Computer Hacking Laws: Are These Laws Really Effective?

The news said that another person had their identity stolen. It happened again. You might even know of someone that had it happen to them. We often hear of percentages - and they are surprisingly high.
Enforcement is taking place, but we have to wonder if computer hacking laws are really having any effect against cyber hacking. This article will show what is being done against cyber crime.
Defining Cyber Crime
Hacking has a rather simple definition to it. Basically it is defined as the unauthorized use of a computer - especially when it involves attempting to circumvent the security measures of that computer, or of a network.

Hacking is not difficult to learn. Unfortunately, it may be too easy for someone that has a little time on his hands. This becomes especially obvious when it is found that a number of the hackers, at least those that are caught, are often only in their teens.

Beyond this, there are two basic types of hacking. Some only hack because they want to see if they can do it - it is a challenge to them. For others, however, it becomes an attack, and they use their unauthorized access for destructive purposes. Hacking occurs at all levels and at all times - by someone, for some reason. It may be a teen doing it to gain peer recognition, or, a thief, a corporate spy, or one nation against another.
Effectiveness of Computer Hacking Laws
Like any other law, the effectiveness must be determined by its deterrence. While there will always be those that want to see if they can do it, and get away with it (any crime), there are always the many more who may not do something if they are aware of its unlawfulness - and possible imprisonment.

In the early 1990's, when hacker efforts stopped AT&T communications altogether, the U.S. Government launched its program to go after the hackers. This was further stepped up when government reports (by the GAO) indicate that there have been more than 250,000 attempts to hack into the Defense Department computers. First there were the laws - now came the bite behind it. One of the effects of computer hacking brought about focused efforts to catch them and punish them by law.

Then, more recently, the U.S. Justice Department reveals that the National Infrastructure Protection Center has been created in order to protect our major communications, transportation and technology from the attack of hackers. Controlling teens and hackers has become the focus of many governmental groups to stop this maliciousness against individuals, organizations, and nations.

How Many Modes of protection from hacking

Modes of protection from hacking

There are most widespread means of account-hacking and ways to prevent them.

The Password-theft
Strange though, most often the account-theft happens because the player himself informs the malefactor of his access-data. You may have given your login and password to your friend whom you have quarreled afterwards. The offended friend can steal your character or hand over access-data to someone another.

Though in internet or in our game it is easy to make virtual friends, you should beware of them. Consider isn’t someone trying to gain your confidence in order to get the data concerning your account?

Sometimes a malefactor addresses to the player on behalf of an official of support service. Remember that the real official of support service would never ask you to tell your password, so ignore such requests.

If you play in a public place (game club or internet-café) ensure that nobody is standing behind you while you are entering your password and always disable the access to your computer while you are off for some time.

The hacking of e-mail box or account on the other site
The malefactor can make an attempt to hack your e-mail box. Getting an access to your e-mail, he would use the “New password” page of our site and intercept the message with password-replacement reference and you’ll be left with nothing.

Unfortunately, often it is far easier to hack the e-mail box than our game-server. Therefore use only approved and trustworthy mail services and never hand over the access-data to your e-mail. We also recommend despite the time-economy not to save the password and always type it and login entering the system.

When you register on the other sites don’t use as login or password your game-data, it also concerns unofficial sites of AWplanet and clan-sites. Not so much because of possible malicious intent of site-keepers as because their security measures might be noticeably poorer than our.

The Password fitting
Some malefactors fit the passwords to accounts that are of interest to them by sorting out. We have the protection from such actions on our site, but the possibility of fitting password and login still remains. And the more he knows about the easier to him would be to find out the data.

In order to minimize the risk do not reveal your account-name to anyone (it shouldn’t coincide with your character name) and use complicated password, which is difficult to fit. Some ideas to invent a difficult password:

Alternate capital and lower-case letters in random order
Use figures instead of letters – e.g. “3” instead of “E” and “1” instead of “I”
Try to type some word with the keyboard layout of other language. e.g. Russian word “Pезультат” will look like “Htpekmnfn”
The ideal password is a random sequence of figures and letters, e.g. 8EHnL4K8

The trojan program
The trojan program is another way to steal your account. Yielding the stranger’s promises you download and launch some useful utility or mini-game. That is the “trojan” settles into action and is able to send any kind of your data to the malefactor or change your game-password. Not to catch up a “trojan” perform the following recommendations:

Do not download and activate the programs from sites that are unknown to you.
Install an antivirus program and update it regularly.
Check on the content of viruses all the downloaded from internet programs.

There are some popular programs which would help you to protect your computer:

The Doctor Web antivirus – http://www.drweb.ru
The AVP antivirus – http://www.avp.ru
The Firewall-program ZoneAlarm – http://www.zonealarm.com
The AdAware program which detects “trojans” and spy-programs – http://www.lavasoft.com

The hacking of computer
The malefactor may hack your computer. His aim is to get some personal data that are stored on your hard disc. He may reach his aim by using the hole in your operating system.

To get into your computer the malefactor must know your IP-address. Each computer connected with internet has its own unique IP-address. It looks like 152.168.0.15. Your IP-address may be revealed if you use programs like ICQ or IRC, launch clients of P2P-nets. Knowing your IP-address, hacker can get an access to the files through the security-hole in your system. To avoid this keep the following recommendations:

Download and install your operating system updates regularly
Install firewall-program which would disable the access to your computer from internet
Allow access only for those applications that your trust completely
For the game you should open of the following ports: 21, 80, 443 or 2049
Don’t leave your computer on for a long time (e.g. during the night)
Otherwise your put it under a threat of consecutive hack

Some hackers scan all the computers throughout on the presence of security-holes and infect them with viruses and trojan programs, the more a computer is in internet, the bigger a risk of infection.

Restrict the net-access to your computer, don’t enable access to catalogs and especially to hard discs.
IP-address protection

In favor of security we recommend to install the IP-address protection. It means that access to the game and site would be permitted only from those IP-addresses that you install. To install this protection use the “IP-address protection” page. Here you can enter from one to four pairs of “IP-address/masks” which correspond to the addresses of computers by which you enter the game or site.

The IP-address of your computer may be changed and you won’t be able to enter the game. After any attempt of access from “dangerous” IP-addresses you’ll get on your e-mail a message with reference to the page on which you can change the protection-settings. This page can be used only by you yourself, the malefactor wouldn’t get on it.

If you are sure that you yourself were entering from the “dangerous” IP-address, add to the IP-address list and continue the game. If you suspect that an attempt of account-hacking took place immediately inform the support service. And, please, do not forget to indicate the IP-address involved in attempt.

How To Avoid Computer Viruses?

Computer viruses are as old as the personal computer. So, in order to prevent computer viruses, every PC user needs to acquire determined computer skills. For example, how to install programs, make software upgrades, configure a firewall or how to setup an anti-spyware program.
All of these skills will help you avoid computer viruses. However, if we want to fight our enemy effectively, we need to know what it is.
What Is A Computer Virus?
A computer virus is a software program that has been created by a human. The intention of the virus is to cause chaos and destruction to the computer. Although most of the cases it is limited to the software, there have been some instances in which a virus had damaged a piece of hardware.

Fortunately, hardware damage is very scarce. The only way in which a virus could damage a piece of equipment is by exploiting a glitch in the programming. For example, it could slow down the speed of the processor's fan. That way the processor overheats and melts down.
How To Prevent Computer Viruses
How can we prevent computer viruses is the big question that millions of users make everyday. The first rule in this eternal battle for computer security is to have an up-to-date antivirus. Notice the word up-to-date. That means that your antivirus software needs to be updated every day. Viruses are always appearing, so do not sub estimate them. In less than 24 hours your antivirus could be obsolete.

The next important rule is still related to actualizations. Although you may have your antivirus updated, that doesn't mean that there are other weaknesses in your system. As a matter of fact, there isn't an unbreachable computer. Even the most expensive system can be cracked by an expert.

So, it doesn't matter if you have a guardian dog tied at the front entrance of your house if your windows are open. That's why the rest of your software needs to be updated. The first piece of software that needs to be actualized is the operating system.

Almost eighty percent of the world uses Microsoft software. Hence, it is the favorite victim of black hat hackers. Configure your Windows configuration so it can make automatic actualizations that can prevent computer viruses.

The same thing goes for productivity software like Microsoft Office or even entertainment software like computer games. All software is under constant changes once it is delivered into the market. Consider the millions of possible configurations that a computer program needs to affront once it is introduced.

Is My Computer Safe From Hackers

Is A Hacker Is Using Your Computer

A good friend of mine called me one day and told me his computer was running particularly slow and the odd thing was it was worse in the evening. I took a look at his computer and found that someone had got into it and was storing large (I mean Large) amounts of Pornography, Stolen Software, Music and Videos, on it. Most "Hackers" are not looking to do something to your computer that you will immediately be aware of. They are looking for what is called "staging areas" where they can store things for distribution or later use. Can you imagine how my friend felt once I showed him what was on his computer! This happens all the time. There are organizations out there who are paid by the Entertainment Industry, the Government, and other institutions who are looking for this type of issue. If they locate these things on your computer, trying to prove that you had nothing to do with it could be a pretty difficult thing to do.

Are My Computers Safe From Hackers? 

The meaning of the term "HACKER" has really changed over the years.  Early on anyone who was considered a "HACKER" was someone who new the intricate workings of computers and various technology.  Someone who was considered to be a guru at what they did whether it be a programmer who wrote software or someone who knew everything there was to know about a particular Operating System.  These day's the moment someone hears the word "HACKER" it conjures up many thoughts and images.  Some people imagine a teenager sitting home writing programs to break into business computers or their school.  Others may imagine someone who attempts to access online computer systems such as Banks or Stores to commit fraud and make off with millions of dollars.  The fact is, all the above are pretty much true images of a HACKER.  It just depends on who it applies to!

What Can Hackers Do?

A few years back I'm sure we all remember hearing or reading about what websites were defaced that given week.  This in itself can be embarrassing for the website owner and was very prevalent.  It's not that this sort of thing does not happen anymore but it is eclipsed but the more serious things that take place.  Banks being defrauded by unscrupulous employees, Online Stores having their patrons credit card information ripped off, and a host of other more serious actions.
The reality is that as network systems become more complex and widespread, the opportunities for those who wish to compromise or HACK computers become much greater.  Take a look at this Threat and Trend graphic.  It will layout just a few entry points and opportunities for hackers!
As a home or small business computer user there are many ways you could be at risk.  Many people store their financial information on their computers using a simple spreadsheet or document, or maybe something like Quicken / QuickBooks accounting.  Many people store all their logins and passwords in plain text documents on their computers.  How many people store information regarding their medical conditions on their computers.  Computers are there to make our lives more simple and provide us with a means to store all of our most important information.  What if this information were in the hands of someone else?  What could happen;

• Is it possible for someone to assume my identity if they access the above information;
• Can someone find out what all of my logins and passwords are;
• As a business owner do I need to be concerned about corporate fraud;
• Is it possible for a hacker to steal my companies intellectual property;
• Can an unauthorized person access my company's sales information including clients and prospects;
• And, as a home user, or small business owner, could I be held liable for something someone else does with my computer?

The answer to all the above is, yes!  If your computers are not properly configured, kept up-to-date with patches, or secured against the most common types of attacks you are at risk!
Take a look at the following Threat Spectrum to get an idea of the potential risks!
There are new vulnerabilities for computers found almost everyday.  If you are not diligent in keeping your computers up to date and secured you can expect (it's just a matter of time), that in one way or another your system will be compromised.
Over the years, we have seen just about everything under the sun when performing small, medium, or large computer security assessments;

• Home computers being used to relay information and stolen software;
• Business computers being used to store stolen software as well as distributing it;
• Employees using their work computers to run businesses such as pornography sites;
• Ex-employees still accessing their work computers because of the lack of security;
• People trying to extort or intimidate others using information they gathered from unsecured computers;
• The potential for civil and criminal legal action against users for participating in malicious tasks;

and that's just to name a few of the things we have seen!
Don't underestimate what can happen to you.  Human beings are very risk adverse however we are also very bad at determining the real risks.  Many people are afraid to fly in planes but have no qualms about climbing up a 10 foot later to change old ceiling fan without cutting the electricity first. You have more of a chance climbing that ladder, getting shocked, falling and breaking your neck than going down on a plane. This seems to apply to many methods of analyzing risks.
Think about this. In testing where we placed out-of-the-box computers on the Internet it takes approximately 15 to 30 minutes before it's hacked or compromised in some way or another.

How Do Hackers Do it?

Although this section of this article could be a book in itself (and will be), hackers have many tools available to them to perform their tasks.  Many of these tools are available free on the Internet.  You just need to know what you are looking for and where to look for it.
When hackers find new ways to break into computers or defeat certain security measures they will often write automated tools they can then use and distribute to other hackers.  Again, many of these tools are available on the Internet and just about anyone can use them.
In many cases, because of the lack of security, many hackers don't need special tools to access your computer.  The Operating System and the commands that are available may be all the hacker needs to remotely access your computer.
Remember, although it is not possible to configure most systems to be 100% secure, there are many steps that you can take, some simple and others drastic, to create a deterrence.  Hackers, unless they have the motivation, no limit on time, and no limit on cash, will typically search for the easiest target!
Don't give them the opportunity!

Why Should I be Concerned?

As you can see above, there are many reasons to be concern.  As a home user or small business, you should be diligent and protect yourself.  This does not mean that you should consume yourself with these efforts.  You should be diligent in your actions.  Taken even the most basic actions to secure your computers can help.

• Protect information about your identity;
• Use strong passwords when setting up user accounts;
• Change your passwords on a frequent basis and don't give them out to anyone;
• Update you computers Operating System with patches;
• Install Anti-Virus software and keep it up-to-date;
• If you do not have a hardware Firewall install a personal Firewall (The latest versions of Windows XP has a basic Firewall built in);
• Install Anti-Adware / Spy-ware software and keep it up-to-date;
• Don't assume that since the computer you use at home is just a home computer that you don't need a password to access it.  Especially if you are using Wireless Networking (That's a whole other story).

Conclusion

As you can see, everyone should be concerned about securing there computers against the potential of compromise of being hacked.  Believe me, you don't want to find yourself trying to figure out what to do next once your system has been compromised.  It is not a pleasant experience.

Brazil Government Hacked By Muslim Cyber Sh3llz

Website:

http://e-governo.blumenau.sc.gov.br/index.htm

Mirror:

http://www.mirror-ma.com/mirror/id/338695/
http://www.hack-db.com/541970.html

100+ Websites Hacked And Defaced by Widex

100+ Websites Hacked And Defaced by Widex. Most of there targets are US and Indian sites. There are no main idea about their hack but one thing for sure that this kind of hacks create lot of questions for security experts. Every years hacker are becoming more powerful than previous year. It seems like whole server is rooted and mass defaced.

The list of impacted sites and mirrors was published on Pastebin , at press time, all of them still weren’t restored.

Hacked Sites:

http://pastebin.com/ssiHHFFa

Mirrors:

http://hack-mirror.com/hacker/Widex/all.html

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130+ Indian & American Sites Hacked & Defaced by Drac-101code

130+ Indian & American Sites Hacked & Defaced by Drac-101code. Most of there targets are US and Indian sites. There are no main idea about their hack but one thing for sure that this kind of hacks create lot of questions for security experts. Every years hacker are becoming more powerful than previous year.

Deface Page Say's:

"root@server:/root # query result: error - 404
root@server:/root # ooh, 404?. That Mean ur site exploited :)!
root@server:/root # ..........HACKED BY Drac-101code
root@server:/root # cyberxteam@asia.com 
root@server:/root # http://cyberxteam.org 
root@server:/root # ......................>!
root@server:/root # Do you wont the reason?!
root@server:/root # ......................>!
root@server:/root # There Is Not Patch To Human Stupidity
root@server:/root # Loading..........
root@server:/root # Loading..........
root@server:/root # Loading..........
root@server:/root # ..........Locked!
root@server:/root # (abort)
root@server:/root # Completed! ...
root@server:/root # #..........Drac-101code Was Here !
root@server:/root # #..........<......................>> - Im Ow'ned You !
root@server:/root # http://manusia-biasa.org 

root@server:/root # Thanks To: Allah SWT - Nabi Muhammad SAW - Raka Satria - Submit Defacer Team.
root@server:/root # | K4C3 Undetected | Doza Cracker | Drac-101code | E5a_Cyb3r | Rifqi 3103 | Xrootx | Abraut | Dmustcyber4rt | Fuad 07 Lekx | ct2Xars |."

Hacked Sites List:

http://thousandoaksdrugrehab.com/id/
http://top10luxurytreatmentcenters.com/id/
http://treatmentforalcoholdependence.com/id/
http://treatmentforbenzodiazepines.com/id/
http://treatmentforhydrocodone.com/id/
http://treatmentforpanicdisorders.com/id/
http://treatmentforroxycodone.com/id/
http://www.treatmentforvalium.com/id/
http://unitedhealthcaredrugtreatment.com/id/
http://venturacountyrehab.com/id/
http://westbloomfieldtownshipdrugrehab.com/id/
http://yorbalindadrugrehab.com/id/
http://affordable-addiction-treatment.com/id/
http://affordable-rehab-center.com/id/
http://affordabletreatmentcenter.com/id/
http://alcoholrehabbrentwood.com/id/
http://alcoholrehabventura.com/id/
http://aspenhilldrugrehab.com/id/
http://behavioraldisorderstreatment.com/id/
http://behaviordisorderstreatment.com/id/
http://benzodiazepinesdetox.com/id/
http://berkeley-drugrehab.com/id/
http://bestsuccessrateaddictiontreatmentcenter.com/id/
http://bestsuccessratedrugrehab.com/id/
http://bestsuccessraterehab.com/id/
http://bestusadrugrehab.com/id/
http://bloomingtondrugrehab.com/id/
http://brooklinedrugrehab.com/id/
http://calabasasdrugrehab.com/id/
http://calvertcountydrugrehab.com/id/
http://camarillodrugrehab.com/id/
http://carlsbad-drugrehab.com/id/
http://carrolltondrugrehab.com/id/
http://carydrugrehab.com/id/
http://castrovalleydrugrehab.com/id/
http://centurycitydrugrehab.com/id/
http://centurycityoutpatientrehabs.com/
http://cerritosdrugrehab.com/id/
http://chappaquadrugrehab.com/id/
http://cignadrugtreatment.com/id/
http://claytondrugrehab.com/id/
http://columbiadrugrehab.com/id/
http://cotodecazadrugrehab.com/id/
http://dallasaddictiontreatmentcenter.com/id/
http://depressionrehabcenter.com/id/
http://depressionrehabfacilities.com/id/
http://detoxfromatavan.com/id/
http://detoxfromativan.com/id/
http://detoxfromcodeine.com/id/
http://detoxfromdrugsandalcohol.com/id/
http://detoxfrommeth.com/id/
http://detoxfromnorco.com/id/
http://detoxfromsubutex.com/id/
http://douglascountydrugrehab.com/id/
http://drugrehabbartonhills.com/id/
http://drugrehabbocapointe.com/id/
http://drugrehabcoveneck.com/id/
http://drugrehabfairfaxcounty.com/id/
http://drugrehabgulfstream.com/id/
http://drugrehabhalibutcove.com/id/
http://drugrehabhardingtownship.com/id/
http://drugrehabhenlopenacres.com/id/
http://drugrehabhunterscreekvillage.com/id/
http://drugrehabnorthoaks.com/id/
http://drugrehabpineypointvillage.com/
http://drugrehabriverwoods.com/id/
http://drugrehabsouthbeach.com/id/
http://drugrehabsouthlake.com/id/
http://drugtreatmentcenterporthueneme.com/id/
http://dualdiagnosisdrugtreatment.com/id/
http://encinodrugrehab.com/id/
http://glenviewdrugrehab.com/id/
http://greenwichalcoholrehab.com/id/
http://www.highestsuccessratedrugrehab.com/id/
http://highestsuccessratedrugtreatment.com/id/
http://inpatientdrugtreatmentcenter.com/id/
http://intensiveoutpatientdrugrehab.com/id/
http://losaltoshillsdrugrehab.com/id/
http://luxuryanxietytreatment.com/id/
http://luxuryeatingdisordertreatment.com/id/
http://luxuryrehabfacility.com/id/
http://malibuoutpatientprogram.com/id/
http://marincountyalcoholrehab.com/id/
http://newtondrugrehab.com/id/
http://northhillsdrugrehab.com/id/
http://northpotomacdrugrehab.com/id/
http://www.outpatientalcoholismtreatment.com/id/
http://outpatientdrugabuserehab.com/id/
http://outpatientdrugtreatmentcenter.com/id/
http://pacificpalisadesrehab.com/id/
http://prescriptiondrugabusetreatmentcenter.com/id/
http://rehabcalabasas.com/id/
http://rehabsantamonica.com/id/
http://sausalitodrugrehab.com/id/
http://shermanoaksdrugrehab.com/id/
http://somersetcountydrugrehab.com/id/
http://southsanfranciscodrugrehab.com/id/
http://studiocitydrugrehab.com/id/
http://sunnyvaledrugrehab.com/id/
http://www.reitechnosoft.com/
http://hirejaipur.com/
http://papadkehanumanji.com/
http://rei-technologies.com/
http://rsgbc.in/
http://ssconstructiongroup.com/
http://supremechemicals.in/
http://thehelpinghandsgroup.com/
http://myfundays.in/
http://corderosa.in/
http://assambulkcarrier.com/
http://bushpark.in/
http://creativehub.info/
http://designersfab.com/
http://ezeejobz.com/
http://fork13.com/
http://hanswahini.org/
http://hiringsolutions.in/
http://ihepa.in/
http://jjindia.co.in/
http://katiharyellowpages.in/
http://lightways.in/
http://neevantabuilders.com/
http://neevantaconstructions.com/
http://nickelring.com/
http://pankajnidhi.com/
http://rayssolutions.com/
http://romil.in/
http://shrisudarshanjimaharaj.org/
http://suncinelight.com/
http://suture.co.in/
http://svear.org/
http://www.tallyretail.com/
http://tuubol.com/
http://www.joomla-only.ru/images/

Mirrors:
http://www.zone-h.org/archive/notifier=Drac-101code

Follow @TheHackersMedia

RIP Aaron Swartz Legacy

In 1970, a 14-year-old boy dialed into a nationwide computer network, uploaded a virus he had written and caused the entire network to crash.

That boy was Bill Gates. Five years later, he founded Microsoft.

A few years later, two young men went around college dorms in California selling boxes of wires that let students bypass telephone-company restrictions and make long-distance calls for free.

Those young men were Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, and a later venture they started, Apple, is now the most valuable company in the world.

In 2010, another young man, who had already founded a multimillion-dollar company, broke into a utility closet at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He hooked up a laptop to the campus network and downloaded 4 million academic journal articles, most of them in the public domain, from a paid archive to which he had a subscription.

He was arrested, indicted twice on multiple counts of fraud and, at a trial that was to have begun in April, faced 50 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine.

Very sadly Aaron Swartz has committed suicide on January 11, 2013 in New York City in age of 26.

Aaron was a computer geek and hacker, Who always rise his voice for freedome of internet. Aaron created RSS Web feed system when he was only 14 years old.

He believed in freedom of internet and free information. Knowledge must be shared. He was one of leading person in fight against SOPA. He warned "“SOPA will have yet another name, and maybe a different excuse, and probably do its damage in a different way. But make no mistake: The enemies of the freedom to connect have not disappeared. Next time they might just win. Let’s not let that happen.”

Aaron was mentally torched at the time of his death. He was punished for 35 years in federal prison for hacking the MIT system to gain access to millions of scholarly articles from JSTOR to make public and free for all.

On Saturday, Swartz’s family released a statement
"Aaron’s death is not simply a personal tragedy. It is the product of a criminal justice system rife with intimidation and prosecutorial overreach. Decisions made by officials in the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office and at MIT contributed to his death. The US Attorney’s office pursued an exceptionally harsh array of charges, carrying potentially over 30 years in prison, to punish an alleged crime that had no victims."

Hackers for all around the world started the #OpAaronSwartz to shut down the MIT and department of Justice Websites using DDOS.

Follow @TheHackersMedia

The 10 Most Infamous Student Hackers of All Time

Hacking has always been inherently a young person’s game. The first usage of the word “hacker” was to describe pranksters meddling with the phones at MIT. Many hackers have cited boredom, a desire for change, or the thrill of going somewhere one is not supposed to go as their motivation for hacking, all of which could apply to scores of common activities on college campuses. While today’s hacking scene is dominated by large hacking groups like Anonymous and Masters of Deception, many of the greatest hacks ever have been pulled off by college, high school, and even middle school kids who rose to infamy armed only with a computer and the willingness to cross the bounds of legality.

1. Sven Jaschan:
   In the words of one tech expert, “His name will always be associated with some of the biggest viruses in the history of the Internet.” The viruses: the Sasser and NetSky worms that infected millions of computers and have caused millions of dollars of damage since their release in 2004. The man behind the viruses proved to be not even a man at all, legally. Seventeen-year-old hacker Sven Jaschan, a student at a computer science school in Germany, claimed to have created the viruses to become a hero by developing a program that would eradicate the rampaging Mydoom and Bagle bugs. Instead he found himself the subject of a $250,000 bountycourtesy of Microsoft, for which some of his classmates turned him in.
2. Jonathan James:
   In 2000, at the age of 16, James, or “C0mrade” as he was known in the hacker community, infamously became the first juvenile federally sentenced for hacking. The targets of his notorious hack jobs were a wing of the U.S. Department of Defense called the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, NASA, and the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. (By hacking the latter James gained the ability to control the A/C in the International Space Station.) All of these were pulled off “for fun” while James was still a student at Palmetto Senior High in Miami. Unfortunately, the fun ran out when James was tied into a massive identity theft investigation. Though insisting he was innocent, James took his own life, saying he had “no faith in the justice system.”
3. Michael Calce:
   Yahoo. CNN. Ebay. Amazon. Dell.com. One by one in a matter of days, these huge websites crashed at the hands of 15-year-old Canadian high school student Michael Calce, aka “MafiaBoy.” Armed with a denial-of-service program he called “Rivolta” that overloaded servers he targeted, the young hacker wreaked $7.5 million in damages, according to court filings. Calce was caught when he fell victim to a common ailment of teenage boys: bragging. The cops were turned on to him when he began boasting in chat rooms about being responsible for the attacks. On Sept. 12, 2001, MafiaBoy was sentenced to a group facility for eight months on 56 counts of cybercrime.
4. Kevin Mitnick:
   Before performing hacks that prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to declare him “the most wanted computer criminal in United States history,” Kevin Mitnick had already made a name for himself as a hacker in his school days, first at Monroe High School in LA and later at USC. On a dare, Mitnick connived an opening into the computer system of Digital Equipment Corporation, which some fellow hackers then used to steal proprietary source code from the company before ratting on him. While still on probation for that crime, Mitnick broke into the premises of Pacific Bell and had to go on the run from police in the aftermath, during which time he hacked dozens of systems, including those of IBM, Nokia, Motorola, and Fujitsu.
5. Tim Berners-Lee:
   “Scandalous” is a synonym for “infamous,” and for this legendary computer scientist, knight of the British Empire, and inventor of the World Wide Web to have been a hacker in his school days is certainly a juicy factoid. During his time at Oxford in the mid-’70s, Sir Tim was banned from using university computers after he and a friend were caught hacking their way into restricted digital areas. Luckily by that time he already knew how to make his own computer out of a soldering iron, an old TV, and some spare parts. And also luckily for him, he will always be revered as the father of the Internet.
6. Neal Patrick and the 414s:
   In the early ’80s, hacking was still a relatively foreign concept to most Americans. Few recognized the enormous power hackers could hijack with a few strokes on a keyboard, which explains why a young group of hackers known as the 414s (after a Milwaukee area code) were virtual celebrities after they hacked into the famous Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and elsewhere. While today hacking a lab where classified nuclear research is conducted could earn you a one-way ticket to Guantanamo, the 17-year-old ringleader and high school student Neal Patrick was on the cover of Newsweek. The group members got light sentences but prompted Congress to take a stronger role in cybercrime.
7. Robert T. Morris:
   The first ever Internet worm, the Morris Worm derived its name from Cornell grad student Robert Tappan Morris. In 1988, Morris released the worm through MIT’s system to cover his tracks, which would seem to contradict his claims that he meant no harm with it. But that’s exactly what resulted: the worm spread out of control, infecting more than 6,000 computers connected to the ARPANET, the academic forerunner to the World Wide Web. The damages reached as high as an estimated $10 million, and Morris earned the ignominious distinction of being the first person prosecuted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Morris got community service but was apparently not considered too infamous to be offered his current job as a professor at MIT.
8. George Hotz:
   To some, George Hotz (aka “geohot,” aka “million75,” aka “mil”) is a public menace, a threat to electronic businesses everywhere. To many, Hotz is a hero. The high-schooler shot to fame/infamy in 2007 at the tender age of 17 by giving the world its first hacked, or “jailbroken” iPhone. He traded it for a new sports car and three new iPhones, and the video of the hacking received millions of hits. Apple has had to grudgingly come to terms with jailbreaking, seeing as the courts have declared it legal, but Sony Corp. is definitely not OK with such tampering. When Hotz hacked his PlayStation 3 and published the how-to on the web, the company launched a vicious lawsuit against him. In turn, the hacker group Anonymous launched an attack on Sony, stealing millions of users’ personal info.
9. Donncha O’Cearbhaill:
   According to the FBI, this 19-year-old freshman at Trinity College Dublin is one of the top five most wanted hackers in the world. Well, he was; now that he’s been arrested he’s not really “wanted” anymore. The Feds contend the young man is a VIP member of the Anonymous and LulzSec hacking groups that have already been mentioned and whose targets have included the FBI, the U.S. Senate, and Sony (in the Hotz backlash). It seems “Palladium” (O’Cearbhaill) took the liberty of listening in on a conference call between the FBI and several international police forces who were discussing their investigations of the hacking groups. He could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison if convicted for that hack alone.
10. Nicholas Allegra:
    Just as George Hotz moved on from the Apple hacking game, Brown University student Nicholas Allegra is also hanging up his jersey. “Comex,” as he is known to millions of rooted iPhone fans, created the simple-to-use Apple iOS jailbreaking program JailbreakMe in 2007 and has since released two newer versions of it. However, Comex seems to have gone over to the dark side,accepting an internship with the very company whose products he became famous exploiting. Still, Allegra’s hacking skills are so advanced (one author puts him five years ahead of the authors of the infamous Stuxnet worm that corrupted Iran’s nuclear facilities) and so many people availed themselves of his talents, he will forever live in hacking infamy.
    Source: Link

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NSA top spy going to Defcon 2012

General Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency (NSA), will speak at the Defcon conference, the Pentagon affirmed.
General Keith B. Alexander is also the current Commander, United States Cyber Command.
Defcon for those of you who don’t know is a community of “hackers.”

Not to be confused with “crackers”.
Hackers, are a whole sub culture within American society.
They come to the conference to network, socialize and compete in hacking contests. They represent diverse demographics…
“Defcon is a self evolving group, constantly changing.”, said one hacker, who wished not to be identified
General Alexander may also be doing some intelligence gathering?
After all he spend most of his adult life in Army intelligence.

So as to be balanced, you should probably also watch a excellent scene in the movie Good Will Hunting before you decide to join NSA (see video: Why shouldn’t I work at the NSA (see video:)

According to Defcon employees “We’re going to show him the conference. If he wants to wander around…”
“It should be really cool”, said Jeff Moss of Defcon.
Speaking in reference to the speech Moss said:
“Don’t you think it’s important to hear what the most senior person at the NSA has to say? I’m interested in hearing what he has to say.”
He may be right. I don’t know?
Its no secret that Defcon is promoting this speaker at the conference.
Despite what you may think there are some serious discussions go on at Defcon conferences.
The topics range ever year from everything from computer intrusion, viruses to protecting your credit card information from being scanned by people walking down the street.

Reference: Link1

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Becoming Hackers Aren’t Tougher, You Just Have All The Right Tool

These days, hacking seems so common. It’s like a week won’t pass without hearing news about another site being hacked or passwords being leaked. So the situation begs the

questions, “Are passwords getting weaker or are hackers getting tougher?”

To be vigilant in choosing and keeping passwords secured. There are a lot of techniques in doing this like periodically changing your passwords, not telling everyone what your password is, using capital letters interchangeably with characters, numbers, etc. But all these efforts will be for naught if the site doesn’t salt your passwords. Salting passwords means they’re encrypting them so that it can’t be easily acquired. Most sites these days encrypt their users’ passwords but there are still some sites who do without salting. So how come passwords still get hacked if they’re encrypted? The answer is simple: hacking is now made easy.

It’s just that hackers these days have more hacking tools to aide them in their mission. Before, when hacking wasn’t that popular and computers aren’t that fast, hackers used a small list of passwords to guess user passwords. But as the time changed, the list grew. You’d think that hackers would have a tougher time cracking passwords since there’s now a bigger list to go through but you must not forget that computers these days are faster and can churn millions of data at the blink of an eye. Plus the fact that there are a lot of cracking software available these days, acquiring passwords may just be a walk in the park some.

There are two things you need to remember if you want to acquire passwords. First, if you do manage to get passwords of a certain site, there’s a huge possibility that it won’t be of any use to you since it’s hashed. Remember, sites encrypt passwords. So if a user uses the word “password” the hacker won’t see “password” but a code like “dzportsjd342nse9339f93qnnfgk134nsk4g” (not actual code) so he then needs to figure out what the code means before the password can be of any use to him. This is the reason why security companies often remind consumers to use an alphanumeric password, or inject some characters into them and avoid using obvious ones like your name and birthday, so hackers won’t easily access your account. Another thing to remember is to use different passwords for every site so in case one of your accounts gets compromised, your other accounts will still be secured.

The point is, users aren’t to blame if their accounts get hacked, it also doesn’t mean that the security measures of the service you are using is not commendable, hackers just have all the tools they need to do the task. So don’t beat yourself up. Still, it wouldn’t hurt if you make your passwords tougher.

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Social Engineering Threat Affects All

Social engineering is becoming more sophisticated and difficult to spot, and now it is targeting not only users but IT administrators and call center staff too. This complicates protecting customer dat

a, and companies need to be nimbler in spotting attempts to steal information, observers urge.

Two weeks ago, former Gizmodo writer Mat Honan discovered his Google, Twitter, and iCloud account breached within an hour. The hacker sidestepped the usual password security by targeting Apple’s tech support instead, using “clever” social engineering to persuade staff he is the owner of the iCloud account and gaining access to the other passwords and deleting all of Honan’s data, according to his blog post.

On this, Mark Bower, vice president at Voltage Security, pointed out that social engineering has certainly moved from targeting end-users to companies’ IT administrators. This has been happening for the past few years now, he said.

As hackers become savvier, they realize that people are the weakest link in any organization’s IT security and conducting social engineering is an effective method in gaining access to customers’ data, Bower explained.

Joseph Steinberg, CEO of Green Armor, added that many questions used to “authenticate” customers during by call center staff can often be found rather quickly by hackers who do their research using Google’s search engine. Data such as social security numbers can be discovered then used to bypass gatekeepers and administrators on various platforms, he said.

Paul Ducklin, Asia-Pacific head of technology at Sophos, built on Bower’s point, saying that cybercriminals are now targeting “anyone and anything that has the data they need”. These include administrators and even family and friends of the user by claiming the person is in trouble and the information they disclose will help save him, he explained.

If attackers are unable to get through a particular staff at the contact center, they will try to bypass the other staff, Ducklin added. In the process, hackers can build up information about the organization and its security policies so they can plan a way to bypass it, he said.

“It’s easier to reach the staff in bulk, which means crooks may even be able to target everyone in a company–users and administrators alike,” the Sophos executive stated.

Adhere to best practices
For companies to better come to grips with this security landscape, Ducklin suggests they provide a platform where users and employees can turn to report suspicious information-gathering attempts. Such systematic efforts to learn about a company or user can be more easily spotted and picked up on with the platform, he said.

Call center staff should also be trained to be firm without being rude when dealing with a caller they are unable to identify and who asks questions they are not comfortable in answering, he added. Employees should not answer the questions, but take down the caller’s details and call them back after checking their identities. Those who do not provide contact details tend not to be trusted, he said.

Michael Sutton, vice president of Security Research at Zscaler ThreatLabZ, called on users to exercise better security practices to protect themselves too.

Citing Honan’s case as an example, Sutton said: “While Apple, Google, and others can always implement tighter controls, had Mat followed best practices, this attack would not have been as successful as it was, if at all. Data obtained from one account opened the door to another–never a good idea.”

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Histroy Of Hacker's | Hackers Wanted Full Documentary

This Video is about hackers history, a documentary about hackers/

You may download the soundtrack here: http://www66.zippyshare.com/v/91575220/file.html All rights go to the creator(s) of this video, as I did not make this.

MYANMAR 25+ SITES HACKED AND DEFACED BY ROBOT PIRATES

Myanmar 25+ sites Hacked and defaced by cfr from Robot Pirates. Myanmar servers are consider as one of most secure servers in world and it is defiantly not easy to break security of server like these. There are some other hacking groups "Teamr00t", who are also active in Myanmar operation.

The list of impacted sites was published on Pastebin yesterday, but at press time, most of them still weren’t restored.

Deface Page Message:

"

-- Message -- 

Free Kashmir & Palestine! - Palestine + Kashmir = One Struggle. // End the Occupation. . . .

They overthrow governments of sovereign nations and they undermine, threaten, refuse to recognise and seek to destroy democratically elected governments like they are in Gaza, Palestine.

They support dictators as long as they are fulfilling US, EU & NATO interest in the region like they did in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

In Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya at all they are killing Men,women & Children indiscriminately! And for what? Certainly not to protect civilians as they will have you believe, rather to steal the natural resources of said nation and to install a puppet regime who they can dominate for their own ends.

You speak of Freedom of speech and freedom of expression but you remain silent in the face of a people desire to seek freedom to exist - unless those people are Israeli Zionists!

Shame on the world and all her people who support this abomination masquerading as a nation state!

"When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.? 

-Nelson Mandela-

"

Paste-bin  by Robot Pirates:

Link : http://www.paste.to/OTA2MTc4

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Reboot Film for Hackers and Cyber Lovers

Set within a dystopian world that is a collision between technology and humanity, “Reboot” touches upon many of the current social and political concerns that arise from becoming more and more intertwined with the virtual. In contemporary Los Angeles, a young female hacker (Stat) awakens from unconsciousness to find an iPhone glued to her hand and a mysterious countdown ticking away on the display. Suffering from head trauma, and with little recollection of who she is or what is happening, Stat races against time to figure out what the code means, and what unknown event the pending zero-hour will bring.

       "A female hacker races against time to figure out the code on an iPhone that is glued to her hand"

Film Trailer:

If you peoples want to watch trailer in HD follow this link. http://www.rebootfilm.com/trailer

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140+ Malaysian Site Hacked and Defaced By D4rkDriv3r aka DevilzSec

140 plus Malaysian Site Hacked and Defaced By D4rkDriv3r From DevilzSec. According to hackers Reason behind there hacker is just to show there skills to world. These kind of attacks are clearly showing how much awareness about security is need in cyber world.

The list of impacted sites was published on Pastebin yesterday, but at press time, most of them still weren’t restored. 
Hacked Sites List: http://www.paste.to/ODY2OTAy

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Hackers Take Control of Two Satellites for Few Minutes

According to a US report recently claimed that hackers had managed to interfere with two military satellites, but one expert argues the amount of energy required would be too great for ordinary hackers.

The hackers took control of the Landsat-7 and Terra AM-1 satellites for a grand total of 12 minutes and two minutes respectively.

One might hope that the communications satellites suspended in orbit above the earth might be one component of the planet’s technology infrastructure that is safely out of harm’s way.

But as satellite communications enthusiast Paul Marsh explained at the London Security B-Sides event in April, there are reasons to doubt the reports. He spoke about a similar story, reported in the late 1990s, about hackers supposedly accessing UK military satellite communications network SkyNet and ‘nudging’ one satellite out of synch.

Whether Chinese hackers have that capability now is just one more matter of speculation to add to the opaque field of cyber warfare.

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European Cyber Security at the Mercy of Chinese Hackers

Europe is “Under the watchful eye of Chinese pirates”, writes Libération,which picks up on a Bloomberg feature report on computer security breaches. The American press agency reveals that a group of Chinese cyberspies – which has been tracked by an American collective (that includes academics, companies that have been targeted by Chinese espionage and computer security experts) – succeeded in infiltrating a large number of institutions and companies last year.

The group  linked to the Chinese military, which has been named “Byzantine Candor” by American secret services, notably managed to infiltrate European institutions, reports the French daily –

    At a critical moment in the euro crisis in July, a group of Chinese spies remotely infiltrated the computers of the European Council, not once but five times. Launching their attacks from China, the hackers stole data including email correspondence with Herman Van Rompuy [...] Along with the European Council, the networks of at least 20 European businesses have fallen victim to Byzantine Candor [...] According to Bloomberg, most of the breached corporate networks were characterised by the fact that they contained information on innovation that could be economically advantageous to Chinese firms.

Libération adds that a decade ago –

    … the usual targets for these kinds of attacks were American arms manufacturers [...] However, no one is safe today.

As a result, the drive to combat cyber-espionage is now a critical priority for Europe: notably in Spain, which, according to El País –

    … is one of the countries that has been worst affected by hacking attacks, with tens of thousands of incidents every year.

The Madrid daily explains that a new national cybersecurity centre of excellence, financed by the European Commission and headquartered at the Autonomous University of Madrid, will be inaugurated in September. In the wake of the establishment of similar centres in Montpellier (France) and Dublin (Ireland), it will be the third of its kind in the EU.

However, the daily regrets that one of the companies tasked with the creation of the centre, CFLabs, is directed by Matías Bevilacqua –

    … an IT expert who was arrested and charged in connection with purchase and sale of confidential data [...] and in particular sensitive information sourced from virtually all of the institutions of the Spanish state.

In conclusion El País wonders about the wisdom of appointing “a hacker to play a key role in such a sensitive project”.

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