| What is a Hacker? Hackers, crackers, script kiddies. It used to be that the term 'hacker' was a compliment for someone who had superior computer skills. The media grabbed a hold of the name and confused hackers with 'crackers.' A cracker is someone who exploits security holes in systems and uses them to their own advantage. A 'script kiddie' is someone who isn't as skilled as a cracker and relies on scripts, or tools created by other people to do their damage. How do they manage to hack into systems? When a cracker or a script kiddie gets into a system it's usually because someone's left a door open for them. They will find systems where security patches have not been installed; where antivirus software is out of date, or not running; where firewalls are not being utilized properly. Some use software that they've written or managed to obtain from other sources to gain access to systems. They can set up a program to try out millions of combinations of passwords until one is accepted. Or they can set up a 'sniffer' to check data or find sensitive information. They can use the information they gather to penetrate deeper into the system or network they are attacking. A third method of gaining access is called 'social engineering.' It's a favourite in particular of the script kiddies. In most cases it is simple trickery to get users to reveal their passwords. By pretending to be an official who needs to access a system, they will bully, browbeat, sweet-talk, or otherwise con a user into giving them access. What can they do once they're in a system? Once a cracker has gotten access to your computer there are many things they will be able to do: - Read your files
- Use your computer to hack into other computers
- Send commands to your computer
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