Hacking

Hacking What are hackers? • Hackers are people who try to gain unauthorized access into your computer • They normally gain access through backdoor programs installed on your computer • They also break into government and corporate programs to gain access to personal information or release viruses that can destroy important data • You can get backdoor programs in a number of ways including by opening an email attachment that contains the program, downloading infected files, or through the distribution of infected disks or CD’s • Hackers can be prevented from entering your computer by installing a fire-wall What are they after? • The majority of hacker’s out there are young teenagers or in their early twenties • Some see hacking into a site as a game and gaining bragging rights to their friends • Some hack to gain personal information such as health records or credit cards or to cause service disruption in large corporations What damage can they do? • The amount of damage caused depends on the backdoor program hiding on your computer • If a hacker can’t cause damage using a backdoor program, then they can install something that can • When a hacker takes control of your computer they can view everything you are doing and can delete files, write new files, edit a file and install new programs • They may even install programs that allow the hackers access to passwords, PIN numbers and credit card numbers History of Hacking • 1971 John Draper discovers that a toy whistle included in a box of children's cereal reproduces the exact audio tone needed to open a telephone line and begin making free long-distance calls. • 1984: Eric Corley publishes 2600: The Hacker Quarterly, which becomes an early source for telephone and computer hacking. • 1986: The United States Congress passes the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which makes hacking illegal • 1988: Robert Morris, a 22-yeard old university graduate releases a self-replicating virus on the Internet and infects 6000 systems • 1993: Hackers break into AT&T's computer networks and bring long-distance telephone service to a standstill on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

• • •

1994: Two teenage hackers break into several hundred computer systems, including NASA and the Korean Atomic Research Institute. 1996: The General Accounting Office in the United States releases a report stating that hackers attempted to break into Defense Department files more than 250,000 times in 1995 alone; about 65 percent of the attempts were successful 2001: In early May, groups of Chinese hackers infiltrate several U.S. government sites, including those of the White House, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Department of Health and Human Services

What can I do to prevent hackers? • Installing a firewall or anti-virus program greatly reduces the chances of hackers gaining access to your computer • There are two main types of firewalls which protect your computer • First are networked computers, which require only the internet connection, behaving as firewalls blocking out unauthorized packets • Second is the personal firewall which is a program that is run on your PC and also blocks unauthorized packets • Take note that firewalls only block hackers from entering your computer, and a anti-virus program is also needed to remove the backdoor programs