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Hacker (computer security)
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In common usage, a hacker is a person who breaks into computers. The subculture that has evolved around hackers is often referred to as the computer underground. Proponents claim to be motivated by artistic and political ends, but are often unconcerned about the use of criminal means to achieve them.
While other uses of the word hacker exist that are not related to computer security (computer programmer and home computer hobbyists), they are rarely used in mainstream context.
Artifacts and customs
The computer underground is heavily dependent on technology.
Discussion
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Encyclopedia
In common usage, a hacker is a person who breaks into computers. The subculture that has evolved around hackers is often referred to as the computer underground. Proponents claim to be motivated by artistic and political ends, but are often unconcerned about the use of criminal means to achieve them.
While other uses of the word hacker exist that are not related to computer security (computer programmer and home computer hobbyists), they are rarely used in mainstream context.
History
Hacking developed alongside Phone Phreaking, a term referred to exploration of the phone network without authorization, and there has often been overlap between both technology and participants.
Bruce Sterling traces the roots of the computer underground to the Yippies, a 1960s counterculture movement which published the Technological Assistance Program newsletter.
Artifacts and customs
The computer underground is heavily dependent on technology. It has produced its own slang and various forms of unusual alphabet use, for example 1337speak. Writing programs and performing other activities to support these views is referred to as hacktivism. Some go as far as seeing illegal cracking ethically justified for this goal; the most common form is website defacement. The computer underground is frequently compared to the Wild West: a male-dominated Frontier to conquer. It is common among hackers to use aliases for the purpose of concealing identity, rather than revealing their real names.
Hacker groups
The computer underground is supported by regular real-world gatherings called hacker conventions or "hacker cons". These have drawn more people every year including SummerCon (Summer), DEF CON, HoHoCon (Christmas), and H.O.P.E.. They have helped expand the definition and solidify the importance of the computer underground.
Hacking and the media
Hacker magazines
The most notable hacker-oriented magazine publications are Phrack and 2600: The Hacker Quarterly. While the information contained in hacker magazines and ezines was often outdated, they improved the reputations of those who contributed by documenting their successes.
Hackers in fiction
Hackers often show an interest in fictional cyberpunk and cyberculture literature and movies. Absorption of fictional pseudonyms, symbols, values, and metaphors from these fictional works is very common.
Books portraying hackers:
Films also portray hackers:
Non-fiction books
Hacker attitudes
Several subgroups of the computer underground with different attitudes and aims use different terms to demarcate themselves from each other, or try to exclude some specific group with which they do not agree. Eric S. Raymond advocates that members of the computer underground should be called crackers. Yet, those people see themselves as hackers and even try to include the views of Raymond in what they see as one wider hacker culture, a view harshly rejected by Raymond himself. Instead of a hacker – cracker dichotomy, they give more emphasis to a spectrum of different categories, such as white hat (“ethical hacking”), grey hat, black hat and script kiddie. In contrast to Raymond, they usually reserve the term cracker to refer to black hat hackers, or more generally hackers with unlawful intentions.
White hat
A white hat hacker breaks security for non-malicious reasons.
This type of hacker enjoys learning and working with computer systems, and consequently gains a deeper understanding of the subject. Such people normally go on to use their hacking skills in legitimate ways, such as becoming security consultants. The word 'hacker' was originally used to describe people such as these.
Grey hat
A grey hat hacker is a hacker of ambiguous ethics and/or borderline legality, often frankly admitted.
Black hat
A black hat hacker is someone who subverts computer security without authorization or uses technology (usually a computer or the Internet) for vandalism (malicious destruction), credit card fraud, identity theft, intellectual property theft, or other types of crime.
Script kiddie
A script kiddie is a non-expert who breaks into computer systems by using pre-packaged automated tools written by others.
Hacktivist
A hacktivist is a hacker who utilizes technology to announce a political message.
Common methods
A typical approach in an attack on Internet-connected system is:
- Network enumeration: Discovering information about the intended target.
- Vulnerability analysis: Identifying potential ways of attack.
- Exploitation: Attempting to compromise the system by employing the vulnerabilities found through the vulnerability analysis.
In order to do so, there are several recurring tools of the trade and techniques used by computer criminals and security experts.
Security exploit
A security exploit is a prepared application that takes advantage of a known weakness.
Vulnerability scanner
A vulnerability scanner is a tool used to quickly check computers on a network for known weaknesses. Hackers also commonly use port scanners. These check to see which ports on a specified computer are "open" or available to access the computer, and sometimes will detect what program or service is listening on that port, and its version number. (Note that firewalls defend computers from intruders by limiting access to ports/machines both inbound and outbound, but can still be circumvented.)
Packet Sniffer
A packet sniffer is an application that captures data packets, which can be used to capture passwords and other data in transit over the network.
Spoofing attack
A spoofing attack involves one program, system, or website successfully masquerading as another by falsifying data and thereby being treated as a trusted system by a user or another program. The purpose of this is usually to fool programs, systems, or users into revealing confidential information, such as user names and passwords, to the attacker.
Rootkit
A rootkit is designed to conceal the compromise of a computer's security, and can represent any of a set of programs which work to subvert control of an operating system from its legitimate operators. Usually, a rootkit will obscure its installation and attempt to prevent its removal through a subversion of standard system security. Rootkits may include replacements for system binaries so that it becomes impossible for the legitimate user to detect the presence of the intruder on the system by looking at process tables.
Social engineering
Social Engineering is the art of getting persons to reveal sensitive information about a system. This is usually done by impersonating someone or by convincing people to believe you have permissions to obtain such information.
Trojan horse
A Trojan horse is a program which seems to be doing one thing, but is actually doing another. A trojan horse can be used to set up a back door in a computer system such that the intruder can gain access later. (The name refers to the horse from the Trojan War, with conceptually similar function of deceiving defenders into bringing an intruder inside.)
Virus
A virus is a self-replicating program that spreads by inserting copies of itself into other executable code or documents. Thus, a computer virus behaves in a way similar to a biological virus, which spreads by inserting itself into living cells.
Worm
Like a virus, a worm is also a self-replicating program. A worm differs from a virus in that it propagates through computer networks without user intervention. Unlike a virus, it does not need to attach itself to an existing program. Many people conflate the terms "virus" and "worm", using them both to describe any self-propagating program.
Key loggers
A keylogger is a tool designed to record ('log') every keystroke on an affected machine for later retrieval. Its purpose is usually to allow the user of this tool to gain access to confidential information typed on the affected machine, such as a user's password or other private data. Often uses virus-, trojan-, and rootkit-like methods to remain active and hidden.
Notable intruders and criminal hackers
Notable Security Hackers
Eric Corley
Eric Corley (also known as Emmanuel Goldstein) is the long standing publisher of 2600: The Hacker Quarterly. He is also the founder of the H.O.P.E. conferences. He has been part of the hacker community since the late '70s.
Fyodor
Gordon Lyon, known by the handle Fyodor, authored the Nmap Security Scanner as well as many network security books and web sites. He is a founding member of the Honeynet Project and Vice President of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility.
Johan Helsingius
Johan "Julf" Helsingius operated the world's most popular anonymous remailer, the Penet remailer (called penet.fi), until he closed up shop in September 1996.
Tsutomu Shimomura
Tsutomu Shimomura is one of the men credited for the capture of Kevin Mitnick, the United States' most infamous computer intruder, in early 1994. He is the co-author of a book about the Mitnick case, Takedown: The Pursuit and Capture of Kevin Mitnick, America's Most Wanted Computer Outlaw-By the Man Who Did It (ISBN 0-7868-8913-6), though Mitnick himself has raised questions about the book's accuracy.
Solar Designer
Solar Designer is the pseudonym of the founder of the Openwall Project.
Michal Zalewski
Michal Zalweski (lcamtuf) is a prominent security researcher.
Related literature
- Code Hacking: A Developer's Guide to Network Security by Richard Conway, Julian Cordingley
See also
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