Hacker

Hacker is now used in a broader range which initially meant a person who had mastery over computers. Now you find ATM hackers, Game equipment hackers, Mobile hackers and so on.

In most connotations it means some one who can analytically take apart any system understand its working and put it back again. Hackers initially were terms used for computer Geeks at MIT where they would use the programming and show case their knowledge by exploits.

The Mass media now uses the term hacker very synonymously with criminals who uses programming and mastery over aspects of the computer system and usually has illegal means and ends to do the task.

To differentiate the mass media used term and the original term a new plethora of definitions have emerged. These are white hat hacker, grey hat hacker, blue hat hacker, black hat hacker, cracker, script kiddie, Google hacker and so on.

White hat hacker is a person who hacks for altruistic reasons, Black hat hacker does it for dubious reasons and the Grey hat hacker is in between with an ambiguous set of ethics.

Blue Hat is hackers that are referred when a testing is done on particular software before it is launched. These are security experts or consulting firms looking for exploits in the software so that it can be closed before the launch.

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Google Hacking

Google Hacking is usually referred to as the art of using of Google search to get information from computers that are not secure. This is usually used to detect websites for vulnerabilities and various exploits. These vulnerabilities and exploits are then used to get private sensitive information like credit card numbers, social security numbers and passwords.

Google hacking is usually done using advance search operators provided by Google so that you could get sensitive data. Though the advance search can be carried out on Yahoo and MSN or any other search engine for that matter it has been named Google hacking as it was first shown that it could be done using Google.

The process involves searching for specific strings of text like "passwords" or filenames of the various files where the passwords are stored. The publicity of Google hacking is due to the wide number of presentations and instructional guide provided by Johnny Long and the others that have proved the various methods Google can be used to hack websites and networks. By using the File type advance search operator some hackers have been able to get the document files from the defense and space establishment of the United States.

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Game Hacking Tools

There are many games some of these are played online and in real time. The levels of difficulty and skill in most games are meant to provide the player a thrill. But then some players always get stuck at a particular level and are not able to pass that layer.

Game hacking tools are various methods to cheat a software game so that the difficult layer is by passed. It is also used to enhance scores, proved more life, or even provide additional facilities or features offered during the playing process illegally.

Game hacking tools are usually software programs provided on a number of gaming sites with instruction on how to run the programs and where to place the code in the existing gaming program. Game hacking tools are not only available for computer based gaming systems but even for stand alone video console gaming like the XBOX, PSP and even Nitendo.

These games hacking tools are also known as game cheats and are available for a wide variety of games. The game hacking tools are usually created through the process of reverse engineering or through the use of hex editors to find the various parts of the code and tweaking them so that the purpose of Hacking the game is accomplished.

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Firewall

Firewall is a means of preventing intruders onto a computer or into a network. It is a primary method to block traffic into and out of a computer system or private network. Firewalls on a personal computer are known as personal firewalls while those protecting the private network from intrusions from the internet are known as internet firewalls.

A firewall can be a combination of hardware and software. It can also be software only. When installed on a private network it is usually done on the router. A router may be a hardware device which has some intrusion detection and prevention software installed on it. It can also be software run on a computer that acts as the Private Network's gateway to the internet.

Windows firewall keeps a check on spy ware activities on your Personal Computer. You can get a firewall appliance that can filter out unwanted packets coming into your network. Many techniques are used in fire walling these include Stateful inspection of inbound packets to identify whether the inbound packets are requested by a user. Network Address translation where only one IP address is provided to interface to the world outside and this translates and controls the other computers on the Network. This is part of Windows Internet connection Sharing. Packet filtering and Proxy server are other techniques used.

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Ethical Hacker

Can a hacker be considered to be ethical? What then does the term mean?

Ethical hacker is a person who legally attempt to break into a computer system. This is done with prior consent of the owner of the system or network. The purpose of breaking into the computer system is to check if there is any vulnerability and if the system can be hacked into by others. This is also called penetration testing.

Many ethical hackers are hackers who have turned into consultants to help prevent criminal intent hacking. Ethical hackers now have a certification called certified ethical hacking which makes them take an oath to a code of ethics in terms of hacking into others system.

Ethical hackers are also known as white hat hackers. Though the terms is meant to represent the good guys only they are another group of hackers who are known as grey hat hackers who sometimes function as ethical hackers and at other times are bad guys following black hat hacking methods.

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Email Hacking

Email hacking seems to be a misnomer as most of the sites that provide you email services are rather secured from hacking. They provide you secure connection when you log in.

Email hacking is all about how you use your mail account. It is not the web server that can be hacked but the email client on your system. This provides the hacker the mail you have saved on the local folders including the address book and personal details of your contacts in the address list.

Another means is to get the passwords of your email account. This can be done in a variety of ways. One method is to get the password from the file that is stored on the PC. This file contains the password only if you chose the option of "remembering your email ID and password" when you log in.

The second method to email password hacking is to try the various possible combinations of passwords you are likely to use. This is a guess work and is more or less done on personal information about you like dates of birth, anniversaries, Names of your wife's, kids or pets since these are commonly used as passwords. The third method is a key logger software.

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Credit Card Hacking

Credit card hacking is essentially identity theft. It is deliberate use of the identity of someone else so that you could get a great deal of financial gain. Identity theft is a serious breach of privacy. Identity theft can be carried out by a number of methods.

One it can be done online by a spurious website offering you some services and getting your personal details to carry out their modus operandi later on. Sometimes these site follow credit hijacking where they continue to bill you small amount monthly so that you will not recognize the difference.

Two it can be done with special electronic gadgets that are able to read your credit card and reproduce the information on fake cards. They also use a spy Camera to record your PIN numbers or code for authentication. Then they use this information for illegal withdrawals of cash or purchase of merchandise.

Three credit card hacking involves hacking into computers that contain all the data of credit card users and the availing that data for fraudulent means.

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