In this chapter we will give you a general idea about what hacking really is and then move on to look into the classification of different kinds of hackers.In its most elemental form, hacking can be defined as the process of ascertaining and the subsequent
exploitation of the various shortfalls and weaknesses in a computer system or a network of such computer systems. This exploitation may take the form of accessing and stealing of information,altering the configuration, changing the structural picture of the computer system and so on.
The whole spectrum of hacking is not something that is found only in the developed countries. In fact,with the kind of advancement that has been witnessed in the field of information technology during the last two decades, it should not come as a surprise that many of the most tenacious communities of hackers are based in the developing countries of South and South-East Asia.There is so much of smoke screen and ambiguity in the world of hackers that it is extremely difficult to pinpoint a particular activity as hacking or not. This ambiguity is so much that the very term “hacker” is subject to a lot of controversies. In some contexts, the term is used to refer to any person who has a command over computer systems and networks. In other contexts it is used to refer to a computer security specialist who strives to find and plug the loopholes in the system. They are sometimes called crackers. But more on the classification of hackers shall be dealt with in detail in the later part of this chapter.
A plethora of reasons may be behind hacking. Some do it with the very predictable reason of making
money. They may steal and retrieve information from a computer system, or plant incorrect information in return for monetary gains. Some others do it simply for the challenge of the whole activity. The rush of doing something that is prohibited, accessing what is forbidden. And yet others are computer world equivalents of social miscreants who may access a network or system and scramble, thereby rendering it utterly useless for the users of such network.
There are people who hack a system as a sign of protest against the authority. Instead of being vocal against the policies which they consider unreasonable, they burrow into the technological network systems employed by the authority and wreak havoc.
When computers emerged as the mandatory devices to successfully run businesses, process personal data, and save information, it was only a matter of time before the society became wholly dependent on them for every aspect of life.
The emergence of the Internet marked a point of no return to the relationship that humanity has with machines. We now depend on computers for almost all types of communications, shopping, business, entertainment, and mainly to stay alive.This networking of computers to facilitate communication has however exposed our personal and business information to the outside world and cyber crime.
Cybercrime is the use of computers to commit fraudulent acts that may include privacy invasion, sabotage, fraud, and disseminating confidential information among others. Cybercrime has grown to become a very serious threat to people’s lives and costs many individuals, organizations, businesses, and governments around the world billions of dollars every year.
Most people committing these cybercrimes are hackers. Paradoxically, the people that the victims of this crime need to protect themselves, their data, and information infrastructure against such attacks are also hackers… except they are a different kind of hackers.
Before we can dive deep into understanding hackers, first let us understand what is hacking.
What is hacking?
The definition of hacking is very broad. we can define hacking as the process of finding weaknesses in computer systems and computer network systems and exploiting them to gain access to information.
We can, therefore, say that a hacker is a person who identifies and exploits weaknesses in computer systems and/or networks to access information. A hacker is typically a skilled computer programmer with knowledge of computer and network security.
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