What's a Hacker?
"Hacker" is one of those terms that has a different meaning depending on who uses it. As a result of Hollywood, a lot of people think a hacker is an individual who gains illicit use of a computer and steals stuff or breaks into military networks and launches missiles for fun.
These days, a hacker doesn't have to be a geek from a premier university who breaks into banks and government systems. A hacker could be anyone, even the kid next door.
By having an ordinary laptop, everyone can download simple software off the Internet to see everything that goes into and out of a computer on the same network. And the people who try this don't will have the very best of intentions. Hire a hacker to catch cheating spouse
A Brief History of Hackers
Nowadays, the phrase "hacker" has become synonymous with individuals who sit in dark rooms, anonymously terrorizing the Internet. Nonetheless it wasn't always that way. The initial hackers were benign creatures. In reality, they were students.
To anyone attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology throughout the 1950s and 60s, the term "hack" simply meant a classy or inspired solution to any given problem. Most of the early MIT hacks tended to be practical jokes. One of the most extravagant saw a replica of a campus police car put on the surface of the Institute's Great Dome.
With time, the phrase became associated with the burgeoning computer programming scene at MIT and beyond. For these early pioneers, a hack was a task of programming prowess. Such activities were greatly admired because they combined expert knowledge with a creative instinct.
Why Does a Hacker Hack?
Hackers' motivations vary. For some, it's economic. They earn an income through cybercrime. Some have a political or social agenda - their aim would be to vandalize high-profile computers to make a statement. This type of hacker is named a cracker as their main purpose would be to crack the security of high profile systems.
Others get it done for the sheer thrill. When asked by the website SafeMode.org why he defaces web servers, a cracker replied, "A high-profile deface gives me an adrenalin shot and then after a few years I need another shot, that's why I can't stop." [1]
These days, we're confronted with a new form of hacker - your nearby neighbor. Every single day, a large number of people download simple software tools that allow them to "sniff" wifi connections. Some try this just to eavesdrop on what others are doing online. Others try this to steal personal data in an attempt steal an identity.
The Most Common Attacks
1. SideJacking / Sniffing
Sidejacking is a website attack method in which a hacker uses packet sniffing to steal a program cookie from a website you only visited. These cookies are often sent back once again to browsers unencrypted, even if the initial website log-in was protected via HTTPS. Anyone listening can steal these cookies and then utilize them access your authenticated web session. This recently made news just because a programmer released a Firefox plug-in called Firesheep that makes it simple for an intruder sitting near you on an open network (like a public wifi hotspot) to sidejack many popular website sessions. For example, a sidejacker using Firesheep could take control your Facebook session, thereby gaining use of your entire sensitive data, and even send viral messages and wall posts to your entire friends.
2. DNS Cache Poisoning
In DNS cache poisoning, data is introduced in to a Domain Name System (DNS) name server's cache database that did not result from authoritative DNS sources. It is an unintended consequence of a misconfiguration of a DNS cache or of a maliciously crafted attack on the name server. A DNS cache poisoning attack effectively changes entries in the victim's copy of the DNS name server, when he or she types in a legitimate site name, he or she's sent instead to a fraudulent page.
3. Man-In-the-Middle Attacks
A man-in-the-middle attack, bucket brigade attack, or Janus attack, is a form of active eavesdropping in that the attacker makes independent connections with the victims and relays messages between them, making them believe that they are talking directly to each other over a personal connection, when in fact the whole conversation will be controlled by the attacker. The attacker must manage to intercept all messages going between both victims and inject new ones. For example, an attacker within reception selection of an unencrypted wifi access point can insert himself as a man-in-the-middle. Or an attacker can pose as an online bank or merchant, letting victims sign in over a SSL connection, and then a attacker can log onto the true server utilizing the victim's information and steal credit card numbers.
4. Smishing
Packet sniffers allow eavesdroppers to passively intercept data sent between your laptop or smartphone and other systems, such as for example web servers on the Internet. This is actually the easiest and simplest kind of wireless attack. Any email, web search or file you transfer between computers or open from network locations on an unsecured wireless network could be captured by a nearby hacker using a sniffer. Sniffing tools are plentiful free of charge on line and you will find at least 184 videos on YouTube to exhibit budding hackers how to make use of them. The only path to safeguard yourself against wifi sniffing in many public wifi hotspots is to employ a VPN to encrypt everything sent within the air.
5. Mass Meshing
Also referred to as mass SQL injection, this can be a method whereby hackers poison websites by illegally imbedding a redirection javascript from legitimate websites previously infected and controlled by the hackers. These javascripts redirect the visitor's computer to servers which contain additional malicious programs that will attack a user's computer.
The Most Common Targets
Hackers are enthusiastic about many types of computers on the Internet. The next list describes different types of targets and their attract hackers. [2]
1. Corporate Networks
Corporate computers are often heavily fortified so hacking into you have high cachet. Behind corporate firewalls are repositories of customer information, product information, and sometimes, in the case of a pc software publisher, the product itself.
2. Web Servers
Web servers are computers which contain websites. Although some contain customer financial information, web servers usually are targets for vandals because they can be defaced to show information the hacker chooses to the public.
3. Personal Computers
With the ever growing utilization of wifi, laptops are becoming one of the most hacked devices. Everything a person visits online can be exposed to a person using software to "sniff" that connection. The website URL, passwords used to log into an on the web banking account, Facebook pictures, tweets, and a whole instant message conversation could be exposed. It is the simplest form of hacking as it requires little skill.
4. Tablets and Palm Top devices
Tablets, cell phones, and other mobile-ready devices are just as popular as laptops come in wifi hotspots. A hacker in a public hotspot could see a mobile device, as well as all data entering and from it, just like easily as they can a laptop.
How You Can Protect Yourself
The straightforward truth is that anyone connecting to the Internet is vulnerable to being hacked. Thus, there is a must be proactive in regards to protecting yourself from such attacks.
