An Overall Guide :

This, however, needs to be understood with a nation that hacking is not a haphazard, but a systematic activity. Although most people may tend to think that hacking is a swift and random affair, it is actually a planned action and most hackers follow specific steps. Knowledge of such phases is important for both: the parties as well as the opposing ones. To ethical hackers or cybersecurity professionals the phases of hacking enables one to predict the other, to identify their activities, and immobilize them.

Here in this exceptional guide, we will be enjoying an insight of the seven stages of hacking; analysis of each step, types of tools and techniques applied and reasons as to why. This will give you aggregated perspective of how attackers operate and even more so, how you can interrupt the cycle of attack.

The seven phases of hacking are like this:

1. 1. Reconnaissance.
   2. Scanning.and Enumeration
   3. Gaining Access
   4. Access Maintaining
   5. Covering Tracks
   6. Clearing Evidence
   7. Exfiltration and Reporting

Let’s breakdown each of the phases clearly below

Reconnaissance

 Information gathering or footprinting is another name for reconnaissance, or also referred to as hacktivism, spam, and scanning. In this stage, the attacker gathers as much data about the target as is humanly possible as well as any other information is gathered. This can also be a company, network or any person.

Reconnaissance can be broken down into two categories:

• Passive Reconnaissance and
• Active Reconnaissance.

Passive Reconnaissance : In this form of attack, the attacker gets information about the target without in any way contacting the system. It is like they say, “hiding in the bushes” so to speak, where the hacker doesn’t want to be detected. They use public domain information and information on the target to gather information about the target. This is less of a risk but has the potential of giving back a lot of good data. Common techniques include:

1. Social Media Mining: Only with an access to the company’s or at least an employee’s Facebook, corporate page or LinkedIn one can learn about an employee, his or hers role, and maybe, some private details that might be useful for a hacker for a phishing or social engineering attack.
2. WHOIS Lookup: Through the tool called WHOIS hackers can get owns data such as the name of registrant, the address and phone number of domain registration.
3. Google Dorking: This involves the use of a particular terminology or terms on search engines to conceal or pull information from the surface of the World Wide Web. For instance, a hacker can look for files or credentials shared by someone using an insecure security settings.
4. DNS Information Gathering: Various command line tools such as nslookup or Dig can be used in order to get data preferably from the DNS server and in connection with name resolution find out more about the network of the target.

Active Reconnaissance : Active reconnaissance in contrast to passive engages an actual dialogue with the target system. This increases the likelihood of being found but provides more relative data. Active reconnaissance techniques include:

1. Port Scanning: For instance, when performing the scan on the target, the hacker gets to know which ports are open, thus a clear view of the various services that the target has.
2. Ping Sweeping: When Controllers Initially, hackers just send packets hoping that this will show which of the systems in a network are alive.
3. Traceroute: By means of this tool, the attacker can determine ways that packets go from one place to another, thereby get information of a network.

Goals of Reconnaissance

• To identify IP addresses, domains, and networks in use.
• To find employee names and roles, which can be useful in social engineering attacks.
• To map out the technology stack (servers, databases, software) of the target.
• To identify vulnerabilities without alerting the target’s security systems.

Scanning and Enumeration

Scanning comes immediately after reconnaissance to gather as much information as required by the hackers. So, the goal of scanning is to come closer to the target ‘inflicting’ him with a series of questions to establish whether there are any vulnerable points in the system. At this stage, attackers introduce themselves more directly into the targets network environment where consequences are much more evident although, it provides more concrete information on the system topology and weaknesses.

Types of Scanning

1. Port Scanning: Another form is a port scanning where we scan the system for open ports which can be used further. Each open port means a particular entrance to the system and each port is connected to a service in the network i.e. http on port 80, ftp on port 21.
   • Tools : Nmap, Netcat, Krispy Kreme and Angry IP Scanner.
   • Goals : Determine which ports are open and which services are being run on these ports and if at all these services are at risk.
2. Vulnerability Scanning: This consists of looking for weaknesses in the software that is installed in a system. Internet criminals and other hackers start by probing the system for vulnerabilities that have probably not been fixed or configured properly.
   • Tools: Nessus, OpenVAS, Qualys
   • Goals: Loosen vulnerabilities which may include; older versions of a piece of software, default password or opening an API that is usually concealed.
3. Network Scanning: Hackers have the layout that shows them all the devices and systems connected to this network. This enables them to have a birds eye view of the network and get a clue where they might breach in.
   • Tools: , Wireshark, SolarWinds IP Address Manager
   • Goals: Figure out the working of the network, find out the live devices, and know the network services in live devices.
4. OS Fingerprinting: The target system operating system can therefore also be deduced by the hackers by analyzing the response from the system. This enables them to focus attacks right at the weakness of that OS without having to worry about the others.
   • Tools: Nmap, Xprobe
   • Goals: Determine the operating system of the target to take advantage of the opportunities inherent to this OS.
5. Banner Grabbing: It is a technique where requests are sent to services existing in a target, while the data delivered as a response is read. Most of the services which are being invoked, display banners that have information on the state of the software and the type of service.
   • Tools: Netcat, Telnet
   • Goals: Read more detail about the specific software version used in practice to make use of the identified vulnerabilities.

Goals of Scanning and Enumeration

• As the first step to establish a connection with the target system, it helps to recognize the open port and services are operating.
• To detect gaps that can be manipulated in software.
• To identify the associations of the network and systems in the planning of the following phase of attack.

Gaining Access

The final stage of open-source tools, after gathering enough information and finding a lot of weaknesses the hacker proceeds to invasion. This phase is commonly known as the post penetration phase and doesn’t involve scanning but rather the hacking stage where hackers take advantage to gain unauthorized access to a given systems.

Techniques for Gaining Access:

1. Exploiting Vulnerabilities: Data thieves exploit well-documented software weakness for example buffer over flow, SQL attack, or cross side scripting attack (XSS). Such vulnerabilities enable the attacker to execute arbitrary code or post dangerous queries which enable control of the system.

Example: Gaining unauthorized remote access via an SQL injection bug, by inserting unlawful SQL statements into the application.

Tools: Metasploit, SQLmap, ExploitDB

1. Password Attacks: His worry is easy to understand because hackers practice gaining access through cracking or guessing passwords. This could be through recently hacked password, passwords in a dictionary attack or though social engineering.
   • Brute Force: Using all the possible characters in combination till one arrives at the right password.
   • Dictionary Attack: Trying password usually comes from a list of passwords or say a set of popular phrases.
2. Phishing: Phish target into giving away their credentials by providing a realistic replica of an authentic company / organisation / institution website.
   • Tools: John the Ripper, Hydra, Medusa
3. Man-in-the-Middle Attacks: Brewers compromise a channel of communication between two systems, and can access authentications like passwords, session IDs, or user data.
   • Tools: Ettercap, Cain and Abel
   • Example: Sniffing of login information through the connection handling HTTP rather than HTTPS.
4. Social Engineering: Social engineering consists in persuading a person to disclose a secret or other classified data. A cyber attacker may pretend to be a close friend or lure a target into opening a phishing email, opening a contaminated file, or other similar maneuvers with a view to obtaining sensitive information from the target.
   • Example: A new type of fraud emails, which look like they are coming from a legitimate sender and request the recipient’s login information.

Goals of Gaining Access:

• For the purpose of unauthorized access to the system or the network.
• To increase the privileges in the system (For example from a normal user to an administrator).
• This will create a base which is used for other activities like crawling for data, or setting up more attacks. 

Access Maintenance

In this coursework, Backdoors and Persistence are briefly described as: Access Maintenance.

Once a hacker gets in, he doesn’t want to get out of the system. In order that they are able to re-gain this authorization later, they develop persistence, or ways in which they can access the system again without alerting its administrators.

Techniques for Maintaining Access:

1. Backdoors: A backdoor involves hidden entry points to a program that enable the hacker avoid standard access controls. Attacker implant rootkits because they open additional access points to the system, for the attacker to regain entry if the previous point is sealed off.
   • Tools: Netcat, Meterpreter and DarkComet
   • Example: An attacker infiltrates a web server and places a Trojan that gives them admittance to the server even after the flaw is fixed.
2. Rootkits: Rootkits as a kind of malicious software perform the functions of camouflage, and also modify the very operating system. This enables the hacker to have an endless stopper control over a system, and its privacy as well.
   • Tools: AIDE, chkrootkit, rkhunter
   • Example: As an external attacker, becoming a super user of the Linux system to install a root kit that hides all hacker files they alter.
3. Privilege Escalation: The attackers might have attacked at the initial level, which are the regular user levels; they may try to achieve admin access. Once they gain the status of administrators or the root level they can carry out any operation without being detected.
   • Tools: Metasploit, BeRoot
   • Example: Gain higher privileges with refers to the act of getting root control on the exploited system. 
4. Command and Control (C2): Infection progress hackers establish a command- and control-server to converse to compromised computers. This enables them to order the network to do its bidding, to pull information out of it, and to launch further incursions into the network.
   • Tools: Cobalt Strike, Empire

Goals of Maintaining Access

• To permanently occupy some part of the system or to virtually live in the established systems.
• This was to avoid being noticed while obtaining data or indeed, when perpetrating other criminal activities.
• To maintain the Control for a considerable amount of time for serge or extraction of more information, Credit Card numbers etc.

Covering Tracks

Once hacking has been done, and goals are completed, the last thing the hackers do is conceal their activity. This means covering tracks so that people cannot trace that they were ever in such places. Sanding or camouflaging tracks is important when one wants to fail legal implications, persist with the attack unseen or get repeated access.

Techniques for Covering Tracks:

1. Log Tampering: Hackers will manipulate or even erase data that captures their action. Application logs, event logs, and network logs are frequently needed by Investigators to track the actions of untoward users. When such logs are altered or modified, hackers go unknown as a result.

Example: Erasing logon records to conceal one’s break into a system.

Tools: Meterpreter, Timestomp

1. File and Metadata Modification: One can make file time stamps and other attributes related to it look normal and unrelated to the attack since the change was initiated by the attacker.
   • Example: Deleted it so they could upload another copy with a different timestamp making it look like it was created before the attack.
2. Steganography: This is a technique of concealing information in other files say coding a destructive query in an image or video file. This makes it a bit tough to identify in the course of forensic investigation.

• • Example: Putting a Trojan horse, code in a seemingly harmless JPEG picture.
  • Tools: Steghide, OpenPuff

1. Clearing Command History: Usually, hackers delete history of commands on the machines they invade, especially those running under Linux or UNIX OS.
   • Example: Command history -c for Linux operating system in order to remove the history of the executed commands.
2. Encrypting Data: Malware originators might encrypt content that has been stolen in order to increase the chances of its being unreadable or uninterpretable once released to the outside world.
   • Example: Encryption and Packing of a directory full of stolen passwords before copying such directory to another server.

Goals of Covering Tracks

• Due to the fact that a hacker will always try to remain undetected on the system.
• This is because data dumped in the RAM will in most cases be unnoticed by system administrators or forensic investigators.
• In order that given access should be possible in future,

Clearing Evidence

Erasing evidence is somewhat similar to concealing evidence, but it concentrates on erasing everything the hacker does or makes so that forensic analysts cannot undo it. This phase is critical in a hacker’s process especially one who intends to carry out a second raid or a hacker who doesn’t want to be detected at all.

Techniques for Clearing Evidence:

1. Log File Deletion: Malicious users will clear logs belonging to the system and events so that they cannot be traced. This is one of the frequently used techniques that are used in order to eradicate given evidence.
   • Example: Erasing all login history with the intention of wiping out all records of the hacker’s IP address to file access history.
2. System Reboots and Cache Clearing: Resetting-process, deleting temporary files & cache works to remove an attack footprint from the memory to make it harder and confusing the investigators.
   • Example: Compulsively power-cycling an infected host to Pwr+Off its RAM, thus, erasing the malware which could have been resident only in memory.
3. Scripted Deletion: Some hackers might even create scripts that will run after the attack and erase everything including the files created, logs altered and the backdoors created.
   • Example: A script that remains in the system after the hacker and that erases all files and tools they used during the attack.
4. Wiping Free Space: Said files’ fragments are still visible in free space on a hard drive even if the files themselves are deleted. Hacker might use that tools that perform the secure erase of free space so that no data can be retrieved from the deleted files.
   • Example: The facility of free space, tools such as shred or sdelete should be used to overwrite free space with random data thus making it impossible to recover lost files.
5. Reformatting: At times, hackers can wipe off an entire system or a storage device, and destroy every possible evidence of cyber attack. This is a radical act that can only be done if the hacker does not need a repeat access to the system.
   • Example: Erasing all traces of a cyber attack on a server by reformatting it before going for a break.

Exfiltration and Reporting

Exfiltration and Reporting are processes that occur after the successful or failed attack on a system.

The last phase of hacking is to obtain worthless data harvested from the framework during the hacking assault. Measures that may be taken during this phase may be downloading of sensitive information, copying information to a remote server, selling the information to wrong forums.

The best enumeration is uncovered by the ethical hackers or the penetrations testers where the weak points of the system found, how it has been done and the measures to be taken to rectify the same forms the crucial part of the report.

Techniques for Exfiltration and Reporting:

1. Data Exfiltration: Marauders commit this type of breach and subsequently transfer data out of the organization while employing secure means. This can include documents containing personal details and emails, money related material, account information, passwords and any other secret data or information.
   • Example: Copying information from another computer, translating it into a format that cannot be directly read by the target’s security personnel, and then sending it through a VPN to a location that may be outside the view of the target company.
2. Report Generation (For Ethical Hackers): There is still going to be a document that the ethical hackers or penetration testers are going to compile an attack profile, vulnerabilities and the consequences of the vulnerabilities. Some of the recommendations that the report will make for the improvement of the system against future attacks include the following.
   • Example: A penetration testing report that shows some of the vulnerabilities identified as old software, small and simple passwords, open entries for interface and ways of how to address the situation.

Goals of Exfiltration and Reporting:

• The PCs of cyber criminals primarily intend on gaining and selling valuable data and information to their benefit.
• The objective of ethical hacking is at variance with those of traditional hackers in that the ethical hacker is expected to give a detailed report of the attack, so as to allow the organisation to bolster its clerasure.

Conclusion

The seven steps mentioned previously are a clear description of exactly how a hacker and his team function from acquiring the first bit of information to concealing the traces of their workings. Each step is unignorable in the attack lifecycle and each step provides tentative windows that could be leveraged by the defenders.

By appreciating these phases, it is not only knowledge Enhancement for the security professional with an aim of protecting the system better, but also supports the principle of defence in depth where by the various layers of security exist in order to prevent, detect, and respond to various phases of attack.

To be on the right side of the fight, whether you’re a cybersecurity officer or simply a layman with an interest in hacking, it is vital to understand these phases to be one up on the hackers.