Hackerslist.co — Various Types of hacking/ hackers
According to Hackerslist.co, Hacking refers to activities that seek to compromise digital devices, such as computers, smartphones, tablets, and even entire networks. And while hacking might not always be for malicious purposes, nowadays most references to hacking, and hackers, characterize it/them as unlawful activity by cyber criminals — motivated by financial gain, protest, information gathering (spying), and even just for the “fun” of the challenge.
Many think that “hacker” refers to some self-taught whiz kid or rogue programmer skilled at modifying computer hardware or software so it can be used in ways outside the original developers’ intent. But this is a narrow view that doesn’t begin to encompass the wide range of reasons why someone turns to hacking.
Hacking is typically technical in nature (like creating malvertising that deposits malware in a drive-by attack requiring no user interaction). Hackerslist.co shared that but hackers can also use psychology to trick the user into clicking on a malicious attachment or providing personal data. These tactics are referred to as “social engineering.”
In fact, it’s accurate to characterize hacking as an over-arching umbrella term for activity behind most if not all of the malware and malicious cyber attacks on the computing public, businesses, and governments. Besides social engineering and malvertising, common hacking techniques include:
1) Botnets
2) Browser hijacks
3) Denial of service (DDoS) attacks
4) Ransomware
5) Rootkits
6) Trojans
7) Viruses
8) Worms
As such, hacking has evolved from teenage mischief into a billion-dollar growth business, whose adherents have established a criminal infrastructure that develops and sells turnkey hacking tools to would-be crooks with less sophisticated technical skills (known as “script kiddies”).
In another example by Hackerslist.co, Windows users are reportedly the target of a wide-spread cyber criminal effort offering remote access to IT systems for potentially enabling attackers to steal information, disrupt systems, deploy ransom ware, and more. The store owners even offer tips for how those using the illicit logins can remain undetected.
Types of hacking/hackers
Broadly speaking, you can say that hackers attempt to break into computers and networks for any of four reasons.
- There’s criminal financial gain, meaning the theft of credit card numbers or defrauding banking systems.
- Next, gaining street cred and burnishing one’s reputation within hacker subculture motivates some hackers as they leave their mark on websites they vandalize as proof that they pulled off the hack.
- Then there’s corporate espionage, when one company’s hackers seek to steal information on a competitor’s products and services to gain a marketplace advantage.
- Finally, entire nations engage in state-sponsored hacking to steal business and/or national intelligence, to destabilize their adversaries’ infrastructure, or even to sow discord and confusion in the target country. There’s even another category of cyber criminals: the hacker who is politically or socially motivated for some cause. Such hacker-activists, or “hacktivists,” strive to focus public attention on an issue by garnering unflattering attention on the target — usually by making sensitive information public. For notable hacktivist groups, along with some of their more famous undertakings
Hacking on Android phones
While most associate hacking with Windows computers, the Android operating system also offers an inviting target for hackers. A bit of history: Early hackers who obsessively explored low-tech methods for getting around the secure telecommunication networks (and expensive long-distance calls of their era) were originally called phreaks — a combination of the words phone and freaks. They were a defined subculture and their activity was called phreaking.
Nowadays, Hackerslist.co phreakers have evolved out of the analog technology era and become hackers in the digital world of more than two billion mobile devices. Mobile phone hackers use a variety of methods to access an individual’s mobile phone and intercept voicemails, phone calls, text messages, and even the phone’s microphone and camera, all without that user’s permission or even knowledge. Compared to iPhones, Android phones are much more fractured; whose open-source nature and inconsistencies in standards in terms of software development put the Androids at a greater risk of data corruption and data theft. And any number of bad things results from android hacking.
Cybercriminals could view your stored data on the phone, including identity and financial information. Likewise, hackers can track your location, force your phone to text premium websites, or even spread their hack (with an embedded malicious link) to others among your contacts, who will click on it because it appears to come from you.
Of course, legitimate law enforcement might hack phones with a warrant to store copies of texts and emails, transcribe private conversations, or follow the suspect’s movements. But black hat hackers could definitely do harm by accessing your bank account credentials, deleting data, or adding a host of malicious programs.
Phone hackers have the advantage of many computer hacking techniques, which are easy to adapt to Androids. Phishing, the crime of targeting individuals or members of entire organizations to lure them into revealing sensitive information through social engineering, is a tried and true method for criminals. In fact, because a phone displays a much smaller address bar compared to a PC, phishing on a mobile Internet browser probably makes it easier to counterfeit a seemingly trusted website without revealing the subtle tells that you can see on a desktop browser. So you get a note from your bank asking you to log on to resolve an urgent problem, click on the conveniently provided link, enter your credentials in the form, and the hackers have you.
Trojanized apps downloaded from unsecured marketplaces are another crossover hacker threat to Androids. Major Android app stores (Google and Amazon) keep careful watch on the third-party apps; but embedded malware can get through either occasionally from the trusted sites, or more often from the sketchier ones. This is the way your phone ends up hosting adware, spyware, ransomware, or any other number of malware nasties.
Other methods are even more sophisticated and don’t require manipulating the user into clicking on a bad link. Blue hacking gains access to your phone when it shows up on an unprotected Bluetooth network. It’s even possible to mimic a trusted network or cell phone tower to re-route text messages or log-on sessions. And if you leave your unlocked phone unattended in a public space, instead of just stealing it, a hacker can clone it by copying the SIM card, which is like handing over the keys to your castle.
