Hacking

BruteForce Attack

Any password can be cracked using Brute-force attack. Brute-force attacks try every possible combinations of numbers, letters and special characters until the rightpassword is match. Brute-force attacks can take very long time depending upon the complexity of the password. The cracking time is determined by the speed of computerand complexity of the password.

Countermeasure: Use long and complex passwords. Try to use combination of upper and lowercase letters along with numbers. Brute-force attack will take hundreds or even thousands of years to crack such complex and long passwords.

Example: Passwords like "iloveu" or "password" can be cracked easily whereascomputer will take years to crack passwords like "aN34lL00"

Social Engineering

Social engineering is process of manipulating someone to trust you and get information from them. For example, if the hacker was trying to get the password of a co-workers or friends computer, he could call him pretending to be from the IT department and simply ask for his login details. Sometime hackers call the victim pretending to be frombank and ask for their credit cards details. Social Engineering can be used to get someone password, to get bank credentials or any personal information.

Countermeasure: If someone tries to get your personal or bank details ask them few questions. Make sure the person calling you is legit. Never ever give your credit card details on phone.

 Rats And Keyloggers

In keylogging or RATing the hacker sends keylogger or rat to the victim. This allows hacker to monitor every thing victim do on his computer. Every keystroke is logged including passwords. Moreever hacker can even control the victims computer.

Countermeasure: Never login to your bank account from cyber cafe or someone else computer. If its important use on-screen or virtual keyboard while tying the login. Use latest anti-virus software and keep them updated. Check out below article to know more about Rats and Keyloggers.