Ethical Hacking and Cryptography

Ethical Hacking and Cryptography

1.       Deliverable Length:   400–600 words

2.       References

3.       Programs used

Primary Task Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

You have been tasked to analyze and assess the security of your organization. Throughout this course, the assignments will have you review and analyze the process that hackers use to methodically break into an information system. You will learn and understand the steps that they undertake and repeat many of them to assess how well security is implemented in your organization.

Note: It must be stated early and often, many of the tools and techniques described in the class and assignments are illegal without proper authority and authorization. Ensure that you only perform them on information systems in which you have explicit approval and permission.

Hackers are divided into two classes; black hat and white hat hackers.

White or grey hat hackers usually perform ethical hacking. These hackers will utilize many of the same techniques that black hat hackers will use, but instead of performing the tasks for nefarious activities, they are used to find the weaknesses or vulnerabilities in an information system and work with the system owner to correct or mitigate the situation. Security professionals need to start thinking like hackers to know, understand, and anticipate how and where attacks could originate. Complete the following:

• Describe the difference between a black hat hacker and a white hat hacker.
• Where does the process of ethical hacking fall within the spectrum of hackers?
• Give 2 activities that would be considered white hat activities and 2 activities that would be considered black hat activities.
  • Support your choices.
• Do you think that any of these activities could change in the future from white hat to black hat or vice versa?