The Basics of Hacking

Zero to Hero Hacking Series

What is the hack?

The hack is the exploitation of the vulnerabilities of the system. And hacking is the process of manipulating the existing system to achieve a goal. It’s such a comprehensive definition that it’s appropriate even for life hacking. This is a general definition. And if we talk about computer hacking, the current system in this definition will be computers.

As another saying,

The reason why I used simple language in my article is also available in the image below 🙂

What is a hacker?

Hacker is the name given to the people who detect the vulnerabilities of the target system for the purpose and manipulate the system by using these vulnerabilities to achieve its goal (obtaining login information, remote unauthorized access to devices, accessing the database without permission, etc.).

How many types of Hackers are there?

There are 5 types of hackers based on their purpose. It is possible to extend this list, but we will talk about 5 common types of hackers.

1- Black Hats

Black hats are malicious hackers who hack systems (people, websites, servers, social media accounts, etc.) for their own profits.

2-Gray Hats

Gray hats are hackers (or hacker candidates) who have not yet acquired an identity about their purpose and who they are, and whose ethics are unclear about hacking.

3-White Hats

White Hats are hackers working to make the cyber world safer. They are hackers who, after obtaining legal authorization from the institutions and individuals who own the system, find vulnerabilities in the systems and guide them to close these vulnerabilities. They perform attacks under the control of system administrators.

There is not much difference between black hat and white hat hackers in terms of knowledge level. The attack methods of the white hats are more systematic and developed than those of the black hats.

If we think of black hat hackers as a virus, we can think of white hat hackers as a vaccine.

While viruses harm the body, vaccines give the body experience in how to fight viruses.

4-Green Hats

Green hats are cyber world activists who show hacking operations in the cyber world for the sake of their ideology. This execution may be illegal. Their difference from black hats is that they are not working for their own benefit.

5-Red Hats

Red hat hackers work for their ideology just like Green Hats and their ideology is to attack black hats. These attacks can be illegal sometimes.

After this short introduction, in my next article, I will guide you on how to become a white hat hacker.

Please stay tuned for the rest of this series ;)