Ethical Hacking Terminologies
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Ethical Hacking: The authorized and legal practice of probing systems for security vulnerabilities to identify and fix potential weaknesses.
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Penetration Testing: The process of simulating real-world attacks on a system, network, or application to discover vulnerabilities and weaknesses.
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Vulnerability Assessment: A systematic review of a system’s security to identify and classify vulnerabilities.
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Exploit: A piece of software or code that takes advantage of a vulnerability to compromise a system.
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Payload: The part of the exploit that delivers malicious code or performs a specific action on the target system.
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Zero-Day Vulnerability: A security flaw in software or hardware that is unknown to the vendor or the public, making it a potential risk for exploitation.
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Social Engineering: Manipulating individuals to divulge confidential information or perform actions that may compromise security.
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Phishing: A fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information by disguising as a trustworthy entity in electronic communication.
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Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attack: A type of attack where an attacker intercepts and potentially alters communication between two parties without their knowledge.
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Firewall: A network security device that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules.
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Intrusion Detection System (IDS): A security mechanism that monitors and analyzes network or system activities for signs of malicious behavior.
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Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): A security tool that can detect and actively respond to potential threats by blocking or preventing malicious activities.
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Sniffing: Intercepting and analyzing network traffic to capture sensitive information such as passwords or other confidential data.
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Packet Filtering: Examining packets of data and allowing or blocking them based on predetermined criteria, often used in firewalls.
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Denial of Service (DoS) Attack: Flooding a system, network, or service with excessive traffic to make it unavailable for legitimate users.
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Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attack: Similar to a DoS attack, but orchestrated from multiple sources to overwhelm the target.
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Session Hijacking: Gaining unauthorized access to a user’s session, often through the theft of session tokens or cookies.
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Cross-Site Scripting (XSS): Injecting malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users.
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Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF): Forcing a user to perform unwanted actions on a web application where they are authenticated.
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Honeypot: A security mechanism designed to deceive attackers, luring them away from critical systems while monitoring their activities.
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Cryptography: The practice of secure communication in the presence of third parties, often involving encryption and decryption.
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SSL/TLS: Protocols for securing communication over a computer network, commonly used for web browsing.
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Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Adding an extra layer of security by requiring users to provide two different authentication factors.
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Brute Force Attack: An attempt to crack a password or encryption key by systematically trying all possible combinations.
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White Hat Hacker: Ethical hackers who use their skills to help organizations find and fix security vulnerabilities.
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Black Hat Hacker: Malicious hackers who exploit vulnerabilities for personal gain or to cause harm.
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Gray Hat Hacker: Individuals who may engage in hacking activities without malicious intent but without explicit authorization.
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Patch: A software update designed to fix vulnerabilities or improve security in a computer program.
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Proxy Server: An intermediary server that acts as a gateway between a user and the internet, enhancing security and privacy.
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Incident Response: The process of managing and mitigating the impact of a security incident, often involving detection, analysis, and recovery.
