As you have likely already considered, there are a number of reasons why someone might want to gain access to your computer system including stealing your credit information or identifying information like birth date and Social Security Number or viewing your web browsing history and behaviors. As well, it is possible to use victim computers as routers for illegal or unsolicited material such as spyware, adware, spam, and viruses.
A hacker is widely known as someone with superior computer programming skills. Hacking can be done for good or for evil. White hat hackers are the good guys, and generally put their skills towards strengthening security software and vulnerabilities in operating systems; black hat hackers are those who have gone over to the dark side and use their powers to their own advantage.
There are a number of ways that a hacker or Internet vandal can gain access to your computer, most often by taking advantage of a weakness in the system’s security. To find a vulnerable system, hackers use a remote device to contact either one target computer repeatedly, or a large number of computers at random, to find a connection from their modem to the modem of the target. Computers that are run with constant connections like high speed DSL are scanned by IP address until a vulnerability and connection can be found. The use of a router acts as a firewall, skewing the IP address, and reduces risk of connection.
Somewhat ironically, the scanning devices and modem searches that hackers use to find and infiltrate vulnerable systems are available online for download. Other similar programs that hackers use to access sensitive information can even read information as it is being sent between systems, from one computer to another. While hackers are rarely sensitive to the people whose computers they raid, they are generous with each other and post the IP addresses of computers that are either vulnerable to attack or have been ‘backdoored’ by a trojan and are open for hacking. Once a trojan is opened on a computer, usually by an email attachment or other download that the user unknowingly accepts, the malicious code establishes a ‘backdoor’ through which the hacker, or potentially hackers, can get into the system, all without the users knowledge.
Depending on the operating system, hackers then seek out known weaknesses. Some weaknesses are insecure systems that do not require passwords to access system preferences and administrative controls, or security software without the latest updates and patches that will not detect or identify a new worm or virus. Once in the system, the hackers can create administrative accounts and use the computer by remote access without detection.
Another type of hack intends to take control of as many computers as possible and use them collectively to launch a destructive attack, like a virus, through the Internet. By connecting to enough computers, the hacker can issue a virus through them simultaneously with one command. Ensuring that you keep both your operating system and your security program up to date with the latest updates and patches reduces your risk of being a target of hackers.
Kate Dubensky | July 16th, 2008
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