What is it like to think like a hacker?

As technology progresses, so does criminality tied to it. It is not enough to safeguard our computers with a firewall and anti-virus software. Even strong passwords can only keep you safe to a point. In today’s world, hackers employ cutting-edge technologies to break into our digital networks. Relying on outdated procedures as a protective response to that challenge will not suffice. To beat hackers, we must learn to think like hackers. Have you ever heard of CEH v11 specialists? They are one of the most important protection mechanisms we have in place to protect our systems from the wrath of cybercrime.

White hat hackers are experts who have received ethical hacking training and are thus equipped to think like a hacker. There’s a reason behind this. There is no better defensive technique than putting yourself in the shoes of your adversaries and attempting to attack yourself, with the goal of identifying and addressing any flaws in your own defence as a preventative step. This essay will take you inside the head of a hacker and show you how he or she plans a successful assault.

Intelligence gathering

Gathering information, often known as reconnaissance, is the act of learning as much as possible about your objective. There are several sources from which you may conduct OSINT (open source intelligence). A hacker may be present both within and outside of your organisation. A hacker would have knowledge of practically everything in your organisation if he is present inside, which would help him in the hacking process. A hacker can obtain access to critical information if he or she is present outside the organisation by spying on personnel, utilising social engineering tools, and other reconnaissance tactics.

Scanning

Scanning is often referred to as enumeration. To think like a hacker, you must organise your attack on an organisation. You must be aware of the operating systems, network architecture, and ports that it employs. This phase is critical for a hacker since it leads to the following stage, where the real exploitation occurs. Scanning may be done on ports, networks, and vulnerabilities, all of which will provide vital information on the target’s flaws.

Profiteering

This is the stage at which the real action takes place. If you are thinking like a hacker and have learned about open ports, network hosts, and vulnerabilities from the preceding phases, you may go to the next stage and attempt trespassing in the target system. You can try to get access to the system by using stolen credentials or SQL injections. Entering a guarded system necessitates authorization; in the absence of this, a hacker attempts to go past the fences by, for example, entering through a backdoor.

Keeping access open

The next phase in a hacker’s cognitive process is to keep access. This is the second stage of the exploitation process, and it is also critical. After entering a secured system, a hacker must increase their privileges and rights in order to influence the system and upload their harmful code (payload) in order to fulfil their ultimate criminal goal. This phase includes gaining root access (through a bug or other software flaw) while avoiding discovery.

Removing Tracks

The hacker’s final thought is to clean the crime scene. A hacker attempts to erase all traces of his/her activities from the victim system for legal and practical reasons. This involves erasing event logs, command history, and other critical data. Hackers also cover their tracks so that the victim is unaware of how the hacker gained access to the system in the first place, resulting in a weaker defence in the future.