Internet hacking, how & what to do?

Just a lil background first.IP address is your addresses on the internet. Everyone gets one from their ISP and each time you visit a website you give your IP address to that site.

                                         

One of the most common techniques for hacking is known as brute force password cracking. Using tools available online, you can run large lists of possible passwords (usually in the millions) against various network security protocols until the correct password is discovered.

The length of time a brute force password attack takes depends on the processing speed of your computer, your Internet connection speed (and any proxy servers you are relying on for anonymity), and some of the security features that may or may not be installed on the target system.

To maximize the effectiveness of a brute force password attack, a good hacker will also incorporate elements of social engineering into a custom password list that specifically targets users within an organization. Social media sites such as Facebook have made social engineering extremely easy as many people use loved ones, children’s names, street addresses, and favorite football teams as their passwords. By linking employees to a specific organization and then looking for social media clues, a hacker can usually build a sturdy password list with a much higher success ratio. The reality is that many networks are set up by amateurs and there is little to no security.

In most professionally configured networks, there are a few security components that render these hacks practically useless and you will probably fail at your attempts to crack passwords and could possibly be charged with a crime for your actions.

Some of these security measures include:

Disabling or blocking access to accounts after a predetermined number of failed authentication attempts has been reached. If this has been configured on a  network, chances are it will only allow 3 – 5 attempts before locking down the account. The likelihood that any S/W will guess the correct password in this many attempts is slim to none. In fact, you’d be more likely to win the Powerball.

Many companies have also gone to a multifactor or double opt-in authentication method for users. This means that in addition to a password, a security question has to be answered correctly for access. Some networks also use  phone authentication for each login.

If you can gain access to a router via SSH, you can change administrative settings at the root level and then log into the network wirelessly for complete access to network resources. Cracking the FTP password on Web server provides similar results and can dig up some interesting information or be used to deface websites hosted on the Web server by modifying existing HTML and image files contained within the website hierarchy.

As a final note, it is illegal to access a network that does not belong to you without permission from the network administrators. If you are using brute force attacks as a professional penetration tester, you have nothing to worry about. If you are trying to gain unauthorized access to networks in your spare time, you could very well have the police knocking at your door in no time.