Cyber Security
Ethical Hacking
How attackers think and work, practised legally and with permission.
- 10 notes
- 76 minutes of reading
- Ethical hacking: permission, scope, law and disclosureThe principles that separate ethical hacking from crime: written authorisation, scope, rules of engagement, relevant laws such as the UK Computer Misuse Act, and responsible disclosure. 7 min · Beginner
- Reconnaissance and OSINT: what you leak and how to reduce itHow attackers and testers gather information before an attack, the difference between passive and active reconnaissance, what organisations commonly expose publicly, and how defenders reduce it. 7 min · Beginner
- Scanning and enumeration: discovery, port states and defencesThe concepts behind network scanning and enumeration: host discovery, TCP and UDP port states, service and version detection, what enumeration reveals, and how defenders detect and limit scans. 8 min · Intermediate
- The OWASP Top 10 web application risks and their defencesA defender-focused walk through the OWASP Top 10:2025 categories of web application risk, with a plain example and the main fix for each, plus how to use the list at work. 9 min · Intermediate
- Password attacks and defences: spraying, stuffing and crackingHow password guessing, spraying, credential stuffing and offline cracking work at a concept level, and the defences that stop them: MFA, sensible policies, lockout, monitoring and proper hashing. 8 min · Intermediate
- Social engineering assessments and building awarenessHow social engineering works, how authorised assessments such as phishing simulations, pretext calls and physical tests are run ethically, and how to turn the results into lasting awareness. 7 min · Beginner
- Types of hackers: white hat, black hat, grey hat and moreWhat the white hat, black hat and grey hat labels mean, how other groups such as hacktivists, script kiddies and bug bounty hunters fit in, and why permission is the dividing line. 6 min · Beginner
- The five phases of ethical hacking and how defenders respondThe classic five-phase hacking model of reconnaissance, scanning, gaining access, maintaining access and covering tracks, explained from a defender's point of view with the controls that break each phase. 8 min · Beginner
- Becoming an ethical hacker: skills, certifications and legal practiceThe technical and professional skills ethical hackers need, how ethical hacking relates to penetration testing, the main certifications such as CEH, PenTest+ and OSCP, and safe, legal ways to practise. 8 min · Beginner
- Wireless security testing: what assessors check and how to harden Wi-FiWhat an authorised wireless security assessment looks at, including WPA2 and WPA3, Personal and Enterprise modes, rogue and evil twin access points, guest isolation and signal leakage, with practical hardening steps. 8 min · Intermediate