HACKERS

HACKERS

Computers connected via the internet are vulnerable to hackers, who can use cunning tricks to gain access to them… or even take them over.Hacking means finding out weaknesses in a computer or computer network, though the term can also refer to someone with an advanced understanding of computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, such as profit, protest, or challenge.


FAMOUS HACKERS:

In 1992, Argentinian student Julio Ardita hacked into the computer systems of Harvard University and the US Naval command. He was finally caught by police in 1997.


Young British hackers Richard Pryce and Matthew Bevan (nicknamed Datastream Cowboy and Kuji) broke into US military computers in 1994.


In 2002, Gary McKinnon (known as Solo) hacked into NASA and US military computers from a room in London, UK. He claimed to have been looking for evidence of UFOs.

   

PASSWORD CRACKING:
People help hackers by using obvious passwords, like their names or birthdays. Serious hackers use password-cracker software that runs through all the possible combinations of numbers and letters until it finds the right one.    


TRICKS AND TACTICS:
Using data from phone books or company files to access someone’s computer is called “social engineering.” “Phreaking” involves hacking into telephone systems to get free calls. Another tactic is “phishing”—sending emails pretending to be from a recognized organization so the victim emails back their details.      


GETTING A NUMBER:
“War dialer” programs identify the phone numbers organizations use to connect to the internet. By finding these, hackers can bypass security systems.   


GETTING INSIDE YOUR COMPUTER:
Serious hackers don’t just want to eavesdrop on your computer’s links to the outside world, they want to get inside your computer and take it over. These are some of the tools they use: A Trojan Horse is a file that looks harmless until opened, but once open it installs a rogue program that takes control of the computer. Keylogging is a method of linking up to someone else’s computer and monitoring every key that is pressed—useful for gaining passwords or other security information. Backdoor programs allow hackers to access your computer without a password.  


Programs designed to scan for weaknesses in a computer’s “firewall” (protection) systems are called vulnerability scanners. Sniffers monitor information traveling to and from a computer system, in order to capture all the passwords and user IDs of anyone using it. Computer worms infect networks by sending copies of themselves to all the machines in the system. Unlike viruses, they don’t have to attach themselves to a program—this makes them harder to stop. A virus is a computer program that infects a host program and alters the way it works.   


HIDDEN IDENTITY:
Hackers can use “IP spoofing” software to conceal their true identity online. Information is sent over the internet in packets of data. Each packet contains information about the computer it has come from, but IP spoofers change this information so that it seems as if the packet has come from somewhere else. Hackers use this software to get through security systems, or when they want to attack a network by flooding it with data.