Hackers : The Threat Of Hackers

In the early days of computing, a hacker was primarily referred to as a computer guru, someone who is extremely technical with a high expertise in computer also known as “Expert Programmers”. Nevertheless, as technology is advancing at a face pace, hacking has adopted a completely different definition. The modern definition is someone who access a computer system primarily to steal or destroy information. Hacking has caused major harm in the realm of technology. Over the years, hackers have become much more lethal in their craft. They manage to break into complex information systems from entities such as banks, government agencies, and private businesses. Furthermore, they often manipulate their victims through social engineering in order to obtain financial benefits. Hackers hold different label such as: black hat hacker and white hat hacker in which all have their own motives.

The goal is to inform the public of the facts about hackers and the influences from pop culture and mainstream media that have changed society’s perception of hackers over time. I will also discuss statistical data about society’s fear of hackers and how it has changed the perception of hackers. If I can convince the readers that hackers are responsible for many of the technological innovations over the last 50 years, it will help me argue my point and hopefully persuade people to reconsider their opinions of hackers. The ultimate goal is to persuade people to redefine their definition of hackers and hope that society will use the correct classifications when reporting about them or describing their character in pop culture, but I would be satisfied if I could just create a platform for the next step on the road to change. One thing that absolutely amazed me was the amount of new information that is created and distributed every year. I learned that it is important to make sure that the message is strong and loud so it will not be lost amongst all the other information. An argument must be clear and maintain focus so that the audience will not become disinterested or

A computer hacker is someone who can break into your computer and steal whatever information you have in your system. All of your private information that you think is safe, is not safe anymore. These hackers can take the

The Internet is undoubtedly one of the most provocative sociological and psychological phenomena. Often the Internet says that it links all those fallen communicators who cannot cope in the real world. Socializing and surfing online space does not pass without leaving a trace. Each user provides information about themselves, sometimes as a condition to be able to access the required application, when consciously accedes to it, sometimes exchanging information with other members of the network, unaware that the network "remembers everything", that data remains deposited even when its removed profile. However, more often we are faced with data theft and identity by criminal hacker groups. Cyber security is a challenge that will have to be resolved

With the dramatic development in the technology of computers and communications, the entire world has certainly benefited a great deal, but the purchase price of computers might also be very expensive. Computer crimes are now becoming very serious problems that are costing as much as billions of dollars. Also, computer crimes are threatening the continuing future of communication, confidentiality, and even the integrity of businesses and organizations.

The social learning theory views hackers as individuals who are socialized into breaking rules through peer-association. A majority of hackers are young and learn from their friends in a type of communal environment. Studies show that this behavior takes place in a distinctive socio-cultural context and “communal” structure. Just like social learning takes place in the terrestrial world, it also takes place in the virtual world. Peer association and social learning in the hacking subculture takes place in both the terrestrial and virtual worlds. In the “terrestrial” world, hackers participate in organized conferenes, such as the annual DEFCON hacker gathering, at which knowledge, tools and tales are exchanged. Chapters of the 2600 hackers organization meet weekly in towns and cities across the US. In “virtual” or online settings, peer groups are formed and

There are also a number of subgroups that you can use to categorize hackers. A ‘Grey Hat’ hacker, is somewhere between a White Hat and a Black Hat. They find vulnerabilities in a company’s network, without their knowledge, and then offers to fix the vulnerabilities for a price. Sometimes the Grey Hat may even disclose the flaw publicly, they will not however use the flaw themselves.

A white hat hacker’s purpose is to discover problems with computer systems thatwill give black hat hackers the opportunity to hack into victims computers. Their purpose is to create better more improved computer systems to prevent this from happening or to catch the black hat hackers. A black hat hacker is a person whose purpose is to steal, destroy or damage their victims. They use the computer system to commit a potential crime to fulfil a self-purpose such as money laundering, drug trafficking, blackmail, terrorism

Hacking is a relatively new technique to describe gaining unauthorized access to a network or computing device. A negative connotation has always been associated with the term. However, in order to catch hackers law enforcement will often reverse engineer the same methods that they use. Hacking has proven to become a major challenge for law enforcement. Device and network intrusions are not easily accomplished. The skills needed to perform a hack requires a succinct knowledge of computers and networking which can take years to fully understand. Society tends to ignore the intricacies of computers and often leave themselves exposed to potential invasions. Since a majority of the public are unaware of protecting themselves, illegal hackers can thrive knowing most people are possible targets.

However, there is a significant portion of culprits aiming for secretive intellectual properties, much more than their Eastern European counterparts, whose goal is profit from toxic malwares (Kshetri 2013). Interestingly, Chinese intrinsic hackers hack for some noble causes such as patriotism, political and communal obligations (Kshetri 2013). Typical Chinese perpetrators are overwhelmingly males working individually. They are young amateurs, mostly 17 to 45 years old, with some still in junior high-school. They use toolkits, botnets predisposed online for petty crimes. Contrast to common belief, most don’t receive good education, usually high-school students, unemployed individuals, low-rank employees or manual workers. Group based cyber crimes, on the other hand, are more complicated. These groups are highly specialized, diversely scattered and horizontally organized. They are tailored to specific task-for-hire such as creating botnets or releasing Trojan malwares. Their members are located across China and work as equal with little to none hierarchical order. The interconnectedness and space-time boundlessness of cyber-world help them expand greatly, even passing through sovereign borders with one incident when Chinese hackers attacked the US conglomerate DuPont somewhere between 2009 and 2010. Due to the wild success of online frauds, many traditional criminal organizations have switched to Internet based operations. Some online groups go further and get backed up by legitimate corporates seeking extra profit under the table (Chan & Wang

“We cannot defend ourselves with a weapon…but we can do this with their cars, homes, bars, brothels and everything else in their possession. It won’t be difficult; we all know who they are and where they are located.” Quoted from an Anonymous member. (Schiller, A.6.) Computer hacking began in the 1950s with an individual looking out for his own personal gains; like free phone calls for instance. The perception of hackers ever since has become very negative. Hacking has evolved over time, with many modern hackers following their own set of values that they believe are, arguably positive motives.

Computer hacking generates a lot of controversy these days. Hacking involves the use of computer skills to penetrate a network or a computer mostly to obtain protected and sensitive information. Computer hackers are generally of two types - white hat hackers and black hat hackers. White hat hackers use their computer skills for constructive purposes while black hat hackers use their skills for nefarious activities. To prosecute black hat hackers, different countries have put in place special IT law provisions.

The internet has millions of networks and websites that require one’s personal information. Each personal account holds a privacy setting that should guarantee confidentiality but that is not always the case. The advances of technology leads to situations that people are unprepared for such as hacking personal data. Some may believe their information is secure online because companies are always improving security. However, society will always be faced with individuals who will want to steal information. Hackers use private information for monetary value and

In this day and age, the risks of cyber-attacks have seemingly become more prevalent through aggressions done by both foreign and domestic terrorists acting out in response towards either religious, political, or financial consciences. These attacks consist of hackers possessing abilities that can alter digital perspectives of banking and also the capability to adjust physical aspect like water systems and even nuclear power plants. The relevance in emphasizing the importance of cyber-security is directly related to the growing number of foreign attacks done unto the American people and how these attacks must be further met by improved security in order to combat cyber termism from causing any more harm. To begin researching on how these attacks may be vanquished, one must first relate back to the source of these strikes− this pertain to either the countries or groups responsible−as well as the effects of these attacks of American lifestyles and the potential human security faults that correlate with them. Lastly, the role in both Government and private business must be looked at as well in order to make sure that the privacy among American citizens and their identity are being handled safely and with the utmost security available in order to counter attacks done by these elite hacking groups.

By the year of 2016, investments in online security are expected to reach $86bn (Contu et al, 2012). Although this might seem a large sum of money, it is considered necessary since there is an increase in online risks from all over the world. Professional hackers develop malware on a global scale and on a 24/7 basis. Hackers have five objectives when spreading malware over the Internet: to infect/distribute, to steal, to persist, to control and for intelligence (Morris, 2010).