The biggest motivation is often financial gain. Hackers can make money by stealing your passwords, accessing your bank or credit card details, holding your information to ransom, or selling your data to other hackers or on the dark web.
1. Kali Linux. It is the most widely used ethical hacking OS. It is a Debian-based Linux - based operating system developed for penetration testing and digital forensics.
While some hackers do it for fame, because they're disgruntled ex-employees or because they view hacking as sport, the majority of cyber criminals do it for the money. Verizon's 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report found that 86% of the data breaches they analysed were financially motivated.
Cybercriminals rarely choose their victims at random. The first stage of the cyber kill chain is reconnaissance, where an attacker narrows down a list of targets based on organization profile, security posture, and vulnerable individuals.
Stolen personal information is fuel for identity theft
Many online services require users to fill in personal details such as full name, home address and credit card number. Criminals steal this data from online accounts to commit identity theft, such as using the victim's credit card or taking loans in their name.
Hackers can make money by stealing your passwords, accessing your bank or credit card details, holding your information to ransom, or selling your data to other hackers or on the dark web. Sometimes, hackers are motivated by stealing trade secrets from competitor companies.
China. China registered 12.9 million breaches in 2021, a significant improvement over the US (212.4 million), Iran (156.1 million), and India (86.6 million) in terms of digital security. The size of the Chinese cybersecurity market was $8.64 billion in 2021, up $1.3 billion or 17% from 2020.
Hackers will often use secure software such as a proxy server to hide their identity and funnel their communications through lots of different countries in order to evade detection. Other technologies like Tor and encryption enable them to add multiple layers to mask their identity.
With definitions out of the way, you can be sure of the kinds of hackers we're talking about. Indeed, China is home to the world's highest number of hackers per capita.
Kevin Mitnick holds the title as the world's most famous hacker ever, with this title dating back to 1995 by the US Department of Justice. Kevin Mitnick started hacking at an early age. He broke into the realm of public attention in the 1980s after he hacked into the North American Defense Command (NORAD).
Can a hacker access my computer camera, microphone, and screen? Yes. Cybercriminals use malware like spyware to remotely access and control your camera, microphone, and screen. In fact, malicious actors often use camera and microphone recordings to blackmail people.
C++ is one of the go-to C languages for hackers because it helps them gain low-level access to hardware and processes. This C expansion language enables hackers to write fast and efficient programs, easily exploiting system vulnerabilities.
Eighty-eight percent of hackers believe they can infiltrate a targeted online network in less than 12 hours, a poll from Australian cybersecurity firm Nuix revealed Friday. Eighty-one percent of hackers claim they can identify and extract a victim's personal information during the same time frame.
A good hacker will be able to understand security concepts and technologies. The only way to overcome the obstructions established by the security admins is to become familiar with them. The hacker must know public key infrastructure (PKI), secure sockets layer (SSL), firewalls, intrusion detection system (IDS), etc.
Are most hackers exceptionally intelligent? Good hackers are indeed intelligent: exceptionally clever, resourceful and able to figure things out on their own. It is a field that rewards brainpower. Of course, as with any field, there are some hackers who simply aren't very good at it and aren't as smart.
Step 1: Change your passwords
This is important because hackers are looking for any point of entry into a larger network, and may gain access through a weak password. On accounts or devices that contain sensitive information, make sure your password is strong, unique—and not easily guessable.
However, that does not mean your iPhone, or Android phone camera is not spying on you. No device is completely immune to security risks, and it is still important for users to be cautious and alert. There's a chance someone could be spying on you through your smartphone camera.
One of the biggest hacks in history is the Equifax data breach that happened in 2017. Equifax, a credit reporting agency, had several security lapses that enabled attackers to access sensitive PII, date of birth, social security numbers, address, driver's license numbers, etc., of over 143 million customers.