Ethical hacking is a lucrative business for those interested in cybersecurity and programming. To become an ethical hacker, however, you’ll need to gain the correct certifications required by law. Although anyone can pick up general hacking skills before certifying, it’s best to take an ethical hacking course to ensure success on your certification testing. Learn more about ethical hacking and the process of ethical hacking courses here.
What is Ethical Hacking
Ethical hacking often referred to as “white hat” hacking or penetration testing, is a type of hacking that works to secure an organization’s security and information systems. Ethical hackers are employed by the organization and are given explicit permission to exploit their systems. This method is used to discover any weaknesses in the system that the company needs to fix, therefore tightening security from potential illegal hackers.
Ethical hacking is a great way to stay up-to-date on technological advances while continually testing your skills. You can learn how to implement these ethical hacking techniques with an ethical hacking course that teaches you the five phases of ethical hacking.
What You’ll Learn
To learn how to be an ethical hacker and achieve your official certifications, you’ll need to take an ethical hacking course that covers the basics.
The five phases commonly used in ethical hacking are as follows:
Reconnaissance
Also known as footprinting, reconnaissance is the first step of ethical hacking. It involves prep work such as information gathering and learning more about the “target.” To get a better grasp of the task at hand, you’ll learn more about the host, network, and those involved.
Reconnaissance can be achieved in two ways: active and passive footprinting. Active footprinting requires you to directly interact with the target through information gathering techniques. Through passive footprinting, you’ll gain information about the target through indirect means such as scanning public websites.
Scanning
During your ethical hacking course, you’ll also learn how to scan or map a target. This includes different methods such as vulnerability and port scanning, as well as network mapping.
- Vulnerability scanning uses automatic tools to help you scan for exploitable vulnerabilities that the target may have.
- Through port scanning, you’ll discover open or live systems found on the host and target the weak systems.
- Learn to work around a target’s firewalls and network through network mapping.
Gaining Access
After learning how to fully scan systems for weaknesses, you’ll move on to the techniques of gaining access to it. There are various tools and entry points you can use to modify or hide data, install applications, and more.
Maintaining Access
Gaining access is one thing, but maintaining your access in a system can be challenging. Ethical hackers learn how to stay hidden in a system while maintaining a breach. During this phase, hackers can complete their tasks in full, including planting malicious files or corrupting a system.
Clearing Track
The most important and final step of the five phases of ethical hacking is to clear your evidence. The ‘Clearing Track’ step helps beginner trackers learn how to hide any traces of their entrance to the system, allowing you to hide any applications, folders, or values that were input during the previous hacking stages.
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