. Online banking websites allow you to use virtual keyboards to avoid the consequences of a keylogger.
Cookie Theft
Well, this is not stealing actual cookies, but it is accessing our browser’s cookies. Every web browser stores critical data in the form of cookies. Hackers have their prying on these cookies since they can use them to authenticate themselves as legit users and conduct fraudulent activities.
Learning Ethical Hacking with LSET
The demand for cyber security professionals is continuously increasing with the hackers using the following hacking techniques in the IT world. An ethical hacking certification course from LSET can help you become the successful cyber security expert of tomorrow. It is the best opportunity to learn from industry experts and gain complete practical experience with ethical hacking certification training. The best ethical hacking course can help you become more employable and beat the competition.