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An ethical hacker is a computer and network expert who attacks a security system on behalf of its owners, seeking

vulnerabilities that a malicioushackercould exploit. To test a security system, ethical hackers use the same

methods as their less principled counterparts, but report problems instead of taking advantage of them. Ethical

hacking is also known aspenetration testing, intrusion testingand red teaming. An ethical hacker is sometimes

called awhite hat,a term that comes from old Western movies, where the "good guy" wore a white hat and the

"bad guy" wore a black hat.

One of the first examples of ethical hackers at work was in the 1970s, when the United States government used

groups of experts called red teamsto hack its own computer systems. According to Ed Skoudis, Vice President of

Security Strategy for Predictive Systems' Global Integrity consulting practice, ethical hacking has continued to grow

in an otherwise lackluster IT industry, and is becoming increasingly common outside the government and

technology sectors where it began. Many large companies, such as IBM, maintain employee teams of ethical

hackers.

In a similar but distinct category, ahacktivistis more of a vigilante: detecting, sometimes reporting (and sometimes

exploiting) security vulnerabilities as a form of social activism.

The term "Hacker" may mean simply a person withmastery of computers; however the mass media most often

uses "Hacker" as synonymous with a (usually criminal)computer intruder .In a security context, a hacker is someone involved incomputer security/insecurity, specializing in the discovery ofexploits in systems (for exploitation or prevention), or inobtaining or preventing unauthorized access to systemsthrough skills, tactics and detailed knowledgeCONFIDENTIAL Copyright 2005 Wipro Ltd 76

Hacker classificationTypes of Hackers White hat - Someone who breaks security but who does so for altruistic or at leastnon-malicious reasons. They generally have a clearly defined code of ethics, andwill often attempt to work with a manufacturer or owner to improve discoveredsecurity weaknesses. Grey hat - A hacker of ambiguous ethics and/or borderline legality, often franklyadmitted. Blue hat - Someone outside computer security consulting firms that are used tobug test a system prior to its launch, looking for exploits so they can be closed.Microsoft also uses the term BlueHat to represent a series of security briefingevents.

Black hat - Someone who subverts computer security without authorization orwho uses technology (usually a computer or the Internet) for terrorism,vandalism, credit card fraud, identity theft, intellectual property theft, or manyother types of crime. This can mean taking control of a remote computer througha network, or software cracking. Script kiddie - Script kiddie is a pejorative term for a computer intruder with little orno skill; a person who simply follows directions or uses a cook-book approachwithout fully understanding the meaning of the steps they are performing. Hacktivist - A hacktivist is a hacker who utilizes technology to announce a politicalmessage. Web vandalism is not necessarily hacktivism.

Softwares used in hacking :

Nmap -TheNetwork Mapper

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John The Ripper Password Cracker

Nessus Remote Security Scanner

WiresharkThe Sniffer

Eraser