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.
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).
Hackers typically use spear phishing for targets in whom they've taken a deliberate interest. This process could take several days, weeks, or even months, depending on public (or privately-sourced) information about the target.
Gray hat hackers
Gray hackers only think of hacking as a hobby, known by many as “just for fun” hackers. They get enjoyment from finding gaps in security networks and might even let the network know they found these gaps.
“Happy hacker” is a term that can be used to describe a horse rider who is usually not focused on competing in a particular discipline, but is taking part for leisure purposes and enjoys hacking as their main activity rather than riding in an arena.
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.
Most hackers work with a financial goal in mind, have a boss with malicious motives, or are trying to achieve a political goal. A class of hacker remains who is in it for the thrill. They may want to demonstrate—to themselves and perhaps an online community—what they can do.
For example, such data usually include email addresses and passwords, phone, social security numbers, names and surnames, and physical addresses. After more sophisticated data breaches, hackers might dump even the credit card details.
SMB's are the perfect target for attackers since they don't take security seriously. Attackers have a greater chance of breaching an SMB than a large corporation. The most common attacks against SMBs are phishing, social engineering and malware attacks.
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.
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.
Hackers learn to hack by getting an education in cybersecurity, obtaining certifications, and getting jobs that require hacking capabilities. Here is more information on how hackers learn to hack: Get an education in cybersecurity. There are many different paths to starting a career in hacking and cybersecurity.
Hackers love nothing more than finding vulnerabilities in your system. These weak spots can be exploited to gain access to sensitive data or wreak havoc on your network.
Hackers can also use keyloggers and other tracking software to capture your phone's keystrokes and record what you type, such as search queries, login credentials, passwords, credit card details, and other sensitive information.
Stalkerware (and spyware) can monitor your device for data such as your location, which URLs you've visited and which apps you've recently run. It can even log keystrokes, giving away information about anything you've typed into your phone, including passwords.
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.
Phones are particularly tempting targets for hackers because these devices usually have access to a huge amount of user data, from banking information to social media passwords. Hackers are always eager to infect your device with malware and trojans.
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.
You get signed out of your online accounts (social media, email, online banking, etc.), or you try to log in and discover your passwords don't work anymore. You receive emails or text messages about login attempts, password resets, or two-factor authentication (2FA) codes that you didn't request.
Home addresses can also be accessed via hacks. For example, let's say your favorite shopping website was hacked. Since your personal data—along with your delivery address—was logged by the website, hackers can get their hands on your home address via an illegal data breach.
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.
White hat hackers are the “good guys” of the hacking world. They exploit systems to make them better and keep black hat hackers out.