other material that can affect the website and its functionality. Through the
introduction
of this material, the website may be slower than usual, deny
access to users or even introduce traffic on the website. Through doing this,
the hacker will have time to gather the data that they want and cover their
tracks as they leave. The hacker will use the time the admin uses to solve
the problem to complete their mission.
3.
Maintain access to the website
Maintaining access is a very important stage of a hack. Most of the
functions of a hack depend on whether the hacker can maintain access.
Being able to maintain access will help the hacker to complete its mission
successfully. Hackers have to keep access to the system to allow them
sufficient time to complete their activities and leave. Maintaining access
can be done in multiple ways. One of the ways is through being able to
ensure that the hacker remains undetected for as long as possible.
Therefore, the hacker in such cases will ensure that the logs cannot give the
administrator information about their presence.
Maintaining access can
involve the hacker denying the administrator access to the system for as
long as they can while they complete their mission. Through executing a
Denial of Service (DOS) attack or a denial of service, the hacker can ensure
that the users of the system cannot access it. This will ensure that the
administrator is also unable to access the system or can only be able to
execute a few activities that cannot be able to expel the hacker. However,
most hackers prefer to steal usernames and passwords for other users. By
keeping these login details, it will help to
ensure that the hackers can
reaccess the system at a later date. They can be able to access the system as
many times as possible without detection as they will look like an average
user. Either way, the hacker chooses to use, they should be able to maintain
their access to the account or program for as long as they need to ensure
that they have been able to complete their mission.
4.
Cover tracks once have done.
Hacking, whether ethical or unethical involves accessing programs or
systems without the permission of the user or administrator. This, therefore,
means that to some level, a hacker is an intruder. Therefore, after a hack,
mainly if any critical
information has been accessed, the owner of the
program will be looking for the hacker. In some cases, legal actions can be
taken against a hacker. It is, therefore, essential that one does not get
caught. During a hack, a hacker leaves tracks and footprints. These
footprints can be followed to establish who the hacker is. Therefore, it is
essential to cover the tracks of the hack and ensure that one cannot establish
who the hacker is. There are multiple ways of being able to cover one’s
tracks. The ways are explained below and how one can be able to
successfully their tracks after a hack .
Disable auditing is one of the ways that one can use to cover their tracks.
Once a hacker has gained access to the
system and has administrator
privileges, they can simply turn off auditing. Audits allow the system to
collect information on what is happening in the system. Disabling
verification will enable the hacker to go about their business without being
recorded. Once they are done, the hacker will enable verification. Enabling
verification will only require the hacker to run the
auditpol.exe program.
Without audit records, the administrator cannot tell what happened in the
system for a specific time.
Clearing logs is another way of covering one’s tracks during a hack. As one
may already know,
a system, program, or applications keeps records of
activities. These records of activities can be identified as logs. Therefore,
when a hacker enters an order, the records of their activities in the order are
recorded. The administrator will be able to tell what happened in the system
through reading the logs. After a hacker is done, they can clear the logs so
that there is no record of activities during the hack. When the administrator
looks at the system, they will not be able to establish what was done
efficiently. This will also mean that they cannot be able to establish who
hacked their system. Some of the utilities that
can be used to clear logs
include
clear logs. exe and
meterpreter shell.
Modifying logs and registry files is where the hacker will change the logs
and records of the system. Once the system has recorded the activities of
the hacker, they will simply edit the logs. The hacker will replace the logs
with activities that the administrator would expect to be happening. This
method is quite safe as it ensures that the administrator will not even
suspect that there was a hack into the system. The administrator will simply
think that the system has normally been running even when there was a
hacker in the system.
Removing all files and folders created is one essential step that needs to
take. It is seen as a complementary action even when other measures to
cover tracks have been taken. During a hack, a hacker may need to upload
files, create folders, and create files that will help to access the system or
perform their activities. Most administrators know what is in their systems,
and therefore they can be able to identify any foreign files in their system as
quickly as possible. For this reason, it is important that one deletes the files
that they have uploaded or clears the new folders created.
If the foreign
material is present, but other methods have been used to cover tracks, the
administrator will still manage to tell that there was a hack. It is therefore
essential that one clears the materials that they have introduced into the
system.
