In the world of security, the main figure undoubtedly are the hackers. These professionals capable of circumventing the strongest computer defenses based on malicious code and ingenuity. Although the word as such suggests bad things, the reality is that most of the people who dedicate themselves to this usually work precisely on developing better defenses so that no third party accesses the information of other users.
However, always a black point is usually the most prominent on a white sheet, and the community keeps the image of those third parties who want to access illegally to the privacy of users.
If you want to know more about this topic to get a clear idea of what hackers really are, in this article you will know all the necessary details; from its definition to its origin and history, and the various skills one must have.
What is a Hacker and what is his goal in modern computing?
Beyond the purposes or intentions that move it, a hacker is any person who, with the help of a simple computer and an Internet connection, is capable of obtaining access to other computers, servers, or websites. Almost all of those who dedicate themselves to this activity are people who have great knowledge and skills in Computer Science.
Widely mastering aspects such as programming language, communications and especially software manipulation. In a general sense, the public tends to have a negative opinion of the term hacker, mainly due to the fact that all malicious attacks to various systems have their origin in the action of a hacker or a group of them, and in which case it is perceived as a cybercriminal. This, of course, is a hard-earned fame.
And, to verify it, it is enough to see that millions of users have been affected by the theft of personal data, which are then used to cause property damage or affect the reputation of more than one person. Nor should we forget the thousands of cases in which hackers have managed to harm large corporations such as Google, and even to governments or reputed institutions like NASA or the NSA.
But we must not overlook that there is also a positive connotation of the term, since in computer science many of them are used to discover vulnerabilities or weak points in systems and applications, with which they have helped to solve this type of problems. In the latter case, we are talking about hackers who are hired by large technology corporations, who entrust them with these tasks to ensure that their developments have a adequate level of security before launching them on the market.
History and Origin Who was and when did the first hackers appear?
Some consider John Nevil Maskelyne the first hacker in history. This character, who is presented as an English magician and inventor, was responsible for sabotaging in 1903 a presentation of Marconi’s proprietary wireless telegraph. But we already know that for those times the term “hack” was not something in common use, and it is not until the end of the 1950s when it begins to become popular with students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
At first it was something that served to joke with each other, and with the appearance of the specialization in Computer Programming, the term hack began to be associated with feats or innovations achieved by any student in that area. In this way, we see that whoever achieved a hack became a hacker, of course in the good sense of the word, until over time all that knowledge became used by Some for totally different purposes.
How are hackers classified? Main types that exist
Each hacker, or group of them, will be acting by moved by various interests, which has led to establish a classification that frames them according to the ends that each one pursues.
Among the main types we can mention the following:
White hat
They are the well-known hackers of White hat, or ethical hackers, of which we can assure meet a prophylactic function in the world of Computing, to the point that they are currently granted accreditations to carry out their activity. They can work on their own or do it under contract, always in order to find vulnerabilities and help correct them.
Black hat
The hackers of black hat They are, neither more nor less, the dreaded representation of cybercriminals in the Internet world, since they use all their knowledge to criminal activities over the Internet. Once they define a target for their malicious attacks, they are capable of causing damage ranging from introduction of malware and viruses of all kinds, to the theft of data and even the disablement of computers and servers of all kinds.
Gray hat
This kind of hacker is dedicated to penetrating computer systems driven by profit, since they work looking for the security holes of various systems and applications, then contact the site administrators and offer to resolve the issue changing a payment.
Hacktivist
Hackers are grouped into this type, although they do not seek to obtain profit from their activity, they have managed to cripple or damage systems for the sole purpose of leaving a message of type political, religious, social or ideological. The best known example of them is the group Anonymous.
What kind of attacks does a Hacker carry out and what tools does he use?
As we have already told you above, hackers usually just have a computer and an Internet connection to carry out their work, be it with ethical or malicious purposes. But they also need get an indispensable tool, which is none other than a computer program, in which case they always try to have a highly sophisticated software, which will allow them to have remote access to other computers and systems.
Another aspect to keep in mind is that we must never forget that We are facing highly trained individuals in the area of Computer Science, which allows them to make improvements to the programs they use, updating them themselves constantly. As incredible as it may seem, many of these programs are readily available on the market. With them, hackers can penetrate other computers in different ways, among which we can name the email and downloads from the Internet.
Once they achieve that first objective, the next step will be to carry out malicious attacks of different types, the three most common being the ones you will see below:
Phishing
It is perhaps the most widespread form of piracy on the Internet, for which the hacker sends massively or selectively emails that appear harmless, but in the same place attachments or links that contain a malicious payload. When the user clicks on the attached file or link, there is no going back, and the criminal proceeds to extract data from the user, allowing them to impersonate your identity and cause property damage. This is how the Phishing.
Malware
Black hat hackers execute this type of attack to introduce viruses and ransomware, in both cases with a wide harmful potential, being able to take control of the computer without the user noticing it.
Thus the attacker begins to send all the information he deems necessary to his own database. As in many other types of malicious attacks, the hacker requires the user to take an action, which in most cases is to do click on any of the alerts that from time to time we see on the screen of our devices.
Denial of Service (DoS)
DoS attacks are made for saturate traffic of websites, so that visitors cannot access the contents of the page or platform. The method consists of overloading the server while simultaneously using multiple IP addresses from around the world, of which the attacker has already managed to gain control.
Tips to protect yourself from a hacker and keep your information safe
As users, we are all obliged to make the task more difficult to those who use their technological knowledge in a malicious way. This will help us not only to keep our information and data safe, but it also allows us to protect our equipment safe from any harm that those might cause.
Here are some simple practical tips, which are very useful in both cases, regardless of whether you are a common user or move in the corporate environment:
Reduces Attack Surface
This should be rule number one for increase your computer security from now on. It is a procedure aimed at eliminating the greatest number of vulnerabilities possible on your computer or system. To achieve this, you must take care of eliminating all unnecessary or little-used applications on your computers, as well as those ports that you never use, since in both cases it is security holes where hackers can enter and cause damage.
Learn to protect yourself from Phishing
Taking into account that this is one of the methods preferred by cybercriminals, you should be wary of any email that arrives in your inbox from unknown senders, even if they appear to be from people or institutions that you know. This is especially important when one of them invites you to perform certain actions, like opening an attachment or going to a link.
Keep your equipment updated
Many hackers use methods such as introducing malicious programs, which remain dormant until we take any action so that they are activated in the computers. When you do periodic maintenance you will be eliminating them, which you must accompany with making sure download the latest programs from official sitesas there are many pirated copies of them that may be loaded with malicious software.
Use the latest generation antivirus
By doing so, you ensure that you are using a tool that will protect you better. This is because new viruses appear every time, and software more recently developed it comes equipped to protect against all of them.
Keep backup copies of your files
This is the way to make sure you control damage if you are the victim of a hacker, since you will have a backup to restore information in case of erasure for malicious action, or even to suffer physical damage or loss of any of your computing devices.