Since the day it was invented in the late fifties, computer technology has developed immeasurably. People nowadays depend on computers for almost everything as it is now capable in handling large amounts of data in a very short time. We are not only able to use personal computers for simple tasks like keeping track of household budgets but more complex tasks like transferring money now can be made at a click of a mouse while we are in our bedroom or anywhere and anytime for that matter.
However, as with any new advancement in science, the developments in information technology (IT), while contributing to society by way of providing convenience, also has its dark side. Cyber crimes in the form of hacking are just one of the serious problems that came with the invention of computers since its early days.
CYBER CRIMES
Hacking usually refers to the act of breaking into computer systems. Hackers usually steal and manipulate information from other databases.
Eric Raymond, compiler of ‘The New Hacker’s Dictionary’ defines a hacker as a clever programmer. A “good hack” is a clever solution to a programming problem and hacking is the act of doing it. Raymond lists five possible characteristics that qualify ones as a hacker which are:
- A person who enjoys learning details of a programming language or system
- A person who enjoys actually doing the programming rather than just theorizing about it
- A person capable of appreciating someone else’s hacking
- A person who picks up programming quickly
- A person who is an expert at a particular programming language or system
In common usage, a hacker is a person who breaks into computers and computer networks, either for profit or motivated by the challenge. The subculture that has evolved around hackers is often referred to as the ‘computer underground’ but is now an open community.
HISTORY OF HACKING
The term hacker can be traced back to Massachusetts Institute Technology (MIT) during the 60s. MIT was the first institution to offer a course in computer programming and computer science and it is here in 1960 where a group of MIT students taking a lab on Artificial Intelligence first coined this word. These students called themselves hackers because they were able to take programs and have them perform action not intended for that program. The term was developed on the basis of a particle joke and feeling of excitement because the team member would “hack away” at the keyboard hours at a time.
Hacking developed alongside “Phone Phreaking”, a term referred to exploration of the phone network without authorization, and there has often been overlap between both technology and participants. The first recorded hack was accomplished by Joe Engressia also known as The Whistler. Later came to be known as the grandfather of Phreakin, Engressia’s hacking technique was that he could perfectly whistle a tone into a phone and make a free call.
American science fiction author Bruce Sterling traces part of the roots of the computer underground to the Yippies (yuppies + hippies), a 1960s counterculture movement which published the Technological Assistance Program (TAP) newsletter. Other sources of early 70s hacker culture can be traced towards more beneficial forms of hacking, including MIT labs or a defunct computer hobbyist club in Silicon Valley called the Homebrew Computer Club (which members include high-profile hackers and IT entrepreneurs including the founders of Apple Inc.), which later resulted in such thing as early personal computer or the open source movement (practice that promotes access to the end product's source materials such as free sharing of technological information).
DIFFERENT BREEDS OF HACKERS
Hackers can be divided into different categories according to their purpose or principle behind their act of hacking. There are five types of hackers:
White Hat
A white hat hacker breaks security for non-malicious reasons, for instance testing their own security system. This classification also includes individuals who perform penetration tests and vulnerability assessment within a contractual agreement. This type of hacker often called an ethical hacker.
Black hat
A black hat hacker, sometimes called "cracker", is someone who breaks computer security without authorisation or uses technology (usually a computer, phone system or network) for vandalism, credit card fraud, identity theft, piracy or other types of illegal activity.
Grey Hat
A grey hat hacker is a combination of a black hat hacker and a white hat hacker. A grey hat hacker will surf the internet and hack into a computer system for the sole purpose of notifying the administrator that their system has been hacked. Then they will offer to repair their system for a small fee.
Blue Hat
A blue hat hacker is someone outside computer security consulting firms who is used to bug test a system prior to its launch, looking for exploits so they can be closed. Microsoft also uses the term Blue Hat to represent a series of security briefing events.
Script Kiddie
A script kiddie is a non-expert who breaks into computer systems by using pre-packaged automated tools written by others, usually with little understanding of the underlying concept – hence the term script (i.e. a prearranged plan or set of activities) kiddie (i.e. kid, child – an individual lacking knowledge and experience, immature).
COMMON HACKING METHODS
Usually there are three methods in an attack on Internet-connected system. The typical approaches are:
- Network enumeration: Discovering information about the intended target.
- Vulnerability analysis: Identifying potential ways of attack.
- Exploitation: Attempting to compromise the system by employing the vulnerabilities found through the vulnerability analysis.
