Introduction

There are various reasons for hacking. When most of us hear hacker we think about computer and network security, but lawyers, salesmen, and policemen are also hackers at heart. It s really a state of mind and a way of thinking rather than a physical attribute. Why do people hack? There are a couple of motivators, but one specific reason is to be able to know things that the ordinary man on the street doesn t. From this flow many of the other motivators. Knowledge is power there s a rush to seeing what others are doing without them knowing it. Understanding that the thirst for knowledge is central to hacking, consider Google, a massively distributed super computer, with access to all known information and with a deceivingly simple user interface, just waiting to answer any query within seconds. It is almost as if Google was made for hackers.

The first edition of this book brought to light many techniques that a hacker (or penetration tester) might use to obtain information that would help him or her in conventional security assessments (e.g., finding networks, domains, e-mail addresses, and so on). During such a conventional security test (or pen test) the aim is almost always to breach security measures and get access to information that is restricted. However, this information can be reached simply by assembling related pieces of information together to form a bigger picture. This, of course, is not true for all information. The chances that I will find your super secret...