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Computer Hacking
A beginners guide to computer hacking, how to
hack, internet skills, hacking techniques, and more!

Table Of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 – What is Hacking?
Chapter 2 – Ethical Hacking 101
Chapter 3 – Hacking Basics
Chapter 4 – Network Hacking Basics
Chapter 5 – Hacking Your Own Windows Password
Conclusion

Introduction
I want to thank you and congratulate you for downloading the book, “Computer Hacking”
...

This book is aimed at beginners, and will take you through the basics of computer hacking
...

This book includes great tips and techniques that will help you to begin developing your own
computer hacking skills! You will discover some basic hacks you can do right away, and be pointed
in the direction of software that will assist your hacking escapades
...
White hat hacking is the
only hacking you should be doing, so remember to keep your morals in check as your hacking skills
improve!
Thanks again for downloading this book, I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1 – What is Hacking?
The term “hacker” today has garnered a negative connotation
...
Millions of computer users worldwide have felt the effects of hacking activity
...

However, not all hackers are dubious and unscrupulous souls who have nothing better to do in life
...
Traditionally, a
hacker is someone who likes to tinker with computers and other forms of electronics
...

In other words, he used to be the guy who had to figure out how to make computers faster and better
...

Nevertheless, there are still good hackers (white hat hackers) and bad hackers (black hat hackers)
...
The premise of this book is to help you learn the basics of ethical hacking (the stuff
that white hat hackers do)
...

The bottom line here is that hacking is no more than a set of computer skills that can be used for either
good or bad
...
The skills and tools are always neutral; only when they are used for malicious purposes do
they take a turn for the worse
...
It’s the objective of white hat
hackers or ethical hackers to do security checks and keep everything secure
...
One rule of thumb to help distinguish penetration testing versus malicious hacking is that
white hat hackers have the permission of the system’s owner to try and break their security
...
After all the penetration testing is completed, the ethical
hacker, the one who’s doing the legal hacking, will recommend security solutions and may even help
implement them
...
This means

that even though they did hack into the system, they should not tamper with the system’s operations
...
They should also be able to
enumerate them and report back to the owner of the system that they hacked
...
This may entail a demonstration or any other kind of
evidence that they can present
...
They work hand in hand with the company to keep
the integrity of their computer systems and data
...


The Caveat
There is of course a caveat to all of this
...

The ideal of protecting any computer system or electronic system from all possible attacks is
unrealistic
...
By then the information contained in your system
will remain useless to anyone
...
There are far too many
unknowns in our highly connected world
...
That’s how many loopholes there are
...
If there is a new way of
breaking in, then you can hire an ethical hacker to help you figure out a way to create a
countermeasure
...
You just need to update your security from time to time
...
Next time you connect your computer to the internet or host a
WiFi connection for your friends, you ought to know that you are also opening a gateway (or
gateways) for other people to break in
...


Network Infrastructure Attacks
Network infrastructure attacks refer to hacks that break into local networks as well as on the Internet
...
One way to hack into a network is to connect a modem to a local network
...

Another method of breaking into a network is via NetBIOS, TCP/IP, and other transport mechanisms
within a network
...

Network analyzers capture data packets that travel across a network
...
Another example of a fairly common network
infrastructure hack is when people piggyback on WiFi networks that aren’t secured
...


Non-Technical Attacks
Non-technical attacks basically involve manipulating people into divulging their passwords,
willingly or not
...
An example of this is by duping (or even bribing) a coworker to divulge passwords and
usernames
...

Another form of non-technical attack is simply walking into another person’s room where the
computer is, booting the computer, and then gathering all the information that you need – yes it may
sound like Tom Cruise and his mission impossible team, but in reality these non-technical attacks are
a serious part of hacking tactics
...
Well, it’s simply a
numbers game
...
There are a lot of loopholes in many operating systems – even the newest ones around still
have a few bugs that can be exploited
...
Some hackers are just obsessed with hacking other people’s passwords just for the
sheer thrill of it
...

Examples of which include web applications and email server software applications
...
Spam mail
can carry pretty much anything that can hack into your computer system
...
These software programs include Trojan horses, worms,
viruses, and spyware
...

Another set of applications that get attacked frequently are SMTP applications (Simple Mail Transfer
Protocols) and HTTP applications (Hypertext Transfer Protocols)
...
They are allowed access
simply because they are needed by the users or a company for its business operations
...
Obviously, you can’t beat an enemy you do not know
...

Note that this is only an introductory book, specifically designed for beginners
...
But at least you’ll have an idea of how it’s done
and what tools you can use for your own systems testing
...
These involve some very basic rules of thumb that will help you along the way
...

The first rule of thumb is to work ethically
...
Remember that you were hired
to test for vulnerabilities in your employer’s system
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The next rule of thumb is – don’t crash the system
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Your goal is to

find the loopholes but not to cause havoc
...

The last rule of thumb is to respect the other person’s privacy
...
At the end
of the day, you should be reporting any possible attacks on any form of private data
...
These basic tools
can be incorporated into other hacking techniques
...
In fact, these may be the easiest of the many things you
can learn in your white hat hacking career
...
It doesn’t mean that you have to go to Facebook or any
other social media site just to gather someone else’s information
...
In the
case of companies it’s their employees
...
It’s natural to trust someone else, especially if you know the other
person
...
All they need is
a few details from one person, and then to use those details to gain more information from another
employee and so on
...
They may talk the person into downloading some free
software
...
The customer who
trusted the service of said company downloads the files
...
Thus the hacker is able to gain valuable
information
...
And at times
they do not always ask a subscriber or customer to download something “free
...
Since people are trusting,
naturally, they divulge that information
...
These websites are designed to gather login
information
...
Customers on Amazon may be tricked into signing into a phishing site that looks so much like
Amazon
...
The site then gathers the usernames and
passwords of customers
...
However, once successful, it is also one of the hardest type
of hack to counteract
...
Hackers can do the research
themselves
...
The bigger the organization/company the more
information there is you can find
...

Some hackers even check out the company’s trash – yes they dumpster dive
...
Some employees unwittingly throw away
documents such as meeting notes, printed emails, organizational charts, network diagrams, a list of
usernames/passwords, lists of internal phone numbers, and even their employee’s handbook
...
Hackers contact employees or customers using the information
they have gained
...
They often behave as a nice person – a
person willing to help or in need of help
...
They don’t always need to do face to face encounters or speak to their
target in person
...

We have already mentioned the Love Bug as an example of this scenario
...
The email
addresses of the targets came from email lists
...
The virus program then
gathered emails and other information from the target’s computer and sends copies of itself in the
form of other emails to other contacts
...
Targets receive an email
from someone they think they know and they offer to transfer a certain amount of money to their
target’s bank accounts
...
Anyone who fell for it found out that their bank accounts no longer had funds the
following day
...
Keep your customers and
employees aware of what official communication from the company looks like
...


Compromising Physical Security Flaws
Physical security is actually a vital part of information security
...
They can’t get past your company’s firewall but they can install a hardware or
software within your network inside your firewall by simply walking in the door and connecting a
device into one of your employee’s computers
...
These employees
usually don’t allow a stranger to use their computers
...

Hackers may not always want to just install a piece of hardware and have a point of entry from the
inside
...
They will usually have an alibi when asked
...
They may even just tailgate
employees reentering a building and all they need to say to get in is “thank you for keeping the door
open
...
However, note that it can be
accomplished through social engineering and compromising physical vulnerabilities in the
workplace
...
Password hacking is one of the most common ways for hackers to access
information via the network or a computer
...
You gather as much information about an employee as you can
(birthdates, names of children, their favorite stuff, important dates, phone numbers, favorite shows,
and other stuff)
...
You won’t believe how
many people just use the digits of their birthdates and other easy to remember numbers as passwords
...
The tools of the
trade in terms of password hacking include network analyzers, remote cracking utilities, and other
forms of password cracking software
...
” Brute force is a trial an error method of guessing the password
...
It may take quite a while before they can
actually guess the password
...

Some hackers exploit physical flaws and try to gain access to another’s computer just to locate
passwords
...
\win32\config directory or some
other similar location
...
dit for instance
...
All that’s needed is access to the directory (e
...
c:\winnt\repair)
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And at times employees also save their passwords in
a text file, which makes it easier for hackers
...
These are either pieces of software or hardware that log the
keystrokes of unsuspecting users
...
There are many
keystroke logging software programs out there that can be bought or are given away for free
...


Chapter 4 – Network Hacking
Network hacking is a practice that takes on many forms
...
The other side of the coin is
worse – now that you are inside a network you can scan the network and find some unsecured
network device such as a computer or some other portable device that is connected to it
...

One example of that is when you have logged into a WiFi network in a local café you can open your
Windows explorer and click on Network
...
In this chapter we’ll dive into the basics of network hacking
...
This hacking method takes advantage of vulnerabilities in another
person’s telephone system
...
Some
network administrators even keep the old dial up connections as some sort of backup in case their
main internet service goes down
...
Hackers can detect repeat
dial tones
...
They
can also access voice mail, especially for phone systems that use PBX switches
...
Even low level vulnerabilities can be avenues for hacking
exploits
...

You need network scanners that can perform trace routes, DNS lookups, and other network queries
...
There are those that can also do SMTP
relay testing
...
There are network scanners that can also test firewalls
...
They’re pretty easy to use and you can
test any system with one
...
The most common ports and the services associated with them include 23
(Telnet), 22 (SSH), 7 (Echo), 53 (DNS), 21 (FTP control), 80 (HTTP), 25 (SMTP), 443 (HTTPS),
19 (Chargen), 1433 (Microsoft SQL Server), and 20 (FTP data) among many others
...

Back in the day, WiFi networks were kept open
...
Back then, when you bought a wireless router, the default configuration was
open, which meant anyone could get on and piggyback on your internet
...
The more devices that are connected to your wireless
connection the slower the service goes
...

The common tools of the trade back then included directional antennas and signal amplifiers
...

Back in the day, the only security available to WiFi router owners was WEP (Wireless Encryption
Protocol)
...
Anyone can monitor your router’s
communication and eventually crack the WEP code
...
Most routers have a range of 1,500 feet nowadays (about 500 meters)
...

Theoretically, these new security protocols are much better than WEP – and they are
...
However, with the improvement in today’s wireless security protocols, come
improvements in the way wireless networks are hacked
...
e
...
Now, that may seem like a hard thing to come by
given the fact that most people just keep their computers connected to their routers almost 24/7
...
All you need is to send out a deauth
frame
...
g
...
Simply put, send those packets
and all connected devices will be forced to login again
...


Tools for Hacking Into Wireless Connections
The tools for hacking into wireless connections are available today
...
e
...

You will have to look up and download what is known as penetration testing software (e
...
Aircrackng among many others)
...
If
that isn’t a price you’re comfortable with then you can just go with open source variants
...

Wireless penetration testing programs can send deauth frames
...
Capturing the pcaps will take an hour or so
...

However, if the functionality of your hacking tool is limited (since it’s free) then you will have to get
another tool to crack the pcap files – they’re called password crackers
...
Some of them you have to install onto
your computer while others are online applications
...

Sometimes it only takes seconds before these software programs can crack the passwords
...
Cracking software
will usually break down the PIN into a couple of equal halves
...

Note that the last character of that pin is nothing more than a checksum
...

You may have encountered routers that do not broadcast its SSID, the name assigned by the user to the
wireless network
...
Some routers also
have MAC filtering, which only allows listed devices to access the wireless network
...
You can then copy or use the captured MAC addresses as your own, which is
called spoofing
...


Chapter 5 –Hacking Your Own Windows Password
Some people forget passwords – it happens every day
...
However, you should remember that
breaking into someone else’s computer is considered illegal – unless they hired you to do it
...

One of the hacks that you can do is to use the Windows 7 Administrator account – the default one, yes
...
So, what you need to do is to boot
the computer in Safe Mode
...
It’s
the one that has no password requirement
...
Once
you’re logged in you can go to Control Panel and change the password of the user account in question
...
This disk (or the password reset file, which can also
be stored in a USB thumb drive) should have been created when the operating system was newly
installed
...
Now that they have forgotten their
Windows password, it’s high time you help them remember where they put it
...
”
All you need to do after that is to follow the prompts
...
e
...
You will also
be prompted to enter a new password
...


Conclusion
Thank you again for downloading this book!
I hope this book was able to help you learn more about computer hacking!
The next step is to put the strategies provided into use, and begin learning to hack computers!
Finally, if you enjoyed this book, please take the time to share your thoughts and post a review on
Amazon

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