by DanTheMan 13 Replies latest social current
When I used to Hack (not Crack, script-run, or virus write) it was for the challenge. Then I grew up and found other things to motivate me in life.
There are all sorts of titles misapplied to the title "Hacker". Most that I knew were benign and inquisitive.
No everyone is "black hat".
Identity thieves are oftentimes people you know. They steal your credit card and social security number, the steal your mail and have cards mailed to their house. I have seen so much of it in the business I am in and running people's credit. People are not very careful with their social security cards and personal information.
Sally, I do my best to protect my personal info, especially my social, but I still feel like if somebody wanted to badly enough they could hijack my identity.
Boredom.
When people think of hackers they picture a pimply teen nerd.Not so.
Hackers come from all walks of life and ages. They could be an MIT grad or a high school dropout
There are different types of Hackers but they are broken up into two main "groups". Black Hat and White Hat hackers.
Black Hat--Comprised of the merely curious as well as the malicious. Many hackers are merely curious and do little if no damage to systems they access. Script kiddie's are mainly Hackers that download scripts(programs) that can be used to help "hack" or access a computer system. Script kiddies can cause alot of problems as they have enough knowledge to be dangerous and can do alot of damage to systems they hack. A true Black Hat hacker makes his/her own programs and is mainly motivated by boredom. They want a challenge.They may also belong to a group of Hackers and one group tries to outdo the others.
Of course there are hackers employed by governments around the world ie. China.
Many companies are victims of hackers including Fortune 500 companies. Most of the intrusions are not reported so as to not panic the public or stockholders.
No system is totally secure. If the Hacker is good enough and wants to get in he/she will.
White Hat--Work mostly to combat Black Hat hackers. Some Black Hat hackers will get jobs in IT security fields and turn into a White Hat. Many security companies have started up and is proving to be a booming business.
Crackers will work at breaking protection schemes on software etc. Alot of 'warez' groups are composed of crackers. They often get their hands on software long before it hits the market. They break the protection and release the product to the public via warez sitez, mIRC or the P2P programs.
I feel that there always will be hackers and crackers. To protect your-self make sure you have a good antivirus program as well as a good firewall.(Hardware and software)Be careful about what you download lest you download a Trojan that opens a port on your system to allow easy access to your computer. You can minimize the risks but NO system is secure. I don't want to scare anyone but this is the reality of life today.
My 2 cents
Wolfy
Defcon Anyone?
