Computer Hacker Essay, Research Paper
The meaning of Hacker is one who accesses
a computer which is supposably not able to be accessed to non
authorised people of the community. Hackers
may use any type of system to access this information
depending on what they intend on doing
in the system.
Methods
Hackers may use a variety of ways to hack
into a system. First if the hacker is experienced and smart the
hacker will use telnet to access a shell
on another machine so that the risk of getting caught is lower than
doing it using their own system.
Ways in which the hacker will break into
the system are:
1) Guess/cracking passwords. This is where
the hacker takes guesses at the password or has a crack
program to crack the password protecting
the system.
2) Finding back doors is another way in
which the hacker may get access to the system. This is where the
hacker tries to find flaws in the system
they are trying to enter.
3) One other way in which a hacker may
try to get into a system is by using a program called a WORM.
This program is specially programmed to
suit the need of the user. This programme continually tries to
connect to a machine at over 100 times
a second until eventually the system lets in and the worm executes
its program. The program could be anything
from getting password files to deleting files depending on
what it has been programmed to do.
Protection
The only way that you or a company can
stop a Hacker is by not having your computer connected to the
net. This is the only sure fire way in
which you can stop a hacker entering your system. This is mainly
because hackers use a phone line to access
the system. If it is possible for one person to access the system
then it is possible for a hacker to gain
access to the system. One of the main problems is that major
companies need to be networked and accessible
over the net so that employees can do overdue work or so
that people can look up things on that
company. Also major companies network their offices so that they
can access data from different positions.
One way which is used to try to prevent
hackers gaining access is a program used by companies called a
Firewall. A Firewall is a program which
stops other connections from different servers to the firewall
server. This is very effective in stopping
hackers entering the system. Tho this is not a fool proof way of
stopping hackers as it can be broken and
hackers can get in. Tho this is a very good way of protecting your
Major Hacks
Some of the major hacks that have been
committed have been done by young teens aged between 14 and
18. These computer geniuses as they are
known have expert knowledge on what they are doing and also
know the consequences. Tho the consequences
do not really enter there mind when they are doing it.
This hack occurred on February 10, 1997,
and again on February 14, 1997 Portuguese hackers launched a
political attack on the web page of the
Indonesian government, focusing on that country’s continued
oppression of East Timor. The attack was
online for about 3 hours from 7.00 PM to 10.00 PM (Portuguese
Time) at the web site of the Department
of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Indonesia. The hackers did not
delete or change anything. The said ?We
just hack pages?.
Another major hack that occurred was on
April 1 1981 by a single user. This hacker who was situated in
an east coast brokage house was interested
in the stock market. SO he purchased $100,000 worth of shares
in the stock market. Then he hacked into
the stock markets main computers and stole $80 million dollars.
The hacker was eventually caught although
$53 million dollars was not recovered.
On Wednesday, March 5 1997 The home page
of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s was
recently hacked and the contents changed.
The group known as H4G1S. This group of hackers managed to
change the contents of the webpage
The hacking group changed the webpage
and left a little message for all. It said ? Gr33t1ngs fr0m th3
m3mb3rs 0f H4G1S. Our mission is
to continue where our colleagues the ILF left off. During the next
month, we the members of H4G1S, will be
launching an attack on corporate America. All who profit from
the misuse of the InterNet will fall victim
to our upcoming reign of digital terrorism.
Our privileged and highly skilled members
will stop at nothing until our presence is felt nationwide.
Even your most sophisticated firewalls
are useless. We will demonstrate this in the upcoming weeks?.
The homepage of the United States Air Force
was recently hacked and the contents had been changed. The
webpage had been changed completely as
the hackers had inserted pornographic pictures saying ?this is
what we are doing to you? and had under
the image ?screwing you?. The hackers have changed it and
shown their views on the political system.
One other major hack which was committed
was by a 16 year old boy in Europe. This boy hacked into the
British Airforce and downloaded confidential
information on Ballistic missiles. The boy hacked into the
site and down loaded this information
because he was interested and wanted to know more about them.
This boy was fined a sum of money.
In conclusion it can be said that hackers
are sophisticated and very talented when it comes to the use of a
computer. Hacking is a process of learning
not following any manual. Hackers learn as they go and use a
method of trial and error. Most people
who say they are hackers most of the time are not. Real hackers do
not delete or destroy any information
on the system they hack. Hackers hack because they love the thrill of
getting into a system that is supposably
unable to be entered. Overall hackers are smart and cause little
damage to the system they enter. So hackers
are not really terrorists in a way they help companies find out
flaws in their system.