Back-Hack

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What Does Back-Hack Mean?

Back-hack is the process of identifying attacks on a system and, if possible, identifying the origin of the attacks. Back hacking can be thought of as a kind of reverse engineering of hacking efforts, where security consultants and other professionals try to anticipate attacks and work on adequate responses.

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Techopedia Explains Back-Hack

In some cases, back hacking can mean tracing an attack to an IP address; in other back hacking efforts, security teams can spot "electronic bread crumbs," or bits of information that an attacker leaves behind. Other efforts at back hacking may be largely pre-emptive, as when security consultants or even rogue coders discover vulnerabilities in a system.

In general, back hacking can raise serious issues within an IT community. Some of the vulnerabilities that these investigators find can compromise vital government or business operations. Back hacking is a fundamental part of finding and deterring threats to cyber-security.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist
Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.