THE ART OF HACKING

BY MAHMOUD FAWAIR

Let’s discuss my first hacking experience. I was at my grandparents’ house, And I was facing a lack of network connectivity on my phone. However, my grandparents had Wi-Fi. Since I was too shy to ask for the password, I decided to explore ways to obtain it. So I started searching for a tutorial. One method suggested entering random numbers (which were the IP address of the router) if a device was already connected to the Wi-Fi,The challenge was that I needed a phone connected to the network.

I used my grandmother’s phone and started the process. I entered the IP, leading me to the administrator panel with access. I began exploring, but the problem arose when the panel differed from the tutorial. Frustrated, I clicked on every button, unintentionally changing almost every setting. Within five minutes, no one in the house could connect to the internet — my grandparents, uncles, and everyone else.

Now, let’s analyze this intrusion. It was an insider threat (me :3), with me as the intruder and my grandparents as the victims. The technologies involved were the tutorial I watched and my grandmother’s phone (diamond model). By altering configurations, I compromised the integrity of the system, resulting in a denial of service attack. In essence, I attacked both the integrity and availability of the system.

Hacking is the act of identifying and exploiting weaknesses in a computer system or network, typically to gain unauthorized access to personal or organizational data. The first step for hackers is reconnaissance, involving passive (non-interactive, such as OSINT) and active reconnaissance (interaction with the victim). This phase includes searching for vulnerabilities, ways to exploit them, identifying open ports and services provided by the victim, and even gathering intelligence on employees within the victim’s company for potential future use. Mastering this initial step is crucial for a smoother progression in the subsequent stages.

But remember, reconnaissance is just the beginning. Hacking is a vast and ever-evolving field. If you’re interested in diving deeper and honing your skills, consider visiting Tryhackme.com (best for beginners) and exploring our 0x1337 Team. They offer great insights, tutorials, and a community of like-minded individuals. Remember, ethical hacking and responsible use of your skills, and why it is an art; you’ll truly understand this when you give it a try.