The basic definition of hacking is “To gain unauthorized access to data in a system or computer”. Hacking is illegal.
In this post:
Required knowledge:
1. Motivation
Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, such as:
- protest (hacking as a form of political or social commentary or protest is known as hacktivism [1])
- challenge
- recreation
- evaluate system weaknesses to assist in formulating defences against potential hackers
- profit
2. Ethical hackers
Ethical hackers (also referred to as white-hat hackers) are experts who attempt to discover and identify any vulnerabilities or security issues a system may have before a malicious hacker (often referred to as a black-hat hacker) discovers and exploits them. [2] This process is referred to as penetration testing.
Companies may even offer bounties to hackers who can demonstrate such a vulnerability. [3]
References:
- Hacktivism (2023) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacktivism (Accessed: 2 November 2023).
- White hat (computer security) (2023) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_hat_(computer_security) (Accessed: 2 November 2023).
- Penetration test (2023) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penetration_test (Accessed: 2 November 2023).