Hacking

Hacking

Hacking is the act of gaining unauthorised access to a computer, a computer network, or any digital system. The person who does this is called a hacker. Hackers usually have deep technical expertise in both hardware and software. They actively look for bugs — flaws or weaknesses in a system — and then exploit those bugs to break into the system.

Not all hacking is malicious. The intent behind the act determines whether it is harmful or helpful.

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Ethical Hacking (White Hat Hackers)

When hacking is done with a positive intent, it is called ethical hacking. The people who perform ethical hacking are known as white hat hackers. They are specialists who explore a system to find any vulnerability or loophole — usually during the testing phase of software development. Their goal is to improve the security of the software.

For example, an ethical hacker may deliberately try to exploit a website. If they succeed, they do not damage the site. Instead, they report their findings to the website owner. This helps the owner fix the security holes before a real attacker can use them. In this way, ethical hacking actually prepares the owner against any future cyber attack.

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Non-Ethical Hacking (Black Hat Hackers / Crackers)

A non-ethical hacker is someone who tries to gain unauthorised access to computers or networks with the intent to steal sensitive data, damage systems, or bring them down. These individuals are called black hat hackers or crackers.

Their primary focus is on two things:

• Security cracking — breaking through security measures.
• Data stealing — taking confidential information. …