Hackers

A hacker is a person who uses computers to gain unauthorized access to data. This term has changed over the years as technology has evolved, and there are currently two main definitions. 1) an individual computer enthusiast who enjoys exploring computers and how to stretch their capabilities, and 2) a malicious individual who tries to obtain information by "hacking" computer systems.

For many hackers, hacking is about autonomy, politics, and having fun, but is also about making a difference in the world - whether through maliciously hacking into computer systems or writing software to protect against future hacks.

File:Http://blog.smbnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/small-business-hacker.jpg

With the right skills, the whole of a computer network is accessible to a hacker.

History

Hacking has been around in different forms since the development of the first computers. The first hackers appeared at MIT and hacked electric trains and tracks to make them perform differently before moving onto the computing systems being developed on campus. Many early hackers began as phone hackers, "phreaks", before moving onto the realm of computers. As the presence of hackers began to grow, they formed hacking groups, such as the Legion of Doom. In 1986, Congress passed the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which made it a crime to break into computer systems. Two years later, "the Mentor" (Loyd Blankenship) is arrested and publishes the Hacker Manifesto.The same year, the first worm is distributed through the internet. The self-replicating worm, created by Robert T. Morris Jr. spreads to 6,000 computer networks, including government and university systems. In the early 1990's when Netscape Navigator, which made information on the web much more accessible, begins to take off, hackers quickly move their skills to this new target. The subsequent rise of America On Line led to the release of AOHell, an application that unskilled hackers could used to hack in to AOL, spamming user mailboxes and chat rooms. In 2010, more than 1.5 million hacker-caused defacement were reported, with even more in 2011. 2011 also marked the return to prominance for many hacker groups, including Anonymous, and Lulz Security, who were responsible for Sony, Fox, HBGary, and the FBI. The recent explosion in hackers can likely be attributed to Attack Tool Kits (ATKs) - widely available software that is designed to exploit security holes in websites.

Classifications

Black Hat

Black hat hackers violate computer security out of malicious intent, or for personal gain. Black hats mainly operate by writing programs which work to damage computer systems and networks. Anti-virus software works to protect against these types of hackers.

White Hat

White hat hackers are often considered to be "ethical hackers". They create computer security programs to help people protect their computers against attacks. While white hats search out computers and computing systems to hack into, after they have found the weakness of the system, they cease hacking activities and inform owners of vulnerabilities they have found. Some people hire white hats in order to seek out potential security problems in their system.

Gray Hat

Gray hat hackers are are a combination of black hats and white hats. If they find a target which they can successfully hack, they often tell the system's administrator that they found a weak point, but rather than disclosing what it is, they often elect to offer to fix the problem for payment. Gray hats often associate themselves with hacking groups, such as L0pht. While in the past, businesses often extended the job to such hackers (especially if this option was cheaper or more convenient), more recently businesses have begun to prosecute instead, leading to a decline in the practice.

Hacktivist

While hackitivists perform the same hacks as other types of hackers, the motivation behind their attacks is different. Hacktivists are individuals who attack with the goal of spreading a political message. Many of their attacks involve web page defacement, where the hacktivists modify pages to display their own political views or messages. Many extremest organizations employ hacktivists in an attempt to further spread their messages.

Cyberterrorist

Cyberterrorists use hacking in an attempt to instill fear into people. Cyberterrorism is a relatively new term for hackers.

Nation States

Nation states have large amounts of computing power at their disposal, which they use to target the military, the financial and utilities sectors, as well as other critical infrastructures.

Script Kiddie

Script kiddies are low level hackers. They usually have limited knowledge of programming, and simply execute programs written by others in an attempt to cause havoc. Script kiddies sometimes join up with each other to create hacking groups, such as LulzSec, because they are able to cause more serious disruptions as a group than they would be able to individually. The term "script kiddie" is thought to be insulting in the hacking world, because it not only suggests having no skills, but also covering up this lack of skills using scripts in programs that others have written.

Packet Monkey

Similar to Script Kiddies, Packet Monkeys are juvenile hackers who perform denial-of-service attacks on websites.

See Also

• Information Ethics
• Information Security
• myg0t
• Online Identity Theft