Basics of Hacking
Any computer user can become a hacker within a couple of hours. There are hacking tools, such as IntelliTamper 2.07, Trojan horse, Backdoor.IRC.ColdLife.30, John The Ripper 1.0, NMap Win 1.2.12, etc. along with instructions, available for free in the internet. But remember, the path to become a certified ethical hacker isn’t easy. The act of computer hacking started out innocently and was basically a method of trying to figure out how systems worked. Today there are three categories of hackers white, grey, and black. White hat hackers are cyber heroes who use their knowledge for constructive purposes, and they are well paid for their talents. Grey hackers, though harmful, are just proud peacocks. Black hat hackers also known as crackers are cyber criminals.
Targets of hackers
Although millions of computers operate without adequate security, government agencies and big companies are the preferred targets of hackers. Almost 80% of the cyber crimes are hurled on the login pages, shopping carts, dynamic content etc. Black hat hackers use a great variety of software security holes to befool even the general internet users by tricking them into disclosing their financial information and other secrets. Of late, mobile phone hacking, email hacking, credit card hacking, password hacking, and Google hacking have become very common.
Prevent hacking
As a preventive measure you can; a) update your operating system and your web browser, b) install firewalls, c) install antivirus programs, and d) install the anti-spyware programs.