What Is Hacking?
Hacking is an exploitative activity that leverages technical knowledge, problem-solving skills, creativity, and persistence to bypass security measures and access private information or protected systems. This activity has a wide variety of purposes and motives including financial gain, information extraction, protesting, making a statement, and other malicious reasons. The word hacking has come to have negative connotations and it is commonly associated with cyber crime.
Computer systems and Internet-connected devices are prime targets for hackers because of the sensitive personal information they contain like login credentials, passwords, and private documents. Hackers use a variety of techniques to get into these systems, from using stolen or leaked credentials to exploit a vulnerability, or by spoofing an employee into installing the initial malware foothold. Once in, hackers can then use tools to move laterally across systems, escalate their privileges, and begin harvesting sensitive data without being detected.
In the early 1970s, hackers began to expand their operations into telephone systems. This new branch of hacking became known as phreaking. One of the first phreakers, John Draper, achieved infamy when he used a toy whistle from a box of Cap’n Crunch to reroute calls over long-distance telephone lines.
As the world becomes increasingly reliant on Internet-connected devices, there is a greater need for cybersecurity protocols. People can protect themselves from hackers by not saving passwords or log-in information on public Wi-Fi networks, backing up and deleting files regularly, and properly disposing of old electronic devices. Companies can take precautions by only downloading software from trusted organizations and first-party sources.