HOW TO HACK: HACKING SECRETS EXPOSED: A BEGINNER'S GUIDE (2014)

PREFACE

Congratulations on your purchase of "Hacking Secrets Exposed: A Beginner's Guide". This book will take you through the concepts of computer hacking in a very simple and easy to follow manner so that even the readers with no prior knowledge of hacking should be able to easily understand the concept. To start off, all you need is a little working knowledge of computers, operating system (Windows) and an Internet connection.

Many of the popular books that I have read on ethical hacking are mostly suitable only for those who already have a considerable amount of knowledge in the field. Also, these books dive too much into the theory part presenting the reader with lots of unnecessary explanation, thereby adding to the bulk of the book. This may cause the reader to gradually lose interest in the book or quit reading in the mid way.

So, I decided to come up with a book that demands no prior knowledge of the topic and is easy for the readers to follow and comprehend at every point. Instead of stuffing the book with conventional paragraphing kind of content, I prefer to present the topics in an easy to follow manner by including bullet points, illustrations and practical examples. This may keep the book slender but it still manages to effectively appeal to the reader's quest for knowledge. I have also decided to drop obsolete concepts and techniques from the book and only keep those that are active and feasible in the present day scenario.

When you finish reading this book, you should be able to apply the knowledge and skills that you have gained in many ways:

· You can adopt the hacker's mindset and start to think and react to situations and problems just like the hacker would do. After all, hacking is just a mindset more than a skill set!

· You should easily be able to protect yourself from all those wicked hackers out there by maintaining the security of your online accounts, web server or your own personal computer.

· This book lays the foundation required to start off your career as an ethical hacker where you can begin to apply the knowledge and skills in your profession.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK?

This book will cover the concepts of computer hacking for both Windows and Linux operating systems. For Windows based practical examples and illustrations, I have used my Windows 8.1 PC. For Linux based examples I have used Kali Linux 1.0.9a live DVD. Since most examples are not specific of the operating system version, you can implement them on any version of Windows and Linux installed on your computer.

Each chapter including all the concepts presented in this book are laid out in a hierarchical manner where one concept forms the foundation for the other. This may not be true for every chapter but in many cases the concepts discussed in the earlier part of the book may seem to form the key elements in understanding the subsequent concepts. Therefore, I recommend reading this book in an orderly manner and not skip the concepts or chapters in between.

Throughout this book, you will be presented with many illustrative examples, analogies and eye-catching diagrams that will not only make the whole understanding process easier, but also makes the learning process a fun! I hope you like this book and enjoy the concepts presented in it.