Computer Hacking - Research Paper Example

?Running Head: Hacking Hacking [Institute’s Executive Summary Information technology has facilitated the shrinking of the globeinto a global village where access to almost everything is not more than a matter of click. Knowledge is a very powerful element, which can allow man to conquest problems and internet – the marvel of knowledge has made the life of humankind simpler than ever before. With the advent of technological era, a whole lot of problems have arrived. One of them is hacking. This is due to rise in modern behavior of transactions through internet. The main purpose of the report is to carry out an extensive study about hacking, its perspectives, its evolution, the causes, and the ways of prevention. The report very well describes the importance of hacking and portrays that it can play a major role in the security of home as well as office systems and networks. It also reflects how the meaning of hacking has transformed over the years. The report also gives a brief discussion about how the prevention of hacking of systems can take place. In addition, the discussion continues with the benefit that a hacker can have from the left over or un-patched loopholes. Since myths and truth have a very sleek difference between each other, therefore, users often mix up both the ideas related to computer security and hacking. Every phenomenon has two perspectives; likewise, nowadays hacking can be for either maintaining security or tampering with the security. Due to lack of awareness amongst the users, hackers can easily access the information from one’s system, but a set of solutions for preventing this enormity is present. TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 INTRODUCTION 3 History of hacking 5 Famous stories of Hacking 6 COMMON MYTHS ABOUT HACKING AND HACKERS 8 DIFFERENCES IN TYPES OF HACKING 10 Ethical- Cyber security 10 Unethical-Computer Crimes 10 DEFENDING AND SAFEGUARDING NETWORKS 11 Home Network 12 Office Network 13 WHY HACKERS ARE SUCCESSFUL - VULNERABILITIES THEY EXPLOIT 14 CONCLUSION 15 REFERENCES 15 INTRODUCTION The twentieth century that is the scientific era has totally revolutionized man’s life. Man’s insatiable thirst for more has contributed commendably to his advancement. Since the dawn of civilization, he has sought to find ways and alternatives to ease work. The invention of the wheel was the beginning and since then he has come a long way. One of the major technological innovations of humankind is computers and internet. Together with the benefits brought by this technology, steps in a package of problems have arrived, are not welcomed and hacking is one of them. Hacking has accelerated as a white-collar crime that is not overstated; it has gone way beyond its expectations. According to Webster’s Definition, hacker is “an expert at programming and solving problems with a computer” (Webster, 2003). The other definition of hacker by Webster is “a person who illegally gains access to and sometimes tampers with information in a computer system” (Webster, 2003). Hacking is a process where an individual/hacker with specialized skills in computer and has expertise in computer programming, can enter in any computer system to thieve a portion of information or perform alterations to wipe out the original data present in the system. One achieves the access to other’s system without the owner’s permission. On the other end of the spectrum, a hacker plays a positive role in the world of technology, as he is an expert who deals with innumerable computer problems in order to solve them and bring benefit to the owner. This individual abide by the ethics as he may rejoice in getting through one’s system but does not steal or make any changes to the original information. Hacking is a process whereby an individual known as hacker who is a specialist of computer skills, unofficially breaks other’s systems using technical ways. Hackers have both the perspective, good and bad. Many jumble up the idea of hacking with cracking. While hackers are the individuals that cause no harm to computer systems, crackers have an intention to steal the information stored. For instance, multi-nationals and many government agencies hire hackers with an objective of protecting their complicated security systems from any kind of mishap. Hackers protect the systems from the attack of crackers who use their computer knowledge to invade the security systems and cross the limit of access so that they can play with the existing data. Due to increasing mass media influence, the process of hacking has come under an impression of criminal activity (Tavani, 2009). History of hacking The concept of hacking dates back to hundreds of decades. Controversies surround the initial use of the word hacker in the field of technology. A group of students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) initiated the concept of hacking that they used as slang. This concept came into existence around 1960s. It came under determination to enhance the current performance of electronic gadgets by altering its mechanism. These students applied this phenomenon on electric trains to carry out their research. The idea then kept on spreading amongst other students inside and outside MIT (Meyer & Casco, 2002). The decade of 1970 experienced a different angle/phase of hacking. It appeared as phone hacking where the hackers introduced a way to make phone calls free of cost. A genius named John Draper used a whistle to discover a technique of dialing overseas call. With this technique, he made a tool called ‘blue box’. When this discovery came under publicity explaining the guidelines of constructing this unique box, the idea of selling it struck the minds of two young people who started their business in collaboration of trading these boxes. The outcome of this business ultimately resulted in the formation of a well-known company of today’s time – Apple (Meyer & Casco, 2002). By the 1980’s the phone hackers extended their domain of work to computers due to the rapidly increasing demand and use of computers by that time. An introduction of system that worked as search engine groups such as yahoo groups of today’s era where anyone can upload information related to any subject. This system came under identification as Bulletin Board Systems (BBS). BBS was a system that provided sufficient information about hacking, which the hackers used to get into any computer to rob personal information such as credit card details or computer passwords, in order to perform an act of fraud. It was later realized in the late 1980s that computer hacking is posing a great threat to security at government and national levels, therefore, American government passed an act related to computer deception. It was then hacking became an executive crime. This was the phase in which crackers and hackers played different roles (Meyer & Casco, 2002). The decade of 1990 was facing a technological boom, which was an advantage for the hackers to carry out their practices at a rampant pace. Mass media played a critical role in creating the awareness about hacking amongst the masses, therefore the computer security became the matter of utmost importance for every individual (Meyer & Casco, 2002).. Innumerable enormities surround people in the twenty-first century, which includes several forms of crime including cyber-crime, which is a broad term given to the creations of hackers. With the ever-growing viruses and worms of internet, one needs to think constantly about the strict measures to curb the effects on the systems. Nowadays, the difference between hackers and crackers has eliminated and both have the same motives. The meaning of hacker has transformed over the last two decades. In the past a person who was intelligent enough to play with the mechanism of electronic machines in such a way that it’s use went beyond the limits in a positive way, has now used the same principles in a negative manner and made him a part of the criminal activities forum (Meyer & Casco, 2002). Famous stories of Hacking The incidents of hacking have come under witness across the globe throughout the history. A few major events highlighted below are: When the concept of hacking came under application to computers, First National Bank of Chicago became one of the major targets of hacking. This bank experienced a robbery of $ 70 million through hacking in the year 1988. Since all the money transactions such as amount of money credited or debited from the account, payment of bills etc., happened through internet and computers, therefore bank’s system was like a treasure box for a hacker. The hacking came under performance by a group of seven hackers through a plan that involved transfer of money through wire. The withdrawal of money occurred from three separate accounts in different proportions. $25.37 million (Cross, 2007) from Merrill Lynch and Company account, $25 million from the account of United Airlines, and $19.75 million (Cross, 2007) from Brown-Forman Corporation account came under robbery. The money then collectively went through the process of transfer to two banks in Vienna via a bank in New York. Telephone was the medium used to confirm transaction by the hackers and the request of transaction came under verification by the bank. Later, it came under identification that all the three transactions were a part of the theft and the hackers came under arrest by the cops. The hackers bypassed the telephone calls from the bank to the house of one of the suspects of the case, through which it became easy to trace them out (Cross, 2007). Another story that reflects the incident of hacking occurred during 2001 - 2002. It involved a person of British nationality who hacked more than 100 U.S. networks including the networks of military, government, and commercial. U.S. officials identified McKinnon as the hacker who was a 36 year old, unemployed person from Britain (Cross, 2007). The U.S. government accused him seven times for committing computer crimes. This person intruded 92 computers that was the property of Pentagon, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, NASA and other U.S. multi-national corporations. During this hacking, McKinnon (Cross, 2007) installed the hacking tools inside the network and with the help of remote administration copied the private data from the systems. Once he got the information and passwords, he removed the user accounts and other important files. This event surprisingly resulted in a closing of the network of military servers for few days. According to sources, the overall impact that this hacker left was not only the loss of $900,000 approximately but also messed up with the crucial and significant information and files (Cross, 2007). COMMON MYTHS ABOUT HACKING AND HACKERS Myth is a very common word used by humans to describe ancient beliefs about different aspects of world and life in the form of stories, which is not a complete truth. Myths are also associated with hacking and hackers. One of the common myths that people believe in, related to email hacking is when people think that their email account can be hacked if they visit an unknown link sent by any person from their email address book or a stranger. The other concept in the same context is that if one reads the blogs or sites of an unknown person, it may lead to hacking of their email accounts, although, this is not true, as there are many secure ways of internet browsing (Klevinsky, Laliberte, & Gupta, 2002). Another myth that people consider is that if anyone knows the IP address of the other user, it means that he can hack the other person’s system, although it is not true. It is because IP address reflects the identity of one person in machine language to give each individual a separate and specific identity (Klevinsky, Laliberte, & Gupta, 2002). Many of the computer users believe that their systems do not contains any information that can be useful for a person who can hack their system. This cannot prove to be true as one’s system can hold personal and private information that a hacker may be looking for. Private and personal data such as your bank account details, credit card numbers, social security particulars, and resume that comprises of your address, name and contact information, is always of immense importance as it can be used in any sort of illegal activities (Klevinsky, Laliberte, & Gupta, 2002). Furthermore, people have an untrue image that hackers only target computer systems of work places and are not interested in hacking the computers at home because one performs all the activities such as emailing and gaming on home computers. However, hackers cannot get a simpler system to get through than a home computer and they are supposed to be the major targets of the hackers. On the other hand, large organizations with sophisticated, highly advanced technologies with high-security programs make them less likely for hacking. Through Broadband connections, hackers get an easier path to enter into one’s system because this connection provides with a fixed IP address that is a piece of cake for hacker to search (Klevinsky, Laliberte, & Gupta, 2002). Besides all these, another myth that people possess is that they are safe from hackers and hacking if they use a dial-up network for internet connection. People have this perception because while using dial-up connection IP address does not remains static and keeps on varying continuously. Still, hackers have a way to access these systems. Through some internet viruses, hackers get into one’s computer and keeps an eye over each move of the user (Klevinsky, Laliberte, & Gupta, 2002). As Windows-based operating system is most users friendly compared to other operating systems such as Macintosh and UNIX, therefore, users of other OS have an impression that they are much secure than those of Windows users. Conversely, this is false as for a hacker it does not matter which OS is used by the user, what he is interested in is hacking as they have an access to hacking tools present on internet (Klevinsky, Laliberte, & Gupta, 2002). It is a myth that antivirus can save the people’s systems from being hacked. Although outdated antivirus software poses constant threat to the computer from new viruses that can enter the system through internet. Therefore, it is compulsory to update the antivirus software on regular basis. In addition, one’s computer is always at a risk, as antivirus software cannot detect the hackers at all time, for which, the user needs a firewall to protect their systems (Klevinsky, Laliberte, & Gupta, 2002). DIFFERENCES IN TYPES OF HACKING There are two sides of every aspect; likewise hacking also has a good and a bad reflection. One cannot neglect the media’s role in creating a bad image of hackers, as media is the biggest source of influence on the multitudes. Acts of hackers are legal and part of ethical cyber security. On the other hand, the face as portrayed by the media is of unethical cyber crime, which the crackers do. Ethical- Cyber security Terms such as Ethical hacking, cyber security, and White Hat hacking have the same meaning. The company hires an expert to secure the networks mainly at work places is called a Hacker. Hacking involves the professionals who are specialist in computer mechanism, computer programming, security regulation, and maintenance. Due to their absurd interest and eagerness to gain the knowledge of accessing one’s system, they get through it using their legal rights that government gives them. They use this knowledge to secure the security information of organizations or elsewhere, hence one performs hacking to protect the infrastructure of the network (Council, 2010). Unethical-Computer Crimes Unethical hacking, computer crimes, and Black Hat hacking are the terms used in the same context. The person who commits these crimes comes under the category of Cracker. Cracking involves criminal actions such as intruding one’s system, tampers with the information present, stealing of personal or private data, thus, causing a chronic effect. Crackers lack expertise in their domain and does not possess the capability to formulate their own piece of work; therefore, they get themselves involved in computer crimes or cracking for valuable rewards mainly in the form of money or with a perspective of causing harm/mischief. These people do not have any concern neither with the security nor with the crises that the company/user may face as the result of unethical cyber crimes (Pfleeger & Lawrence, 2003). DEFENDING AND SAFEGUARDING NETWORKS With the technological advancements, one of its major components is computer networks, which evolved around thirty years back. Until the end of twentieth century, it was not in frequent use in houses. Since the advent of the twenty-first century its usage in household computers has risen. Today, one can find numerous households using home networking across the U.S. and other countries universally. A network is “a group of interconnected (via cable and/or wireless) computers and peripherals that is capable of sharing software and hardware resources between many users” (McClure, Scambray, & Kurtz, 2002). Networking is widely used in offices and is becoming more popular in home as well. Network that is not in protection completely can create problems for the user as the hackers can easily get access to the stored private and confidential materials. Through the access to the personal information of the user, hacker can perform any sort of illegal or unofficial activities by using the user’s details; this can result in charging users for the actions or crimes that he has not committed. Additionally, through the access of the network that the hackers have, they can exploit the facility of downloading as they may go beyond the limit provided to the user by the Internet Service Provider (ISP) (McClure, Scambray, & Kurtz, 2002). Home Network Home network is a technique through which the data stored in files, hardware devices such as printers, scanners, TV etc, software like CD burners, game system and internet connectivity can come under mutual use for all users. The sharing of information between the users in home network is more efficient as less time consuming. With the home network, users get the chance to enjoy applications such as multi-player online and offline games. Computer networking increase the tendency to be at risk due to sharing of resources, thus, it becomes uncomplicated for a hacker to break through one’s system. Due to the fast development in technology, networking has also improved its methods of becoming more secure (McClure, Scambray, & Kurtz, 2002). With all the threats that a home computer network can have, preventive measures are also available to make the network safe. A user should be particular when setting a password for its system. Password should consist of more than seven characters, having a unique combination and should avoid using common words or characters referring to personal information; otherwise, it becomes easy for a hacker to presume it correctly. Firewall is another measure through which home systems can come under protection. Through firewall settings, one can easily keep an eye over the events related to internet connections. It also provides users to keep a high security in firewalls that will keep the user more protected and will be difficult for the hacker to enter into your system. Routers are also one of the important hardware devices that creates problem for hacker to make a way into the system. Enabling the option of encryption is of high importance and it is advisable to set an uncommon administrator password. It is better to switch off the router device when internet is not in use for a long time, as it will secure the private information from the hacker (McClure, Scambray, & Kurtz, 2002). Anti-Virus software is another mean to make the system protected as it removes the harmful viruses and worms that may destroy the systems. User should run scans time to time to remove all the destructive aliments; however, it is important to have only one antivirus to prevent slowing down the system. Web browser settings is also one of the ways through which user can protect its system. It is recommendable to disable options like cookies and java applications so that viruses are halt from entering into your system through the internet (McClure, Scambray, & Kurtz, 2002). Office Network Office network is a system where not only the ERP systems or other software are interconnected but the information stored in files and hardware such as printers are also in sharing between the computers. Through the highly secured network, the transfers and sharing of information comes under authorization. Although the security is on high alert, still there is a chance of hacking. To protect the office network, preventive steps can come under action. If a network consists of a central server connected to other workstations it needs high protection and security, else any problem such as hacking and manipulation of information in the server may lead to shutdown of the whole network along with the loss of important data. Therefore, measures like strong antivirus, firewall protection, and router protection along with the complete backup from time to time are essential. Another problem may occur when either all the packages or applications of the network do not comes under installation or over installation of server applications is done in any organization. Hence, it is advisable to consult an expert of the related field to have guidance about the application installations to avoid the hacker to enter into the systems via any hole. Furthermore, if patching of the system comes under protection inefficiently, the network becomes vulnerable for the attacker to get through the system. In addition, the system needs frequent changing of passwords, which if performed regularly lead to greater security of the servers and low probability for hackers to hack (Kenneth, 2007). WHY HACKERS ARE SUCCESSFUL - VULNERABILITIES THEY EXPLOIT The success of hackers will lead to the destruction of networks and computer systems, which is conducive to devastating effects. Therefore, it is important to point out the lacking in one’s system. Recent studies (McClure, Scambray, & Kurtz, 2009) have verified that systems nowadays are more likely to come under attack. When an individual or an organization thinks about securing their system, they ignore that the fact that hackers can use hardware like routers to steal the information. Through the hacking of a router, the intruder makes the user switch to the false website that is a replica of the existing site created by the hacker. Once the user logs in, the hacker thieves the user’s login details, diverts him to the fake site, and takes all the required information (McClure, Scambray, & Kurtz, 2009). When one does not consider the settings related to internet connections of prime importance, it could pose serious threats afterwards. If the settings are not appropriate, the local network and internet become more likely when attacked by the hacker (McClure, Scambray, & Kurtz, 2009). One of the loopholes that a hacker can make use of is the services provided with the network that a user thinks that he comes under security and does not pay attention to the hidden potentials of future threats. As soon as user starts using the internet, he realizes that he had a fake impression of security for the services that have the tendency to be hacked via internet (McClure, Scambray, & Kurtz, 2009). Home computers fall prey to attackers easily due to the reason that hackers are interested in the private and personal information that is present in the computer. Since users set poor, shorter, and common passwords, therefore it is easy for hackers to get to it (McClure, Scambray, & Kurtz, 2009). CONCLUSION Technology has rapidly grown throughout the past centuries and has left an indelible impact on every facet of human life. Where the good has come under experience, the adversities have also crept in as an outcome. Computer and internet are not less than a blessing of human intellect and technology, but people have manipulated with its mechanism resulting in hacking. The concept of hacking has come under a change over many years and the good became the bad and then ugly. The history provided with information that gives the reflection of this change cycle. The past stories of hacking gives a clear view of the frauds that can happen under this phenomenon. People have many misconceptions about the security of computers, thus they have confused themselves with myth and the truth. Nowadays, two types of hacking are in a limelight, namely the ethical and unethical as discussed in the report. Hackers are clever enough to identify the weaknesses in one’s system and take the benefit out of it. However, there are preventive measures, which, if used can make the system much secure. Every problem has a solution; it is just the individual, who has to identify it. REFERENCES Council, EC. (2010). Ethical Hacking and Countermeasures: Linux, Macintosh and Mobile Systems. Nelson Education Ltd. Cross, Michael. (2007). Developer's guide to web application security. Syngress Publishing, Inc   Kenneth, E. H. (2007). Internet security: hacking, counterhacking, and society. Jones and Barlett Publishers. Klevinsky, T, Laliberte, S., Gupta, A. (2002). Hack I.T.: security through penetration testing. Pearson Education, Inc. McClure, S., Scambray, J., Kurtz, G. (2009). Hacking exposed 6: network security secrets & solutions. The McGraw-Hill Companies. McClure, Stuart, Scambray, Joel, Kurtz, George. (2002). Web hacking: attacks and defense. Pearson Education, Inc. Meyer, G., Casco, S. (2002). Hack proofing ColdFusion. Syngress Publishing, Inc P. Pfleeger, C., Lawrence P. (2003). Security in computing. Pearson Education, Inc. Tavani, H. T. (2009). Ethics and Technology: Controversies, Questions, and Strategies for Ethical. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Webster, Merriam. (2003). 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