Hacking Phases: Essential Steps for Aspiring Hackers

Professional hackers rely on creativity and problem-solving, not just tools, to effectively execute attacks.

### Understanding Hacking: The Essential Phases Beyond Tools
* 🔍 While a 10-minute YouTube video on hacking tools may seem helpful, it won't make you a skilled hacker, as true hacking involves **understanding multiple phases** beyond just using tools.
* 💡 "A good hacker doesn't rely on hacking tools for carrying out a successful attack, but rather focuses on their **ability to think creatively and uniquely**."
* 📚 The first phase of hacking is reconnaissance, where hackers **gather information about their target to identify vulnerabilities**, often spending **weeks or months** on this **crucial step**.
* 🔎 This phase can be divided into **passive reconnaissance**, which involves gathering information **without engaging the target**, and **active reconnaissance**, which is riskier but more reliable as it involves **direct interaction**.
* 💭 After gathering information, the next phase is **exploitation**, where hackers brainstorm **creative ways to compromise a target**, relying on their **problem-solving skills** rather than just tools.
* 🔒 Once access is gained, privilege escalation is necessary to **obtain higher-level access**, often **exploiting vulnerabilities in software** to achieve this goal.
* 🔗 Following this, hackers may leave a **backdoor open to maintain access**, using methods like installing **rootkits or listeners** that manipulate system processes.
* 💾 The final steps involve **extracting valuable data** and **covering tracks to avoid detection**, emphasizing the importance of **mastering all phases of hacking**, not just the exploit phase.

you'll be surprised to know that while watching a 10-minute YouTube video demonstrating a specific hacking tool can be useful, it won't necessarily help you in becoming a skilled hacker or empower you to execute a successful attack. This is because most of the videos you see online focus solely on one phase of hacking a system rather than discussing the complete picture and don't really mention the fact that a good hacker doesn't rely on hacking tools for carrying out a successful attack, but rather focuses on their ability to think creatively and uniquely when orchestrating such an attack. That's why in this video, I'll walk you through the different phases that are truly involved in hacking a system and explain how keeping these phases in mind the next time you watch a YouTube video will actually help you in becoming a professional hacker. So let's get started. This video is sponsored by brilliant.org. While learning how to approach hacking the right way is crucial, it's equally important for an ethical hacker to understand what they're dealing with and

how the technology they're thinking of hacking actually works. Brilliant.org is the go-to platform for building this understanding, as they offer a variety of interactive courses on computer science, math, and data science. What sets it apart is its fun and graphical UI that teaches you by making you engage in hands-on activities rather than just presenting theory. Given the scope of this video, I've personally found their courses on applied computer science very valuable, as they help in clarifying concepts on how various technologies like chat GPT or search engines work in a short amount of time. So whether you're an ethical hacker looking to upskill or a student looking to ace your exams, you can try everything Brilliant has to offer free for 30 days. And if you sign up using Brilliant.org/Andali, the first 200 of you will get an exclusive 20% discount on Brilliant's annual premium subscription. Thanks for listening, let's get back to the video. Disclaimer: this video is intended for cybersecurity enthusiasts and is for educational

purposes only. Hacking someone or something without permission is highly discouraged and can result in serious legal consequences. Step number one: reconnaissance. Reconnaissance is the act of gathering information about your target, and it is the first step that any hacker takes before hacking someone. The main goal of doing reconnaissance is to either identify a vulnerability in the target system or understand their psychology to perform social engineering attacks on them. Great reconnaissance is crucial to execute a great attack, and a professional hacker invests somewhere between weeks or even months doing reconnaissance rather than jumping straight into performing an exploit. Now, while there are multiple techniques of doing reconnaissance, it can be broadly divided into two categories. So, let me walk you through them one by one. Firstly, we have passive reconnaissance. Passive reconnaissance is what a hacker does when they gather information about their targets without actually touching or engaging with them. It involves techniques like open-source intelligence, dumpster diving, or web crawling, and is much safer but less reliable to do, as the data found might be outdated or even

manipulated active reconnaissance, on the other hand, is more reliable but riskier to do, as it involves actually engaging with the target rather than observing them from a distance, and can increase the likelihood of being detected. Some common examples of this type of reconnaissance would be socially engineering the target into giving out the information themselves, or scanning the target's website with tools like nmap. Step number two: exploitation. After doing proper reconnaissance, a hacker then moves on to brainstorming different ways for hacking the target, and this is where his ability of thinking outside the box that I mentioned at the start of the video comes into play. Now, while this step would require a hacker to have knowledge about various attacking vectors and their corresponding hacking tools, a large portion of his success wouldn't actually depend upon these things but would rely upon his ability of thinking creatively and coming up with unique solutions to certain situations. So, for instance, if a hacker wanted to hack a person that was living in the same city as him, instead of going through the complex tactic of tricking

the target into installing a payload on his computer. He could simply drive up close to the target's residence and hack his Wi-Fi to ultimately achieve the same results by gaining local access. This creativity and the ability to think outside the box comes from a hacker's personal experiences and their problem-solving capabilities. Step number three: privilege escalation. After successfully exploiting a system or a network, a hacker may also find themselves signed in as a regular user rather than being an admin or a root user. And this is where their primary goal shifts from achieving the main objective to a process known as privilege escalation. Privilege escalation basically means gaining a higher level of access than what a hacker already has, and it is most commonly done in client-side attacks where a target is compromised through their vulnerable software, such as an outdated web browser or a third-class document reader. Step number four: leaving a back door open. Once a hacker has successfully exploited the system and escalated their privileges, they then set up a way to stay connected to the system.

and achieve persistence even after it is restarted or rebooted. For this, they install something called a listener or a rootkit on the targeted device and set up a backdoor for themselves to return and continue controlling the system. This listener or rootkit can take many forms, but the most understandable example would be something that manipulates startup processes in the Windows registry and allows the attacker to gain continued access. Step number five: extracting data. After performing the mentioned four steps, a hacker would ultimately do the main thing for which he hacked the target: to extract or exfiltrate their data. This data might be credit card information, personal identifiable information, or any other thing that might be valuable to the hacker. Step number six: covering tracks. Finally, to make sure that nobody finds out and traces the hacking back to the hacker, they then take several approaches to hide what they did and cover their tracks. This involves doing things like deleting log files or any command history they might have used. And if you're interested in learning about how

this phase of the attack is done. You can search Google for the term anti-forensics and read a few articles to gain insights. Anyway, guys, so this was it for the video. Before ending, I would like to emphasize that while watching YouTube videos on hacking tools is a great place to start and learn how certain tools work, try not to get caught up solely in the exploit phase of an attack and take the time to learn how someone can improve their problem-solving skills, master the art of reconnaissance, or clear their tracks to stay anonymous. If you have any questions, make sure to ask them in the comment section down below, and I'll see you in the next one.

Your Approach to Learn Hacking is WRONG!!

An0n Ali

The Misconception of Hacking Tool Tutorials

Watching a 10-minute YouTube video on a hacking tool is not enough to become a skilled hacker, as these videos often focus on just one phase of hacking.

A successful hacker relies more on creative thinking and understanding the complete picture rather than just using tools.

org for interactive courses on computer science and technology, offering a 30-day free trial and a 20% discount for the first 200 sign-ups.

Reconnaissance is the first step in hacking, involving information gathering to identify vulnerabilities or perform social engineering.

It is divided into passive reconnaissance, which is safer but less reliable, and active reconnaissance, which is riskier but more reliable.

The second step is exploitation, where the hacker brainstorms unique ways to hack the target, relying on creative thinking and knowledge of attacking vectors.

The Hacker's Process: Steps to Exploitation

Hackers can gain access to a target's system by creatively exploiting local resources, such as hacking Wi-Fi.

Once inside, they aim for privilege escalation to gain higher access levels.

After establishing control, they set up a backdoor for persistence, extract valuable data, and finally, cover their tracks to avoid detection.

Insights on Anti-Forensics and Hacking Tools

The video discusses the completion of a phase in an attack and encourages viewers to research anti-forensics.

It highlights the importance of not just focusing on the exploit phase of an attack, but also improving problem-solving skills and mastering reconnaissance.

The speaker invites questions in the comment section and promises to see viewers in the next video.