Learn everything about ethical hacking tools and skills
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.
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. We will also look at tools that you can use to identify and exploit security weaknesses in computer systems.
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.
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 you should learn how to program?
- Hackers are 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 automat many taskswhich would usually take lots of time to complete.
- Writing programs can also help you identify and exploit programming errors in applicationsthat you will be targeting.
- You don’t have to reinvent the wheel all the time, there are a number of open source programs that are readily usable. You can customize the already existing applications and adding your own methods to suit your needs.
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 perform 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, Linuxed based, MAC etc.
Other skills
In addition to programming skills, a good hacker should also have the following skills:
In addition to programming skills, a good hacker should also have the following skills:
- Know how to use the internet and search engines effectivelyto gather information.
- Get a Linux based operating system and the know the basics commands that every Linux user should know.
- Practicemakes 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.
Commonly Used Hacking Tools
The following table lists some of the most commonly used tools.
The following table lists some of the most commonly used tools.
SR NO.
TOOLS
DESCRIPTION
URL Link
1
Nmap
Network mapper. This tool is used to explore networks and perform security audits.
http://nmap.org/
2
Nessus
This tool can be used to perform;
Remote vulnerability scanner
Password dictionary attacks
Denial of service attacks.
Password dictionary attacks
Denial of service attacks.
It is closed source, cross platform and free for personal use.
http://www.tenable.com/products/nessus
3
John The Ripper
Password cracking utility. It is cross platform.
http://www.openwall.com/john/
4
Cain & Abel
Microsoft Operating System passwords recovery tool. It is used to;
Recover MS Access passwords
Uncover password field
Sniffing networks
Cracking encrypted passwords using dictionary attacks, brute-force and cryptanalysis attacks.
Visit their URL for more details
Uncover password field
Sniffing networks
Cracking encrypted passwords using dictionary attacks, brute-force and cryptanalysis attacks.
Visit their URL for more details
http://www.oxid.it/cain.html
5
NetStumbler
Used to detect wireless networks on the windows platform. It can be used for the following tasks;
Verifying network configurations
Finding locations with poor coverage in a WLAN
Detecting causes of wireless interference
Detecting unauthorized ("rogue") access points
Aiming directional antennas for long-haul WLAN links
Finding locations with poor coverage in a WLAN
Detecting causes of wireless interference
Detecting unauthorized ("rogue") access points
Aiming directional antennas for long-haul WLAN links
http://www.stumbler.net/
6
SQLMap
Automates the process of detecting and exploiting SQL Injection weaknesses. It is open source and cross platform. It supports the following database engines.
MySQL
Oracle
Postgre SQL
MS SQL Server
MS Access
IBM DB2
SQLite
Firebird
Sybase and SAP MaxDB
Oracle
Postgre SQL
MS SQL Server
MS Access
IBM DB2
SQLite
Firebird
Sybase and SAP MaxDB
It supports the following SQL Injection Techniques;
Boolean-based blind
Time-based blind
Error-based
UNION query
Stacked queries and out-of-band.
Visit their URL for more details
Time-based blind
Error-based
UNION query
Stacked queries and out-of-band.
Visit their URL for more details
http://sqlmap.org/
Summary
- Programming skills are essential to become an effective hacker.
- Network skills are essential to become an effective hacker
- SQL skills are essential to become an effective hacker.
- Hacking tools are programs that simplify the process of identifying and exploiting weaknesses in computer systems.
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