Hacking For Beginners – Manthan Desai

2010

10. Linux Hacking

Linux is fast emerging as an affordable yet available operating system. As the popularity is growing attention ofplayers with malicious intent to break in to the systems.

Why Linux ?





Majority of servers around the globe are running on Linux / Unix-like platforms Easy to get and Easy on pocket There are many types of Linux -Distributions /Distros / Flavors such Hat, Mandrake, Yellow Dog, Debian etc. Source code is available Easy to modify. Easy to develop a program on Linux.

Linux is an operating system that can be downloaded free and "belongs" to an entire community of developers, not onecorporate entity. With more and more people looking for an alternative to Windows, Linux has recently grown inpopularity and is quickly becoming a favorite among major corporations and curious desktop users. Not only does it giveusers a choice of operating systems, proves itself valuable with its power, flexibility, and reliability.

Linux supports most of the major protocols, quite a few of the minor ones. Support for Internet, Novell, Windows,and Appletalk networking have been Linux kernel for some time now. With support for Simple NetworkManagement Protocol and other services (such as Domain Name Service), Linux is also well suited to serving largenetworks. Since Linux was developed by a team of programmers over the Internet, its networking features were givenhigh priority. Linux is capable of acting as client and/or server to any of the popular operating systems in use today, and isquite capable of being used to run Internet Service Providers.

Linux is an implementation of the UNIX design philosophy, which means that it is a multi-user system. This has numerousadvantages, even for a system where only one or two people will be using it. Security, which is necessary for protection ofsensitive information, is built into Linux at selectable levels. More importantly, the system is designed to multi-task.Whether one user is running several programs or several users are running one program, Linux is capable of managing thetraffic.

Another huge advantage of an open system is a large number of software authors and beta testers. This makes thesoftware testing and refinement process faster and better. Because there is not a lot of commercial software for Linux,most software written for Linux is written because the authors want to do it and there need be no compromise of quality.

Linux is "Free" in two senses. In one sense, the Linux consumer is free to modify the system and do anything he or shewishes with it. In another sense, acquiring Linux does not necessarily require any cash outlay at all.

www.hackingtech.co.tv

Page 85