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Definition of 'Hacking'

Hacking is an attempt to exploit a computer system or a private network inside a computer. Simply put, it is the unauthorised access to or control over computer network security systems for some illicit purpose.

To better describe hacking, one needs to first understand hackers. One can easily assume them to be intelligent and highly skilled in computers. In fact, breaking a security system requires more intelligence and expertise than actually creating one. There are no hard and fast rules whereby we can categorize hackers into neat compartments. However, in general computer parlance, we call them white hats, black hats and grey hats. White hat professionals hack to check their own security systems to make it more hack-proof. In most cases, they are part of the same organisation. Black hat hackers hack to take control over the system for personal gains. They can destroy, steal or even prevent authorized users from accessing the system. They do this by finding loopholes and weaknesses in the system. Some computer experts call them crackers instead of hackers. Grey hat hackers comprise curious people who have just about enough computer language skills to enable them to hack a system to locate potential loopholes in the network security system. Grey hats differ from black hats in the sense that the former notify the admin of the network system about the weaknesses discovered in the system, whereas the latter is only looking for personal gains. All kinds of hacking are considered illegal barring the work done by white hat hackers.

Creative Hacking

HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. It is the protocol where encrypted HTTP data is transferred over a secure connection. By using secure connection such as Transport Layer Security or Secure Sockets Layer, the privacy and integrity of data are maintained and authentication of websites is also validated.

HTTPS ensures data security over the network - mainly public networks like Wi-Fi. HTTP is not encrypted and is vulnerable to attackers who are eavesdropping and can gain access to website database and sensitive information. By virtue, HTTPS encryption is done bi-directionally, which means that the data is encrypted at both the client and server sides. Only the client can decode the information that comes from the server. So, HTTPS does encryption of data between a client and a server, which protects against eavesdropping, forging of information and tampering of data. But how do you ensure if you are seeing an HTTPS-enabled web page? Just check the address bar that carries the site name against different background colours with a lock icon at the left corner. However, this design can be different for different browsers. For example, consider going to a bank website, say hdfcbank.com. A non-secured HTTP will open up. But when we go to the login page, we can see an HTTPS in the address bar with some specific design. Implementation: HTTPS is mainly used by those websites which deal with monetary transactions or transfer user's personal data which could be highly sensitive. Banking websites are common examples. In layman's terms, HTTPS ensures that users watch websites that they want to watch. Data exchanged between the user and the website is not read, stolen or tampered with by a third party. But it can't encrypt everything - it has some limitations too. For example, HTTPS can't encrypt host addresses and port numbers.