This module aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of cyber-attacks, their mechanisms, and preventive measures. It introduces the fundamentals of ethical hacking, highlighting the roles of various types of hackers—black hat, white hat, and grey hat—and the importance of ethical hacking in safeguarding systems. Students will explore the stages of an attack, including reconnaissance, scanning, gaining access, maintaining access, and clearing tracks. The module covers a range of vulnerability analysis and exploitation tools, including network and communication tools such as sniffing (e.g., Wireshark), denial-of-service attacks, session hijacking, and methods for evading IDS, firewalls, and honeypots. It also delves into attacking techniques related to web applications, databases (e.g., SQL injection), mobile platforms, and IoT devices. By the end of the module, students will be able to explain how cyber-attacks occur, describe preventive techniques, and demonstrate the use of various attacking tools to gain relevant knowledge in ethical hacking.
