creasing cyber crimes worldwide have created a huge demand for cybersecurity professionals.

To
become a successful cybersecurity professional, you will require diverse skills to confidently
identify potential attacks and come up with effective solutions. In addition to awareness of the
latest happenings in the field of cybersecurity, you must also be familiar with various
programming languages. When you master coding, you move one more step closer to becoming a
top cybersecurity professional as it will help you to identify the plan behind an attack and defend
against some of the most malicious hacking techniques. Read on to find out the 5 best cyber
security programming languages that you can learn.
What Areas of Cybersecurity Require Coding?
A majority of mid-level and higher-level cybersecurity jobs that focus on software engineering or
analysis require coding. Needless to say, the job roles that specifically require programming skills will
depend on your specialty in cybersecurity and will change over the years as the cybersecurity field
continues to evolve.

Explore courses related to Programming:

5 Best Cyber Security Programming Languages to Learn

Whether you’re already a cybersecurity professional or planning to get into the field soon, mastering a
programming language can benefit you greatly.
 Here are the 5 most popular cyber security programming
languages to learn:

C and C++
C is one of the oldest programming languages. It was developed in the early 1970s by Dennis Ritchie.
Its main use is to develop software like operating systems, databases, compilers, and more. It is an
excellent language to learn to program for beginners. Moreover, after learning C, it will be much easier
to learn other programming languages, such as Java and Python.

C++ is a general-purpose programming language created by Bjarne Stroustrup. It is an extension of

the C programming language and the main use is to develop operating systems, browsers, games,
and more. C++ supports different ways of programming, such as procedural, object-oriented, and
functional.
Both are low-level programming languages that you need to know as a cybersecurity professional.
These cyber security programming languages have low-level access to hardware, such as RAM and
system processes which can easily be exploited by hackers, if not protected.
C and C++ – Hacker’s Go-To Languages:
•C is a low-level fast programming language.
•It helps in gaining low-level access to memory and system processes after compromising a system.
• Many security professionals use C to simulate the library hijacking attack.
•C++ allows hackers to write fast and efficient hacking programs.
•Hackers can easily reverse engineer enterprise software with C++.
Why are C and C + + Useful in Cybersecurity?
•C and C++ can be useful for reverse-engineering and finding vulnerabilities.
•A lot of malware is written in the C++ programming language. Thus, learning C++ is important for
reading and understanding open-source code.
•Many cybersecurity programs, such as Nmap, the network mapper tool are created using C++.
Python
Python is a general-purpose, object-oriented, high-level programming language. It is one of
the most popular and widely used coding languages due to its versatility.
It includes high-level data structures, dynamic binding, dynamic typing, and some other
features, making it an ideal programming language for complex application development.
Python is suitable for general-purpose tasks like data mining and big data facilitation. It is a
high-level scripting language that is easier to learn than other low-level languages.
Python is a useful programming language for cybersecurity professionals because it can
perform a variety of cybersecurity functions, like malware analysis, penetration testing, and
scanning.
Python – Hacker’s Go-To Language:

•It is one of the best languages for hacking into web servers.
•Python makes it easier to write automation scripts.
•It does not need compilation to run. You just run the program directly from the source code.

Why is Python Useful in Cybersecurity?

•Python has a short learning curve, which is why Python is easy to learn and implement for
cybersecurity professionals.
•Enables cybersecurity managers who lead teams to implement projects quickly.
•It has an extensive library, which means that cybersecurity tools are already available.
•Python can be used for accomplishing multiple tasks, such as host discovery, accessing
servers, port scanning, and network scanning.
•It helps cybersecurity professionals to get up to speed quickly .
JavaScript
JavaScript is the most popular and widespread programming language. It is the number one
language on the web. Moreover, the growth of frameworks such as jQuery, Angular, and
React JS has made JavaScript even more popular.
It helps programmers to build front-end as well as back-end software using different
Javascript-based frameworks like jQuery and Node.JS.
JavaScript comes with a variety of frameworks and libraries and its usage has now extended
to mobile app development, desktop app development, and game development.
It is one of the best cyber security programming languages you can learn. If you are proficient
in JavaScript, you can make sure that the website is secure enough to reduce or even eliminate
XSS attacks.
JavaScript – Hacker’s Go-To Language:

•It is widely used for developing cross-site scripting hacking programs.

•It can be used for mimicking attacks on the server-side and the client-side.
•Adware hacking programs are created using JavaScript.
•Hackers use it for attacks, like buffer overflow and stack overflow.

Why is JavaScript Useful in Cybersecurity?

•Enables you to design secure websites and user interfaces.

•Mitigates possible cross-site scripting attempts in web forms and minimizes other technical
risks.
•JavaScript allows you to work with cookies, manipulate event handlers, and perform cross-site
scripting (XSS).
•XSS is a popular hacking technique when it comes to compromising a website. If there is an
input flaw on the website, the hacker uses scripts to take over the website.
PHP
PHP is a server-side programming language that is used to develop websites. Powering 80% of
the top 10 million websites, PHP is the most dominant server-side language on the web.
Knowledge of PHP, thus, will enable you to know how to defend against intruders.
One of the most common hacking techniques using PHP is DoS (Denial of Service) attacks.
Such attacks usually attempt to make web applications unavailable to users by shutting down
the website.

Hackers may even use PHP to delete all the data on your website if you are not careful with
how you have built it. Thus, learning PHP programming language can help you in identifying
and solving these vulnerabilities in PHP code.
PHP – Hacker’s Go-To Language:
•It is extensively used for hacking personal websites.
•Knowledge of PHP prepares you to take down faulty websites as soon as you identify
them.
Why is PHP Useful in Cybersecurity?
•Enables cybersecurity professionals to implement robust solutions to secure web
applications.
•Integration of cybersecurity and PHP tools can help you mitigate and even alleviate
frequent cyberattacks.
 What is Windows Hacking ?

Windows OS is a graphical user interface (GUI) operating system developed by Microsoft. It was first released in
1985 as an add-on for MS-DOS, which was the most popular version of MS-DOS at that time. In its early days,
Windows OS was known as “Microsoft DOS” or “MS-DOS” and later on it became known as Windows 1.0 in 1987.
The name changed to Windows NT when it was released in 1993 and then again to Windows XP when it came out in
2001.

Windows Hacking:
Windows Hacking is the process of exploiting a vulnerability in a Windows operating system to gain access to a
computer or network. The attacker uses this knowledge to break into the target machine, steal sensitive
information, and/or modify data on the victim’s computer. The term “hacking” has been used for many years in
different contexts. It is often referred to as “cracking” when referring to breaking into computers or networks for
malicious purposes. However, there are other terms such as “social engineering”. Windows hacking is a way to
gain access to another person’s computer. It is done by using tools like keyloggers and screen recorders, which
are used for spying on someone else’s device. These tools can be installed on the victim’s machine without their
knowledge or consent. Once they are installed, they will allow you to see everything that happens on the
victim’s computer and even take control of it remotely if desired.
Windows Hacking Tools:
Windows hacking tools are used to hack Windows-based operating systems. They are mainly
used by hackers and cybercriminals for the purpose of stealing sensitive information from a
computer or network. These tools can be used to steal passwords, credit card details, banking
information, etc. Windows hacking tools are a set of software that can be used to hack into
the Windows operating system. It is also known as “Microsoft hacking tools” or “MSFT
hacking tools”. The most used windows hacking tools are as follows:
•Nmap
•Nessus
•Nikto
•Kismet
•NetStumbler
•Acunetix
•Netsparker
•Intruder
Effects on System:
The effects of hacking a computer system can be devastating. It is possible for the hacker to
gain access to confidential information, destroy data, and even disrupt normal operations. If
you have been hacked, it is important that you take steps to protect your identity and prevent
further damage from being done by hackers.
Common attacks:
Some common attacks on Windows operating system are given below:
•Buffer Overflow Attacks: A buffer overflow attack is a type of security vulnerability that
can be exploited by an attacker to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data on the target
computer. Buffer overflows are caused when a program attempts to allocate more memory
than it was designed for, or if the program does not check the size of its input before using it.
This can happen in many ways and usually occurs as a result of programming errors or bugs in
software.
•DDoS: DDoS attacks are a type of cyber-attack in which hackers use botnets to send large
amounts of traffic toward a website or service. The goal is to overwhelm the target with an
overwhelming amount of data so that it becomes unusable for legitimate users. This can be
done by flooding the target’s network with requests from multiple sources and then directing
them all to one single IP address.
Key Points:
•“Windows Hacking” in Ethical Hacking refers to the methods used to test whether a
system is vulnerable to various types of malicious hacking attacks.
•Bypassing restrictions built into operating systems and applications like web servers and
SQL servers by authorized hackers is a type of Windows hacking in Ethical Hacking.
•The term “Windows Hacking” in Ethical Hacking does not have anything to do with
breaking into a computer.
Countermeasures:
•Physical security of your computer.
•Software security of your computer (i.e., software to prevent someone from accessing your
computers, such as firewalls and antivirus programs)
•The only countermeasure against Windows hacking in Ethical Hacking is to ensure that
software is secure and robust against various types of attacks.
•Performing Windows hacking in Ethical Hacking will show you whether the software being
tested is robust enough, and if it isn’t, it will teach you how to make the software more robust.
Conclusion:
Windows hacking in Ethical Hacking is a necessary task when testing software and applications
to ensure they are secure. Many such tests would be too difficult or impractical to perform on
your own personal computer, so there is definitely a definite need for Ethical Hackers to perform
these types of tests on computers owned by others.
•in fact there are so many vulnerabilities in all versions of Microsoft and there are so many
different exploits that are active, that there is no way to count them so we can categorize which
are most common
•To make it worse 99% of the exalts go unreported in the real world so there actually is no way to
create an honest database of all exploits that have occurred
•The security companies that are hired to deal with the various Windows issues always sign non-
disclosure agreements so they could be a good source of information, but in the real world they
are not because they don’t reveal anything about their clients
•On rare occasions a security research company might proclaim that there is a particularly scary
Windows exploit but those proclamations are largely ignored by the public because Microsoft
Windows has had so many security vulnerabilities for decades that the public has gotten used to
it and ignores any new discoveries and or declarations, which is rather sad
Computers have brought about a revolution across all industries. Computers have become the
most important part for the success of any enterprise. Computers are the best means for proper
storage and management of data. They can assist as knowledge bases and can be utilized for
financial transactions due to their processing power and storage capacities. PCs handle and
keep a track of data which is very confidential and essential for an organization. So, managing
the security of these computers is a very important task. This realization has led to the
development of techniques that attempt to detect problems or loopholes in software systems.
However, there exist some software failures which could be used for an intentional attempt to
severely damage the systems. These software failures commonly denoted as computer
vulnerabilities, have special properties that separate them from other software failures. The
detailed analysis of each vulnerability classifies its characteristics, policies violated by its
exploitation, and leads to the understanding of the measures that are needed to eradicate these
vulnerabilities in future programs.
 demonstrate several vulnerabilities in the
Windows Operating system. It will demonstrate and analyze how registry,
clipboard, autoplay and task manger are vulnerable to attacks in Windows XP,
Windows Vista and Windows 7.
Introduction In 2000, there were more than 50,000 computer viruses. In 2002, the count of
known viruses, Trojans, worms, and their variations became 60,000. Today there are more than
1000,000 known computer viruses[1]. A. James Clark from University of Maryland’s showed that
every 39 sec an attack occurs on an internet enabled computer. [2] In today’s world where
software has become very important part of our lives, it has become very important for us to
have secure software. The computer programs are becoming immersed in our lives. They
virtually control everything from online education to business. In [3] it is shown that the United
States is target of majority of Server-Side HTTP attacks. There are several sources and fewer
destinations of these attacks. China is the second largest source of attacks after the United
States. United States is top most target of such attacks. To confront the security loopholes in
software which can be technically referred as “Vulnerabilities”, there is huge demand of
vulnerability analyzers and other security related software. A vulnerability can be defined as The
existence of a weakness, design, or implementation error that can lead to an unexpected,
undesirable event/s compromising the security of the computer system, network, application, or
protocol involved.[4] Publically accessible databases are available for Vulnerabilities. These
vulnerabilities provide basis for major system-related security breaches, which are the most
harmful. These breaches are very difficult to inspect, because data is infrequent.
 Detailed discussion of breaches is available in .Vulnerabilities are classified according to their asset
class they belong to such as hardware, software-operating system, application, network, personnel,
site and organizational .Common types of software defects that lead to vulnerabilities are: Memory
safety violations, Input validation errors, Metacharacters, Improper shell handling, so they are
interpreted :SQL injection, Code injection, E-mail injection, Directory traversal, Cross-site scripting
in web applications, HTTP header injection ,HTTP response splitting etc., Race conditions,
Privilegeconfusion bugs, Privilege escalation , User interface failures . Vulnerabilities are introduced
into programs by number of ways some of them are

1. Coders introduce vulnerable code into software unknowingly. This occurs due to lack of
understanding and awareness of secure programming techniques.

2. Developers do not have appropriate tools for the vulnerability assessment of code and compiled
applications. Software vendors provide patches and updates for the system to fix these vulnerabilities.
However, during hackers take advantage of these vulnerabilities to install malicious code on user
machines for stealing secret data for monetary gains. The hacked computers can be
The hacked computers can be further used to launch Denial of Service attacks on servers.
These machines can be misused to infringe the computers of government departments .
According to the process of vulnerability discovery can be categorized into three
different phases.
Phase 1 comprises the collection of sufficient knowledge about the system. This phase is
carried out by testers which will enable them to compromise the system .Actual
vulnerabilities discovery happens in phase 2. Finally, in phase 3, vulnerability detection
effort will then start drifting towards the subsequent version of the software. These phases
form an “S” shape. It is anticipated to follow the vulnerability principle according to
which the discovery rate is in line with momentum gained by the market acceptance of
the product. It is also linear with the saturation of vulnerability discovery. The model also
suggests that there is limited number of vulnerabilities that could be found. Rescorla, in
adopted the probabilistic G-O model (Goel and Okumoto model)[10],but no significant
empirical evidence of its relevance was found . In Alhazmi and Malaiya proposed a
model which relates the number of vulnerabilities to the entire effort spent on detecting
vulnerabilities.
Operating system Vulnerabilities There are massive varieties of operating systems; only four central families
exist in the mainstream – Windows, OS X, Linux and UNIX. According to Microsoft Windows dominates the
world’s operating systems market with almost 90% of the market share while Apple and Linux share the
remaining 10% with a lot of other available operating systems. In the analysis of five operating systems
reveals that the mean time between vulnerability disclosures

for Windows operating is about double than those of the MAC OSX and open source operating systems. On
the other hand, the software lines of code” of Windows operating systems is lower than that of MAC OSX and
Debian 3.1 Each operating system has its own package of vulnerabilities extending from local exploits and to
remotely available attack vectors. As far as "straight-out-of-box" conditions go, both Microsoft’s Windows and
Apple’s OS X are full of remotely reachable vulnerabilities. Even before deploying the servers, Windows based
machines contain numerous exploitable loopholes which allow hackers access the system as well as execute
random code.
When it comes to corporate, most systems rely on trained administrators and IT departments which frequently
patch and update the operating systems and its services. The scenario for home computers is different. The more
customer oriented operating systems made by Microsoft and Apple are each “hardened” in their own capacity. As
soon as user begins to subjectively enable fiddling around with the default settings, the systems immediately
become susceptible to intrusion. When appropriate patches or automatic updates are not enabled, owners of
Windows and OS X computers are the most susceptible to quick and thorough remote violations by hackers. As
per Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-067 in 2009 more than 90% of the Microsoft targeted attacks were the
buffer overflow vulnerability attacks. Most of these attacks on Microsoft Windows operating systems were by
Conficker/Downadup worm and its variants. Even worms like Sasser and Blaster, which were infamous in 2003-
2004 were also active in this period. The attacks mentioned above are common to both Operating Systems and
Applications. As a resolution, Vendors provide patches and updates frequently. Operating System vulnerabilities
get quickly addressed by vendors in the first fortnight of their lifetime. The vulnerabilities found in applications,
receive less attention and get patched slowly. Widely used applications, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer,
Microsoft Office, and Adobe Reader are more vulnerable to threats. Attacks using PDF vulnerabilities have
reportedly increased in 2008 and 2009. In the last few years, the number of vulnerabilities exposed in
applications is much greater than the number of vulnerabilities in operating systems as in fig. 1. As a
consequence, extra exploitation attempts are recorded on application programs.
Many vulnerabilities have been published for windows operating system. Some of the common vulnerabilities found
in all versions of windows are: DoS, Remote Code Execution, Memory Corruption, Overflow, Sql Injection, XSS, Http
Response Splitting, Directory Traversal, Bypass something Gain Information/Privileges, CSRF File Inclusion etc.
According to ninety seven Windows XP vulnerabilities were reported in year 2010. So far eighty one vulnerabilities
have been reported in 2011. The maximum number of vulnerabilities detected were of Gaining Privileges by which
the confidentiality and integrity was highly impacted.
Experiment To explore the loopholes in windows operating system a program was developed. This program had
identified number of vulnerabilities in various versions of Windows operating system. Some of the vulnerabilities
detected are Autoplay Vulnerability Autoplay feature came in Windows XP. This feature checks removable media/
devices then identifies and launches appropriate application based on its contents. This feature is useful for
authentic users but is a gateway for an attacker. The program developed was able to gain access and execute
arbitrary code by inserting USB using this feature.This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The complexity of
attack in this case is low. The system confidentiality and integrity is lost completely.
Clipboard Vulnerability The software developed was able to get access to clipboard data and
modify it. This vulnerability can allow attacker to get access to sensitive clipboard data. In
windows clipboard is common for all applications. This may lead to access and modification in
the clipboard of all applications in the operating system.
Registry Vulnerability MS-Windows stores its configuration settings and options in a
hierarchical database which is known as windows Registry. Registry is used for low level
operating system settings and for settings of applications running on the platform. All vital
components of operating system such as kernel, UI, device drivers, SAM etc. make use of
registry. The registry editor of windows is not a secured program. It allows the editing of
registries without the permission of the owner. As there is no message specially displayed before
editing of registry with software of executable files, therefore the attackers are able to change the
DWORD value of registry easily which poses a serious threat
PNG Vulnerability Software was able to cause denial of service (DoS attack). In this
vulnerability Windows allows an attacker to use Portable Network Graphic (PNG)
image with properly crafted resolution in the IHDR block which leads to 100% CPU
consumption. Windows operating system is not equipped
to handle malicious PNG files. This vulnerability may result into excessive usage of resources and causes
system crash. Thus, denying service to users. This vulnerability does not result into confidentiality or
integrity loss and has partial availability impact. Result and Discussion In the experiment, user was able to
gain access through autorun vulnerability which is a serious threat to the confidentiality and integrity of the
same. Clip board vulnerability can also result into severe damage to the data. Registry vulnerability can lead
to unwanted operating system settings by malicious user. PNG vulnerability causes denial of service and
consumes resources. Microsoft has still not released any patch for this vulnerability. Effect of these
vulnerabilities was tested on all popular versions of MS Windows like Windows XP, Windows Vista and
Windows 7. Summary of effect of these vulnerabilities is given in Table 1.
Vulnerability Integrity Impact Confidentiality Impact Availability Gained Access
Registry Y Y Y Y
Clipboard Y Y Y Y
Autoplay Y N Y Y
PNG N N Y N

Table 1: Vulnerability Impact

User was able to gain access through Registry, clipboard and autoplay vulnerability and
integrity of system was also affected by these three vulnerabilities. Through registry and
clipboard
vulnerability confidentiality of system was also compromised.