Hackers
At one time, the term hacker was used to describe someone who was held in respect by other programmers and software developers because of their original and ingenious approaches to solving computer problems. However, today the popular meaning of the term hacker is a person who breaks into systems, deletes and steals data and carries out many other illegal and destructive acts against networks and computers.
A hacker makes use of specialised software tools to break into computer systems that they have no authorisation for. Some of the tools used are:
- Vulnerability Scanner - This tool is used to check for weaknesses in a system that can be exploited by the hacker.
- Port Scanners - This tool is used to find which ports on a computer are open or available to get access to the computer. (The key job of a firewall is to defend these ports). Ports are like invisible doors through which network traffic enters a computer system. In general, each protocol (the rules for communications between computers on networks), is associated with a particular port number; for example, port 25 is reserved for Email - SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) and port 80 is reserved for web pages - HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol). A protocol has many thousands of ports, and a port scanner sends out a request to conect to the target computer on each port and keep a record of which ports respond or seem worthy of further investigation. It has been compared to a thief going through a housing estate, checking every door and window to see which ones have been left open.
- Packet Sniffer - This tool is used to capture TCP/IP data packets, i.e. the packages that are sent over the Internet which contain the data being sent, with the intention of opening the package to see what is inside, e.g. passwords, etc.
Some hackers have become famous in the computer security world and in some cases have been offered jobs to help improve Internet security. There is even a company which offers courses and certificates in Ethical Hacking (sometimes known as White Hat Hacking) for people who want to work in this area. Hackers who work for their own personal gain are known as black hat hackers. The good guys and the bad guys.
 To Do: |
- Find out in your group about some of the most famous (or infamous) hackers. Create a presentation listing the exploits of 3 white hat hackers and 3 black hat hackers. There is a big case concerning a British hacker ongoing right now, as you will know. Will this person make your list? Mention what they did, what happened to them and what they are doing now. (You should notice in your research that most of the famous hackers appear to be male - why no ladies)?
- Round off the presentation with a comparison of white hat and black hat hackers - your opinion. Some compare hackers with high tech, super spies, such as potrayed by Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible. Others potray them as Billy-No-Mates with nothing better to do. Where does your team stand on the matter?
- Now, as a group, present your slideshow to the class.
- Click here to see if you can fend off the hackers.
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