Different Types of Hacking Attacks
Hackers divide their attacks into different types. These types are:
Nontechnical
These techniques focus on the end-users (i.e. the people who use the target devices).
Because humans have a natural tendency to trust others, hackers can break through a
system’s defenses without using any electronic tool. These hackers may use “social
engineering” tactics to obtain a user’s trust and gain access to a network or file. You’ll
learn more about social engineering later on.
A hacker may also implement a physical attack against his target. For instance, he may
break into a computer room and access one or more devices that are present. As an
alternative, he may check the dumpsters in the building and try to look for useful
information (e.g. passwords). Hackers refer to this approach as “dumpster diving”.
Network
Hackers can implement this kind of attack easily, since most networks are accessible
through the internet. The most common forms of network attacks are:
Accessing a network using a rigged modem
Taking advantage of vulnerabilities in digital transport mechanisms (e.g. NetBIOS)
Sending a continuous stream of requests to a network
Rigging the system and collecting data packets to access confidential information
Operating System
These attacks play an important role in any hacker’s toolkit. That’s because each computer
has an operating system. And there are a lot of tools that you can use to crack the OS (i.e.
operating system) of a computer.
There are a lot of operating systems out there. However, hackers usually focus on the most
popular ones (e.g. Windows systems). Here are some of the OS attacks that you can use:
Destroying the security of a file system
Deciphering passwords
Attacking pre-installed authentication mechanisms
Hackers divide their attacks into different types. These types are:
Nontechnical
These techniques focus on the end-users (i.e. the people who use the target devices).
Because humans have a natural tendency to trust others, hackers can break through a
system’s defenses without using any electronic tool. These hackers may use “social
engineering” tactics to obtain a user’s trust and gain access to a network or file. You’ll
learn more about social engineering later on.
A hacker may also implement a physical attack against his target. For instance, he may
break into a computer room and access one or more devices that are present. As an
alternative, he may check the dumpsters in the building and try to look for useful
information (e.g. passwords). Hackers refer to this approach as “dumpster diving”.
Network
Hackers can implement this kind of attack easily, since most networks are accessible
through the internet. The most common forms of network attacks are:
Accessing a network using a rigged modem
Taking advantage of vulnerabilities in digital transport mechanisms (e.g. NetBIOS)
Sending a continuous stream of requests to a network
Rigging the system and collecting data packets to access confidential information
Operating System
These attacks play an important role in any hacker’s toolkit. That’s because each computer
has an operating system. And there are a lot of tools that you can use to crack the OS (i.e.
operating system) of a computer.
There are a lot of operating systems out there. However, hackers usually focus on the most
popular ones (e.g. Windows systems). Here are some of the OS attacks that you can use:
Destroying the security of a file system
Deciphering passwords
Attacking pre-installed authentication mechanisms