Methods of Hacking

Describe about the Online Privacy for A Matter of Policy?

The origin of hacking can be dated back to many years ago. It became a potential harm to the internet users from the 1980. It was used to mean any sort of computing act which was not acceptable to the society and unethical in nature. During the years 1950-1960, there was a certain degree of tolerance which was shown to these hackers because of their potential in programming and designing various types of applications which can intrude into other systems and gather vital data. Hacking is a method of getting access to the personal data of others, with the sole intent of modifying, destroying or using the data for own use. There has been a debate as to who actually is a hacker (Synodinou, 2015). Hackers are the persons with deep knowledge in technology of computers and networking. It might not always be for harming the other’s systems and data. A hacker with a harmful intent can be termed as an attacker. Black hat is another type of attacker. The security analysts are sometimes known as the white hats. The type of hacking used for defensive purpose is known as White-hat analysis. The various motives of hacking can be like the employees who have been sacked by their companies, wishing to seek revenge and make the company pay (Whitty, 2013).

Fig.1: It shows the hacking attacks across the world

(Source: https://graphs.net, 2015)

There are various processes in which several hackers try to intrude into other’s systems, each with different motive (Torok, 2013). The most popular methods used in hacking can be of the following types:

These scams can be of several types. Primarily, the phishing attacks come from Nigeria. These might include various types of criminal activities. We often see various pop-up messages like “You have won a tablet”. The trick is that it asks for personal information like bank details or using our credit cards (Office, 2015). The payment made online is directly received by the hackers, who use the funds in some illegal activities. These Nigerian scams are known as the ‘419 scams’. They may come in the form of job offers, some people wanting to meet us and we can make some money by clicking on some of the advertisements. Every year thousands of people from various parts of the world, wall prey to these scams and suffer unthinkably. They are totally clueless on where to lodge the complaint (Synodinou, 2015).It is better to use our common sense before we reply to any mail or follow any email instruction. These scams require us to take some quick actions without giving much time to think. Hence, we should read all the terms and conditions carefully and analyze that whether they are practically possible or not. We should not jump into making some online payments or providing any personal information.

Trojan horses are types of viruses which are passed on to the systems of the others by the hackers (Temple,  2012). It installs a program on the computer system which can record everything that is being typed on the computer and sends back all the data to the hacker. These programs can also distribute spam emails and attack other’s computers. The hackers disguise the viruses in the form of some programs. These are called Trojan Horses. The best way of delivering Trojans is to send it as a variation of the phishing emails. There might be some emails in our inboxes which say that they are from reputed companies or banks. They claim that there has been some problem with a particular transaction (Mthembu, 2012). To see in details, we need to open the email attachment. The time we click on the email link, it starts installing a file by itself. One cannot do anything in order to stop the application. Today, on Facebook and Twitter also, we can find same types of scams. It can be in the form of video which a friend posted. When we click on the link, a popup appears which instructs to update the video player. The update file is actually the Trojan. One of the ways to stop the system from getting infected with Trojan is to apply common sense. We also need updated security software installed in our machines. These software detect the Trojans much earlier and prevent them from being installed (Markou, 2014).

Phishing Attacks

Most of the security software blocks many of these attacks. But, they are not absolutely full proof (Wadhwa et al. 2015).The several programs installed on our computers might have certain loop-holes through which the hackers can slip in several bypass security applications. In order to harm the user’s machines, the hackers create websites and plant them with viruses. We can go to that site unintentionally if we click on this harmful link and also on social platforms. When we make certain searches on the search engines like Google, Yahoo, etc, there is the possibility that we might end up visiting any of the these malicious links (Makakaba, 2012).

There is also a process used by the hackers, in which they pass harmful codes on to the well known and harmless sites. The work of this code is to scan our computer systems and to find any holes in the security systems (Mathews Hunt, 2015).Whenever any loop hole is found, it automatically starts installing the virus. The best way to prevent this is to keep all the software on the system up-to-date. The Microsoft Windows and other system software should be updated every month with the latest drivers (Liu, 2013).There should be regular updating of the network browsers like Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and others. This installs new application software which can effectively block these attacks. There are some other software which needs to be updated like Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Reader, Java by Oracle and others. If we do not update them, they can make ways for hackers to attack our systems by sending them inscribed invitations. The old-fashioned browsers like Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 should be immediately replaced with more advanced versions (Yan et al. 2015).

In this system of hacking, the hackers get access to our passwords from the security breaches in the company where we work and also from the websites which we visit. Few websites require us to store our passwords. This can be a dangerous proposition because the recorded password passes on directly to the hacker, who can then intrude into the account of the user. It is also required to give answers to the security questions in various websites. We should provide such a question which cannot be easily guessed (Li et al. 2014).

Most of us have Wi-Fi connections at our home today. But, we need to know whether it is encrypted or not. If it is not encrypted, then the hackers can connect to our network. Some of the neighbors can also locate our network, among the lists of networks they can see on their systems. They are able to watch and record our every move on the internet. It is even possible to download illegal content on our machines by using our very own network connection. This might even lead to a criminal offence. It is of utmost importance to us to secure our networks in the best possible way (Li, 2015).The procedure on how to secure our network can be availed from the manual provided with the Wi-Fi Router.

Trojan Horse

Fig.2: It shows the process of attack by a hacker.

(Source: https://www.knowbe4.com, 2015)

In order to prevent hacking or to minimize it at least, a number of measures can be selected. This assignment seeks to inform about some of them. As the types of attacks are increasing every day, we need to come up with their solutions also.

The hackers always look out for areas of weakness in the network, where they can intrude instantly. This is why we should regularly update all our major software like Operating System, Security Software, Web Browsers and others (Katos, 2012). We should visit the Microsoft update page and download the recent software patches for the OS. It is to be kept in mind that we should always purchase original operating system and not the pirated ones. The pirated ones cannot be updated adequately from their original websites.

Firewalls are programs which protect our systems from unauthorized access by the hackers and the various viruses they manufacture. This tool is extremely important in keeping the integrity of our systems intact. It should be monitored from time to time that our firewalls are kept on all the time. These firewalls can also be personalized according to our needs. We can also tune them in order to decide how much data from the internet we want to get into our systems. It is also equally important to update this firewall regularly (Kah Leng, 2015).

Fig.3: How a firewall works

(Source: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com, 2015)

We need to frequently change the passwords of the websites we visit regularly. It is equally important to design complicated passwords with a variety of characters like alphabets in lower and upper cases, symbols, numbers, etc. This makes it difficult for anybody to guess the passwords with accuracy (Jung et al. 2014). This needs to be done with more priority in the banking and other websites which require sensitive information like credit card details, bank account details and others. If the passwords are altered on a regular basis at certain intervals, then it reduces the chances of hacking to a great extent.

Nowadays, many computers come with pre-installed anti-virus software. But, it may still be necessary to download or purchase original version of antivirus software for more protection. Various companies manufacture these products nowadays like Kaspersky, McAffee, Norton and others (Phippen et al. 2012).These products keep our systems healthy and ensure they run smoothly. An unhealthy computer filled with viruses, are more likely to attacks from the hackers. It is also extremely important to update them regularly. New threats are emerging every day. So, all these software needs regular updating also.

Fig.4: The anti-virus software available today

(Source: https://askbobrankin.com, 2015)

These are also few of the threats to the modern computers.  But, they are probably not as dangerous as the viruses. Adware creates advertisements in our browsers. Whenever we open our browser, it takes us to some malicious pages or opens up pop-ups which when clicked take us to some harmful websites or downloadable programs. This not only, makes the system susceptible to attacks, but also very slow in performance (Furnell et al. 2014). Spyware on the other hand tracks our internet usage and copy our passwords for using them in some illegal activities. The various anti-spyware and adware programs that are available in the market today, secure our computers from all these threats.

Drive-by Downloads

It is always prudent, not to click on any links in emails which come from unknown sources. They might contain potentially dangerous software. Many times it is seen that many alluring emails from several sources hit our inbox. But we should never fall for them. Mostly, the Nigerian countries are involved in the email scams. They try to attract people who can become easy victims of all these scams. They ask for making payments to a particular bank account number against which the user will receive a much bigger amount in dollars. Every year, thousands of people across the world fall prey to these scams. They make payments with expectation of getting some more in return. They end up losing the amount paid. They cannot recover the amount as the transaction involves dealing with foreign countries (Excell, 2012).

Conclusions

In the end, we may say that it is extremely important nowadays to take adequate protections while using our computer systems. Hacking is constantly on the rise. The hackers are also becoming more advanced in technology. They are continuously producing new harmful applications which are causing extreme harm to us. In this dynamic world, nothing is eternal. Hence, the security software we are using today will not be able to block all the attacks that occur in future. Hence it is extremely important to update them on a regular basis. As the security threats are increasing each day, so are the prevention software. So, today we are extremely lucky to have many options to ward off the hackers and the malicious programs they manufacture.

In order to fight with the social evil known as hacking, we need to follow a few specific set of guidelines. These simple rules and regulations will ensure that we can operate our systems with ease and without any fear of loss or threat to data. The several ways in which we can handle various types of threats to our computers, have been discussed at length in this assignment. There are different solutions available to us for each different types of threat. It is always wise to keep our systems fully updated with the recent software patches and current versions of the anti-virus and spyware. Protection software is to be installed not only in desktop computers, but also in the official systems that we use. Our official systems contain valuable data regarding our work and personal information which we cannot divulge to any outsider. Hence, our systems at office should also be kept updated with the recent software and operating system. There should also be adequate antivirus and spyware protection software.

Reference list

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