Becoming Hacker

Potential Security Threats To Your Computer Systems

A computer system threat is anything that leads to loss or corruption of data or physical damage to the hardware and/or infrastructure. Knowing how to identify computer security threats is the first step in protecting computer systems. The threats could be intentional, accidental or caused by natural disasters.

In this article, we will introduce you to the common computer system threats and how you can protect systems against them.

Topics covered in this tutorial

• What is a Security Threat?
• What are Physical Threats?
• What are Non-physical Threats?

What is a Security Threat?

Security Threat is defined as a risk that which can potentially harm computer systems and organization. The cause could be physical such as someone stealing a computer that contains vital data. The cause could also be non-physical such as a virus attack. In these tutorial series, we will define a threat as a potential attack from a hacker that can allow them to gain unauthorized access to a computer system.

What are Physical Threats?

A physical threat is a potential cause of an incident that may result in loss or physical damage to the computer systems.

The following list classifies the physical threats into three (3) main categories;

• Internal: The threats include fire, unstable power supply, humidity in the rooms housing the hardware, etc.
• External: These threats include Lightning, floods, earthquakes, etc.
• Human: These threats include theft, vandalism of the infrastructure and/or hardware, disruption, accidental or intentional errors.

To protect computer systems from the above mentioned physical threats, an organization must have physical security control measures.

The following list shows some of the possible measures that can be taken:

• Internal: Fire threats could be prevented by the use of automatic fire detectors and extinguishers that do not use water to put out a fire. The unstable power supply can be prevented by the use of voltage controllers. An air conditioner can be used to control the humidity in the computer room.
• External: Lightning protection systems can be used to protect computer systems against such attacks. Lightning protection systems are not 100% perfect, but to a certain extent, they reduce the chances of Lightning causing damage. Housing computer systems in high lands are one of the possible ways of protecting systems against floods.
• Humans: Threats such as theft can be prevented by use of locked doors and restricted access to computer rooms.

What are Non-physical threats?

A non-physical threat is a potential cause of an incident that may result in;

• Loss or corruption of system data
• Disrupt business operations that rely on computer systems
• Loss of sensitive information
• Illegal monitoring of activities on computer systems
• Cyber Security Breaches
• Others

The non-physical threats are also known as logical threats. The following list is the common types of non-physical threats;

• Virus
• Trojans
• Worms
• Spyware
• Key loggers
• Adware
• Denial of Service Attacks
• Distributed Denial of Service Attacks
• Unauthorized access to computer systems resources such as data
• Phishing
• Other Computer Security Risks

To protect computer systems from the above-mentioned threats, an organization must have logical security measures in place. The following list shows some of the possible measures that can be taken to protect cyber security threats

To protect against viruses, Trojans, worms, etc. an organization can use anti-virus software. In additional to the anti-virus software, an organization can also have control measures on the usage of external storage devices and visiting the website that is most likely to download unauthorized programs onto the user’s computer.

Unauthorized access to computer system resources can be prevented by the use of authentication methods. The authentication methods can be, in the form of user ids and strong passwords, smart cards or biometric, etc.

Intrusion-detection/prevention systems can be used to protect against denial of service attacks.There are other measures too that can be put in place to avoid denial of service attacks.

Skills Required to Become a Ethical Hacker

Skills allow you to achieve your desired goals within the available time and resources. As a hacker, you will need to develop skills that will help you get the job done. These skills include learning how to program, use the internet, good at solving problems, and taking advantage of existing security tools.

In this article, we will introduce you to the common programming languages and skills that you must know as a hacker.

Topics covered in this tutorial

• What is a programming language?
• Why should you learn how to program?
• What languages should you learn?
• Other skills
• Summary

What is a programming language?

A programming language is a language that is used to develop computer programs. The programs developed can range from operating systems; data based applications through to networking solutions.  

Why should you learn how to program?

• Hackers are the problem solver and tool builders, learning how to program will help you implement solutions to problems. It also differentiates you from script kiddies.
• Writing programs as a hacker will help you to automate many tasks which would usually take lots of time to complete.
• Writing programs can also help you identify and exploit programming errors in applications that you will be targeting.
• You don’t have to reinvent the wheel all the time, and there are a number of open source programs that are readily usable. You can customize the already existing applications and add your methods to suit your needs.

What languages should I learn?

The answer to this question depends on your target computer systems and platforms. Some programming languages are used to develop for only specific platforms. As an example, Visual Basic Classic (3, 4, 5, and 6.0) is used to write applications that run on Windows operating system. It would, therefore, be illogical for you to learn how to program in Visual Basic 6.0 when your target is hacking Linux based systems.

Programming languages that are useful to hackers

SR NO.	COMPUTER LANGUAGES	DESCRIPTION	PLATFORM	PURPOSE
1	HTML	Language used to write web pages.	*Cross platform	Web hacking Login forms and other data entry methods on the web use HTML forms to get data. Been able to write and interpret HTML, makes it easy for you to identify and exploit weaknesses in the code.
2	JavaScript	Client side scripting language	*Cross platform	Web Hacking JavaScript code is executed on the client browse. You can use it to read saved cookies and perform cross site scripting etc.
3	PHP	Server side scripting language	*Cross platform	Web Hacking PHP is one of the most used web programming languages. It is used to process HTML forms and performs other custom tasks. You could write a custom application in PHP that modifies settings on a web server and makes the server vulnerable to attacks.
4	SQL	Language used to communicate with database	*Cross platform	Web Hacking Using SQL injection, to by-pass web application login algorithms that are weak, delete data from the database, etc.
5	Python Ruby Bash Perl	High level programming languages	*Cross platform	Building tools & scripts They come in handy when you need to develop automation tools and scripts. The knowledge gained can also be used in understand and customization the already available tools.
6	C & C++	High level programming	*Cross platform	Writing exploits, shell codes, etc. They come in handy when you need to write your own shell codes, exploits, root kits or understanding and expanding on existing ones.
7	Java  CSharp Visual Basic VBScript	Other languages	Java & CSharp are *cross platform. Visual Basic is specific to Windows	Other uses The usefulness of these languages depends on your scenario.

* Cross platform means programs developed using the particular language can be deployed on different operating systems such as Windows, Linux based, MAC etc.

Other skills

In addition to programming skills, a good hacker should also have the following skills:

• Know how to use the internet and search engines effectively to gather information.
• Get a Linux-based operating system and the know the basics commands that every Linux user should know.
• Practice makes perfect, a good hacker should be hard working and positively contribute to the hacker community. He/she can contribute by developing open source programs, answering questions in hacking forums, etc.

Summary

• Programming skills are essential to becoming an effective hacker.
• Network skills are essential to becoming an effective hacker
• SQL skills are essential to becoming an effective hacker.
• Hacking tools are programs that simplify the process of identifying and exploiting weaknesses in computer systems.