System Hacking

System Hacking is a critical phase in the ethical hacking methodology where penetration testers attempt to gain unauthorized access to target systems after completing reconnaissance and scanning. This phase focuses on exploiting vulnerabilities to obtain various levels of access privileges. The process typically follows several key steps: 1. Password Cracking: Ethical hackers employ various techniques like dictionary attacks, brute force attacks, hybrid attacks, and rainbow table attacks to discover user credentials. 2. Privilege Escalation: After gaining initial access, hackers work to elevate their permissions from standard user to administrator or system-level access. This may involve exploiting misconfigurations, unpatched vulnerabilities, or design flaws. 3. Executing Applications: Once higher privileges are obtained, hackers can install and run applications such as keyloggers, spyware, backdoors, or rootkits to maintain persistent access. 4. Hiding Files: Ethical hackers demonstrate how malicious actors might conceal evidence using techniques like steganography, alternate data streams, or rootkits. 5. Covering Tracks: Professionals show how attackers might erase evidence of their intrusion by clearing logs, modifying timestamps, or using tools that minimize their footprint. System hacking reveals critical security weaknesses in an organization's infrastructure. By ethically demonstrating these techniques, security professionals can identify vulnerabilities before malicious hackers exploit them. The ultimate goal is to secure systems by understanding attack vectors and implementing appropriate countermeasures such as strong password policies, principle of least privilege, regular patching, intrusion detection systems, and comprehensive logging and monitoring. This knowledge helps organizations build robust defenses against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.

System Hacking is a critical phase in the ethical hacking methodology where penetration testers attempt to gain unauthorized access to target systems after completing reconnaissance and scanning. Thi…

Concepts covered: System Hacking Concepts, Gaining Access, Cracking Passwords, Vulnerability Exploitation, Escalating Privileges, Maintaining Access, Executing Applications, Hiding Files, Clearing Logs