Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) Practice Exam 2025 – Your All-in-One Guide to Exam Success!

In the context of the standard hacking process, gaining access is a critical phase where a hacker successfully infiltrates a target system after successfully gathering information and discovering vulnerabilities. This step typically follows reconnaissance and scanning activities, where the hacker identifies weaknesses that can be exploited. Gaining access often involves using specific exploits or payloads to take advantage of these vulnerabilities, thus allowing the hacker to execute commands, steal data, or install additional malicious software.

Threat modeling, while important in understanding and identifying potential threats during the security planning process, is more of a preparatory activity rather than a phase of hacking itself. Exploitation is indeed closely related to gaining access, as it refers to the methods employed to achieve that access, but it falls under the broader umbrella of tactics. Patching, on the other hand, refers to the process of fixing vulnerabilities and is more aligned with defensive cybersecurity measures, not part of the hacking process.

Overall, gaining access is a fundamental part of the hacking cycle that denotes a successful breach of a system, making it a key phase in any hacking attempt.