Network hack tips

To hack, you must need a system to practice your great hacking skills. However, make sure you have the authorization to attack your target. You can either attack your network, ask for written permission, or set up your laboratory with virtual machines. Attacking a system without permission, no matter its content is illegal and will get you in trouble. Boot2root are systems specifically designed to be hacked.

You can download these systems online and install them using virtual machine software. You can practice hacking these systems.

Know your target. The process of gathering information about your target is known as enumeration. The goal is to establish an active connection with the target and find vulnerabilities that can be used to further exploit the system. There are a variety of tools and techniques that can help with the enumeration process. The following is some information you want to gather: [5] X Research source Usernames and group names. Network shares and services IP tables and routing tables.

Service settings and audit configurations. Applications and banners. Test the target. Can you reach the remote system? While you can use the ping utility which is included in most operating systems to see if the target is active, you cannot always trust the results — it relies on the ICMP protocol, which can be easily shut off by paranoid system administrators.

You can also use tools to check an email to see what email server it uses. You can find hacking tools by searching hacker forums. Run a scan of the ports. You can use a network scanner to run a port scan.

This will show you the ports that are open on the machine, the OS, and can even tell you what type of firewall or router they are using so you can plan a course of action. Find a path or open port in the system. An open port 22 is usually evidence of an SSH secure shell service running on the target, which can sometimes be brute-forced. Crack the password or authentication process. There are several methods for cracking a password. They include some of the following: Brute Force: A brute force attack simply tries to guess the user's password.

This is useful for gaining access to easily-guessed passwords i. Hackers often use tools that rapidly guess different words from a dictionary to try to guess a password.

To protect against a brute force attack, avoid using simple words as your password. Make sure to use a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters. Social Engineering: For this technique, a hacker will contact a user and trick them into giving out their password.

For example, they make a claim they are from the IT department and tell the user they need their password to fix an issue. They may also go dumpster-diving to look for information or try to gain access to a secure room. That is why you should never give your password to anybody, no matter who they claim to be.

Always shred any documents that contain personal information. Phishing: In this technique, a hacker sends a fake email to a user that appears to be from a person or company the user trusts. The email may contain an attachment that installs spyware or a keylogger. It may also contain a link to a false business website made by the hacker that looks authentic. The user is then asked to input their personal information, which the hacker then gains access to. To avoid these scams, don't open emails you don't trust.

Log in to business sites directly instead of clicking links in an email. ARP Spoofing: In this technique, a hacker uses an app on his smartphone to create a fake Wi-Fi access point that anyone in a public location can sign into. Hackers can give it a name that looks like it belongs to the local establishment. People sign into it thinking they are signing into public Wi-Fi. The app then logs all data transmitted over the internet by the people signed into it.

If they sign in to an account using a username and password over an unencrypted connection, the app will store that data and give the hacker access. To avoid becoming a victim of this heist, avoid using public Wi-Fi. If you must use public Wi-Fi, check with the owner of an establishment to make sure you are signing in to the correct internet access point.

Check that your connection is encrypted by looking for a padlock in the URL. You can also use a VPN. Get super-user privileges. Most information that will be of vital interest is protected and you need a certain level of authentication to get it. To see all the files on a computer you need super-user privileges—a user account that is given the same privileges as the "root" user in Linux and BSD operating systems.

For routers this is the "admin" account by default unless it has been changed ; for Windows, this is the Administrator account. There are a few tricks you can use to gain super-user privileges: Buffer Overflow: If you know the memory layout of a system, you can feed it input the buffer cannot store. You can overwrite the code stored in the memory with your code and take control of the system. The program will be executed as a different user super-user for example.

Create a backdoor. Once you have gained full control over a machine, it's a good idea to make sure you can come back again. To create a backdoor, you need to install a piece of malware on an important system service, such as the SSH server. This will allow you to bypass the standard authentication system. However, your backdoor may be removed during the next system upgrade.

An experienced hacker would backdoor the compiler itself, so every compiled software would be a potential way to come back. Don't let the administrator know that the system is compromised. Don't make any changes to the website. Don't create more files than you need. Do not create any additional users.

Act as quickly as possible. If you patched a server like SSHD, make sure it has your secret password hard-coded. If someone tries to log in with this password, the server should let them in, but shouldn't contain any crucial information. You can, but command prompt is not the best option. Consider Linux terminal instead as you could use and install tools that could help.

Perhaps even consider running Linux as a bootable USB or virtual machine. Not Helpful Helpful Why are you telling people how to do something that could be illegal? We have a bad enough hacking problem as it is. Not all hacking is illegal. The writer is trusting that the people with this information will not do anything illegal.

Also, hacking isn't always a "problem. Sure, you can code malware in Ruby, password cracker in Python, buffer overflows in C, but you need to understand the logic behind it. The logic is all yours and that is what is important. So, forget about learning coding, first learn how to think logically to exploit the gaps, insecurities and lazy errors.

Do you know how to code? If not, start with that. Otherwise, read blogs about hackers, try to find a new bug in the software. There will be a screen that says "OS X Utilities". Go up to the Utilities toolbar and click on "Terminal". Type in "resetpassword" and a screen will come up saying which hard drive the user whose password you want to reset is on. Just select your internal hard drive then select the account you want to change.

Type in a new password write it down! Just restart your computer and you should be able to login to your account with the password you created. If your Mac is running Snow Leopard or below, just use the restore disk that came with your computer. Not unless you want to be what hackers refer to as "script kiddies. The method is based on an excellent windows program that is mainly designed to schedule shutdown on your PC, but it can be used as a remote shutdown program, too, using some settings and implementations.

With the recycle bin feature in your Android device, you can now easily make your data secure by securing it and getting deleted by any other person too. And the method is straightforward and based on a simple android app that will temporarily store deleted files that you can restore.

Here you will get an excellent app that will let you stop particular apps for a particular time, and you can get rid of distracting apps. How to unlock your computer with the help of your Android smartphone, you will need a Rohos Logon Key software installed both on your Android and Computer to gain access to your computer.

We all love to play games on our Android smartphones. But game resources are something that we always want more and more. If you have a rooted Android smartphone, you can hack any game on your Android smartphone. You can add a firewall in your Android smartphone just like you have it on your Windows computer.

A firewall protects your computer from security threats. You can add a firewall in your Android, which will allow you to create filter rules based on IP address, hostname, or domain name. In Android, we save lots of personal data that any unauthorized person can access because the saved file is not encrypted. So, you can encrypt your files on Android to avoid unauthorized access. There are more than billions of people who are using an Android smartphone.

You can tweak your Android sensor settings to work differently or disable them. After many days of usage, our Android slows down. However, the primary reason behind this is the limited CPU clock speed. You can overclock your Android device to boost performance. Just visit the listed article to discover how to overclock your Android to boost performance. If you have been using Android for a while, then you might know that your Android device is pretty smart and intelligent, and it hides lots of secrets.

There are many secret dialer codes available for Android that can open up hidden services. In addition to the anti-virus software installed on your machines, stay alert to major vulnerabilities disclosed in vendor publications. Be aware of risks in second-party software operating systems , third-party software from software vendors , and fourth-party software from vendors of software vendors at a minimum.

Backups are an essential part of disaster recovery, and you should make sure they are encrypted. Unencrypted backups are vulnerable to information disclosure. If an attacker got their hands on your backups and they were unencrypted, the attacked would have access to your valuable data and any personal information stored within the backups. For this reason, it is important to encrypt your backups and store physical backup media in a secured location.

As a general principle when dealing with company data, you should look for ways to encrypt and secure data in all its states: at rest, in transit, and in use. The best way to protect data is by looking for ways that data can be encrypted while users are accessing the data, while the data are being transmitted or received, and while data are sitting in storage, including in backups. It is often said that sharing is caring but sharing services on a network-connected device are a frequent source of vulnerability.

Sharing and printing services should be turned off whenever possible, since they are very easy targets for attackers. A good principle for thinking about network security is this: if a network service or level of access is not absolutely required, it should be turned off, disabled, or hardened. This applies equally well in the contexts of least permissions and network services. If a service or access level is not strictly required, it is a good practice to disable it.

If a service or access level is required, be sure you take the time to configure it to be as secure as you can without complete loss of functionality. I understand sharing services are sometimes required, so when they are, be sure to harden them by evaluating security settings and user access permissions to achieve least privilege access. Among the sharing services to consider when looking into your network security are file sharing, printer sharing, collaboration software, and location sharing.

Network equipment like firewalls, routers, switches, and access points are shipped with default configuration, including default passwords, default networks, and default SSIDs. It is tempting to jump in and start configuring network devices, creating rules, copying config, and testing capabilities.

Before jumping into the fun stuff, it is a good idea to take care of one of the basic tenets of network security: change the default passwords and configuration. Why should I change the defaults? Leaving the default passwords on network devices and software , especially ones that are Internet-facing, leaves a set of guessable credentials for an attacker to find and exploit.

Even for internal devices with no connection the public Internet, a malicious insider may find the device on the network, log in with default credentials, and make a mess of things from there. In short, you should change the defaults on all network devices and software, especially those that are Internet-facing , to protect your network from intrusion. It's a simple step you can take, but one that is well worth it.

The previous tips all share something in common: it is not enough to implement a security program with technical controls alone. Humans are an important part of the security environment; they are often the actors that can take actions that make or break a security program.

Creating a culture of security in your organization will go a long way toward making users aware of the risks of browsing the web, clicking links, and otherwise operating in a secure computing environment. Ultimately, a culture of security protects you, your organization, your customers, and the humans in your organization, both personally and professionally.

How you create a culture of security will depend on your specific organization, its tendencies, and existing cultural dynamics. From my perspective, creating a security culture begins at an executive leadership level with a commitment to integrating secure practices throughout the organization.

You can find specific tips for creating a security culture from different technology publications. Ultimately, security belongs to everyone in your organization and the implementation of a security culture will come down to the nuances of your organization. Security is a team effort, and it cannot be accomplished with technical controls alone.

For your business, it is important to have policies in place that ensure everyone understands their role in maintaining security. Beyond this, I have described 10 practical tips you can start employing today to make your network more secure. These tips include technical practices, organizational practices, personal practices, and monitoring practices that will help you create, scale, and maintain a robust security program.

Stay vigilant and always keep learning.