Here are the Top 10 Ethical Hacking Terms You Must Know:

1. Penetration Testing (Pentesting)

   • The process of simulating cyberattacks on a system, network, or application to identify vulnerabilities before malicious hackers can exploit them.

2. Vulnerability

   • A weakness or flaw in a system, application, or network that can be exploited by attackers to gain unauthorized access.

3. Exploit

   • A piece of software, script, or command that takes advantage of a vulnerability in a system to perform unauthorized actions.

4. Phishing

   • A social engineering attack where hackers trick users into providing sensitive information like passwords, credit card details, or personal data via fake emails or websites.

5. Social Engineering

   • A hacking technique that manipulates people into revealing confidential information rather than exploiting system vulnerabilities.

6. Brute Force Attack

   • A method of cracking passwords or encryption keys by systematically trying all possible combinations until the correct one is found.

7. Malware

   • Malicious software, including viruses, worms, ransomware, spyware, and trojans, designed to harm or exploit a system.

8. DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) Attack

   • An attack where multiple systems overwhelm a target (e.g., a website or server) with excessive traffic, causing it to crash or become slow.

9. Zero-Day Vulnerability

   • A security flaw that is unknown to the vendor and has no patch available, making it highly dangerous if exploited by hackers.

10. White Hat, Black Hat, and Gray Hat Hackers

    • White Hat Hackers: Ethical hackers who work to improve security.
    • Black Hat Hackers: Malicious hackers who exploit vulnerabilities for personal gain.
    • Gray Hat Hackers: Hackers who operate between ethical and unethical hacking, sometimes exposing security flaws without permission.