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Okay, I will provide detailed answers to all the questions from the provided text, aiming for a 5-mark level of detail.
Unit 1
1.​ Defining Ethical Hacking & Its Importance
​ What is ethical hacking? How does it differ from malicious hacking?
Ethical hacking, also known as penetration testing, involves legally and ethically attempting to penetrate
computer systems, networks, or applications to find security vulnerabilities. Unlike malicious hacking, which
aims to exploit vulnerabilities for personal gain, theft, or damage, ethical hacking seeks to identify
weaknesses to improve security. Ethical hackers operate with the explicit permission of the system owner and
adhere to a strict code of ethics.
2.​ Explain the primary objectives of ethical hacking in the context of cybersecurity.
The primary objectives of ethical hacking are to identify vulnerabilities, assess risks, and suggest remediation
measures to enhance the security posture of an organization. It aims to protect assets, ensure data confidentiality,
maintain system integrity, and guarantee availability. By simulating real-world attack scenarios, ethical hacking helps
organizations proactively defend against cyber threats.
3.​ Describe the steps involved in a typical ethical hacking process.
A typical ethical hacking process involves several phases:
​ Footprinting and Reconnaissance: Gathering information about the target system or network.
​ Scanning: Identifying open ports, services, and vulnerabilities.
​ Gaining Access: Exploiting vulnerabilities to enter the system.
​ Maintaining Access: Establishing a foothold for further testing.
​ Covering Tracks: Clearing logs and evidence of the penetration test (if required and agreed upon).
​ Reporting: Documenting findings and suggesting remediation.
4.​ What are the limitations and challenges faced by ethical hackers?
Ethical hackers face limitations such as legal constraints, scope limitations defined by the client, and time
constraints. Challenges include the need to stay updated with evolving technologies and hacking techniques, the
complexity of modern systems, and the risk of causing unintended damage during testing.
5.​ What are the key ethical responsibilities of an ethical hacker?
Ethical hackers have responsibilities to maintain confidentiality, obtain proper authorization, act with integrity, avoid
causing harm, and disclose vulnerabilities responsibly. They must adhere to legal and ethical guidelines, respect
privacy, and ensure that their actions do not disrupt business operations.
6.​ Explain how legal regulations impact ethical hacking practices.
Legal regulations significantly impact ethical hacking by defining the boundaries of permissible activities. Laws such
as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and data protection regulations govern how ethical hackers can
conduct their assessments. Ethical hackers must ensure they have legal authorization and comply with relevant laws
to avoid legal repercussions.
7.​ Differentiate between ethical and unethical hacking using real-life examples.
​ Ethical Hacking: A company hires a cybersecurity firm to conduct a penetration test on its web application
to identify and fix vulnerabilities before malicious actors can exploit them.
​ Unethical Hacking: An individual gains unauthorized access to a bank's database to steal customer financial
information for personal gain.
8.​ Define the following terms and highlight their differences:
​ Black Hat Hackers: Individuals who exploit vulnerabilities for illegal purposes, such as stealing data,
causing damage, or disrupting operations.
​ White Hat Hackers: Ethical hackers who use their skills for defensive purposes, with the permission of the
system owner, to identify and remediate security weaknesses.
​ Grey Hat Hackers: Individuals who operate in a grey area; they may find vulnerabilities and disclose them,
sometimes without permission, but generally without malicious intent.
9.​ What motivates different types of hackers to perform their activities?
​ Black Hat Hackers: Motivated by financial gain, revenge, political agendas, or the desire to cause damage.
​ White Hat Hackers: Motivated by the desire to improve security, protect information, and contribute to
cybersecurity.
​ Grey Hat Hackers: Motivated by a mix of curiosity, a desire to expose vulnerabilities, or a sense of
vigilantism.
10.​ Explain the core security principles: Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA Triad).
The CIA Triad is a fundamental model for information security:
​ Confidentiality: Ensuring that information is accessible only to authorized individuals and preventing
unauthorized disclosure.
​ Integrity: Maintaining the accuracy and completeness of data, preventing unauthorized modification or
corruption.
​ Availability: Ensuring that systems and data are accessible to authorized users when needed.
11.​ What is non-repudiation and how is it ensured in cybersecurity?
Non-repudiation is the assurance that someone cannot deny the validity of something, especially their signature on a
document or the sending of a message. In cybersecurity, it is ensured through mechanisms like digital signatures,
audit logs, and transaction records, which provide evidence of actions and prevent users from denying them.
12.​ Explain the difference between passive and active attacks with examples.
​ Passive Attacks: Involve monitoring or intercepting data without modifying it. Examples include
eavesdropping on network traffic or traffic analysis. The attacker's goal is to gain information without being
detected.
​ Active Attacks: Involve modifying data or disrupting system operations. Examples include denial-of-service
attacks, SQL injection, and ransomware attacks. These attacks aim to cause harm or alter data.
13.​ Identify and explain at least five common types of cyber threats.
​ Malware: Malicious software designed to infiltrate and damage computer systems.
​ Phishing: Deceptive attempts to obtain sensitive information by disguising as a trustworthy entity.
 ​ Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attacks: Overwhelming a system with traffic to make it unavailable to legitimate
users.
​ SQL Injection: Exploiting vulnerabilities in databases to insert or manipulate SQL queries.
​ Ransomware: Encrypting a victim's data and demanding payment for its release.
Unit 2
1.​ What is footprinting in ethical hacking, and why is it important?
Footprinting is the initial phase of ethical hacking, involving gathering information about a target system or network.
It is crucial because it provides the foundation for subsequent steps, helping ethical hackers understand the target's
infrastructure, identify potential vulnerabilities, and plan their approach.
2.​ Differentiate between passive and active footprinting with examples.
​ Passive Footprinting: Involves gathering information without directly interacting with the target. Examples
include using search engines, WHOIS lookups, and social media analysis.
​ Active Footprinting: Involves direct interaction with the target to gather information. Examples include
network scanning, port scanning, and using tools like Nmap.
3.​ What is the role of WHOIS in footprinting? What kind of information can it reveal?
WHOIS is a query and response protocol used to look up domain registration information. It can reveal details such
as domain owner, contact information, registration date, and name servers, which can be valuable for footprinting.
4.​ Explain how Nslookup is used during the footprinting process.
Nslookup is a command-line tool used to query Domain Name System (DNS) servers to obtain domain name or IP
address information. It helps in footprinting by providing details about a target's DNS records, such as IP addresses,
mail servers, and subdomains.
5.​ What is The Harvester, and what data sources does it utilize?
The Harvester is a tool used to gather email addresses, subdomains, and other information from various public
sources. It utilizes search engines, social networks, and other online databases to collect data relevant to the target.
6.​ Describe the functionality of Nmap in the context of active footprinting.
Nmap is a powerful network scanning tool used for active footprinting. It can discover hosts on a network, identify
open ports and services, determine the operating system, and detect firewalls or other security measures.
7.​ What is Maltego?
Maltego is a comprehensive graphical link analysis tool that gathers and analyzes information from various open
sources.
8.​ How does it support graphical information gathering?
Maltego represents relationships between entities (e.g., people, organizations, websites) in a visual graph format,
making it easier to analyze connections and uncover hidden information. This graphical representation aids in
understanding complex relationships and identifying potential attack vectors.
9.​ Define social engineering. Why is it considered a powerful technique in ethical hacking?
 Social engineering is the art of manipulating people to divulge confidential information. It is a powerful technique
because it exploits human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities, making it effective in bypassing security
measures.
10.​ What is network scanning? How does it differ from port scanning?
​ Network Scanning: The process of identifying active hosts on a network to determine the network's
topology.
​ Port Scanning: A more focused technique that involves probing a specific host to identify open ports and
services. Port scanning is a subset of network scanning.
11.​ Explain vulnerability scanning and its purpose in security assessments.
Vulnerability scanning is the process of identifying weaknesses in a system, network, or application. Its purpose in
security assessments is to detect potential entry points for attackers, allowing organizations to address vulnerabilities
before they can be exploited.
Unit 3
1.​ What is the purpose of the “Gaining Access” phase in ethical hacking?
The purpose of the "Gaining Access" phase is to exploit identified vulnerabilities to enter a system or network. This
simulates a real-world attack and allows ethical hackers to assess the extent of damage that could be caused and
identify weaknesses in access controls.
2.​ Describe the process and goal of password cracking in cybersecurity.
Password cracking is the process of attempting to recover passwords from stored or transmitted data. The goal in
cybersecurity is to test the strength of passwords used by an organization and identify accounts that are vulnerable to
compromise.
3.​ Explain how brute force and dictionary attacks are used in password cracking.
​ Brute Force Attack: Tries every possible combination of characters to guess a password.
​ Dictionary Attack: Uses a list of common words and phrases to guess passwords.
4.​ What is Metasploit, and how is it used for exploiting system vulnerabilities?
Metasploit is a powerful framework used for developing and executing exploit code against target systems. It
provides tools for scanning, exploiting, and post-exploitation, making it a valuable resource for ethical hackers.
5.​ How does Metasploit help ethical hackers during penetration testing?
Metasploit simplifies the penetration testing process by providing pre-built exploits, payloads, and modules that can
be customized to target specific vulnerabilities. It helps automate tasks, streamline the exploitation phase, and
provides a platform for testing security controls.
6.​ Describe the stages of an exploit using Metasploit (e.g., scanning, payload delivery, etc.).
A typical Metasploit exploit involves:
​ Scanning: Identifying target systems and their vulnerabilities.
​ Exploit Selection: Choosing the appropriate exploit for the identified vulnerability.
 ​ Payload Delivery: Delivering a payload, such as a reverse shell, to the target system.
​ Gaining Access: Obtaining control of the target system.
7.​ Why is maintaining access important during a penetration test?
Maintaining access allows ethical hackers to further explore the compromised system, gather more information, and
assess the potential impact of a successful attack. It helps in identifying weaknesses in internal security controls and
potential for lateral movement.
8.​ Define backdoor and explain its use in cybersecurity attacks.
A backdoor is a method of bypassing normal authentication to gain unauthorized access to a system. In cybersecurity
attacks, backdoors are used to maintain persistent access to compromised systems, allowing attackers to return and
exploit them later.
9.​ What is a rootkit? How does it help attackers maintain stealth access?
A rootkit is a type of malware that hides its presence and the presence of other malicious software by modifying the
operating system. It helps attackers maintain stealth access by concealing their activities and making it difficult for
security tools to detect them.
10.​ How do ethical hackers use privilege escalation techniques to simulate real attacks?
Ethical hackers use privilege escalation techniques to gain higher-level access to a system, simulating what a
malicious attacker might do after gaining initial access. This helps in assessing the impact of a successful attack and
identifying weaknesses in access controls.
11.​ Distinguish between vertical and horizontal privilege escalation.
​ Vertical Privilege Escalation: Gaining higher-level privileges within the same system (e.g., from a regular
user to an administrator).
​ Horizontal Privilege Escalation: Gaining access to the resources of another user with similar privileges.
12.​ What is the objective of covering tracks in the hacking process?
The objective of covering tracks is to hide the attacker's presence and actions on the compromised system. This
includes deleting logs, modifying timestamps, and concealing files to avoid detection by system administrators.
13.​ Discuss the role of fileless malware in hiding malicious actions.
Fileless malware operates in a computer's memory rather than relying on executable files, making it harder to detect
by traditional antivirus software. It can use legitimate system tools to carry out malicious activities, blending in with
normal system processes.
14.​ How can system administrators detect attempts at covering tracks?
System administrators can detect attempts to cover tracks by:
​ Regularly reviewing system logs for suspicious entries.
​ Using file integrity monitoring tools to detect unauthorized file modifications.
​ Employing intrusion detection systems to identify anomalous behavior.
Unit 4
 1.​ What is malware? How does it differ from other forms of malicious software like adware or spyware?
Malware is a broad term encompassing various types of malicious software designed to infiltrate, damage, or disable
computer systems. While adware and spyware are also malicious, malware is a more general term that includes
viruses, worms, Trojans, and ransomware, which have more severe and diverse impacts than simply displaying
unwanted ads or collecting data.
2.​ List and briefly describe the major types of malware.
​ Virus: A type of malware that infects files and requires a host to spread.
​ Worm: A self-replicating malware that can spread across networks without human intervention.
​ Trojan Horse: Malware disguised as legitimate software to deceive users.
​ Ransomware: Encrypts a victim's data and demands payment for its release.
​ Spyware: Monitors and collects user information without their knowledge.
​ Adware: Displays unwanted advertisements on a user's computer.
3.​ What is a virus and how does it typically spread across systems?
A virus is a type of malware that attaches itself to executable files and requires a host program to spread. It typically
spreads when an infected file is executed, allowing the virus to replicate and infect other files.
4.​ Define a worm. How does it differ from a virus in terms of propagation?
A worm is a self-replicating malware that can spread across networks independently, without requiring a host file or
human interaction. This autonomous propagation is the key difference between worms and viruses.
5.​ What is a Trojan horse, and how does it deceive users?
A Trojan horse is a type of malware that disguises itself as legitimate software to trick users into installing it. Once
installed, it can carry out malicious activities such as stealing data
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