The business of hacking and birth of an industry

Hacking is a term that has evolved over the years. Its evolution spawned two separate industries. An evil industry based on greed, theft, and general chaos on the Internet, and a business industry whose sole purpose is to combat the evil industry. The evil industry is comprised of all sorts of deviants who troll the Internet looking for weaknesses that they can exploit to their gain. The business industry is made up of products, vendors, and professionals whose purpose is to keep the deviants out. Both industries are experiencing explosive growth as technology increases the presence of organizations out on the Internet. This paper's aim is to examine some of the tools and techniques used by both industries and to raise awareness for readers in both the home and corporate environments. © 2012 Alcatel-Lucent.