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Thread: ****important****school Rpt****

  1. #1
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    ****important****school Rpt****

    I am currently doing a report for school about hacking, and i am hoping that many of the people here can help me with a few questions. I am supposed to do an interview, and im hoping that the questions i am going to asking for that, someone else who is an actual hacker can help me out.

    1. How is our school protecting itself from hackers?

    2. How do hackers get into a system without a username or password?

    3. Have hackers ever been a problem for you?

    4. Is hacking more of a problem today compared to five years ago? How is it different?

    5. I read somewhere some hackers become network administrators, would you ever hire one and do you think that many admins have been hackers?

    6. Do you think hackers do anything damaging to a system, and aren’t as big of problem makers as people think?

    7. Are the majority of hacker’s teenagers?

    8. Are there any benefits for hacking?

    9. Do many hackers use viruses to give themselves a back door into a system? Do many of them work?

    10. Is there anything else that may be important I haven’t asked you?

  2. #2
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    Re: ****important****school Rpt****

    Originally posted by LunchBox
    I am currently doing a report for school about hacking, and i am hoping that many of the people here can help me with a few questions. I am supposed to do an interview, and im hoping that the questions i am going to asking for that, someone else who is an actual hacker can help me out.
    Well, I'm no uberhacker or anything, but I do know a bit about networking, so I'll answer what questions I can.


    2. How do hackers get into a system without a username or password?
    It depends on the circumstances. If you're looking at server breakins, I would think that they're most frequently done by exploiting buffer overflows.

    If it's a person's home PC, chances are much better that a trojan of some description was introduced or some similar form of social engineering.


    3. Have hackers ever been a problem for you?


    Outside of providing some entertaining logs, no.


    5. I read somewhere some hackers become network administrators, would you ever hire one and do you think that many admins have been hackers?
    This kind of question is probably best answered on an individual basis rather than on a broad basis. There are hackers who hack because they love programming, networking, etc., and they like to test themselves. This kind of love of technology is the kind of hacker I would want working for me, and IMO pretty well defines what I consider a hacker.


    10. Is there anything else that may be important I haven’t asked you?
    Keep in mind that if you target 'hackers' and not script kiddies, there is a level of technical skill required to meet that level. It's not as simple as 'run this canned app that I downloaded'. Maybe some questions like 'why do you hack?', and perhaps 'do you consider yourself a blackhat or a whitehat?'.
    Things along those lines to give you an idea of the motivations of the people who are hacking, it would probably help you understand hackers a bit better.

    As I mentioned earlier, hackers to me are the driven by the same force that drives electrical engineers to learn to use a HAM radio and make their own circuit boards, and drives mechanics to tinker with their cars. It's all about learning, as I see it.
    Chris Shepherd
    The Nelson-Shepherd cutoff: The point at which you realise someone is an idiot while trying to help them.
    \"Well as far as the spelling, I speak fluently both your native languages. Do you even can try spell mine ?\" -- Failed Insult
    Is your whole family retarded, or did they just catch it from you?

  3. #3
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    Re: ****important****school Rpt****

    [QUOTE]Originally posted by LunchBox
    Have hackers ever been a problem for you?
    No, Im not a system admin so I need'nt worry bout anything but damn script kiddie's. They have made me look at my firewall so much on IRC I began to think I was hallucinating besides that simple security measures have eradicated there presence.

    Is hacking more of a problem today compared to five years ago? How is it different?
    Of course hacking today is a vast culture compared to say before that damn film 'Hackers' came out and everybody decided to call themselves Zero-Cool and hax0r their freinds Windoze Boxes using their demo copy of Red-Hat Linux. Hacking is more accessable these days, its easier with programs that do all the work and a lot more help available than when real hackers were around.

    Do you think hackers do anything damaging to a system, and aren’t as big of problem makers as people think?
    Hackers dont damage, crackers do. People should be aware of crackers but aware also that they are different than hackers who have created the internet the the crackers are now attempting to destroy.
    They are a problem I suppose, defacement and also the Virus writers who are neither hackers nor crackers but a law to themselves.

    Are the majority of hacker’s teenagers?
    All script kiddies are well kiddies or teens. Now Im not sayin all teens are script kiddies as Im a teen myself. To honestly call yourself a real hacker you would need to have a lot of computer experiance thus meaning many true hackers are out of their teens.

    Are there any benefits for hacking?
    Real hackers are programmers, programming is beneficial therefore hacking can be beneficial.

    ]Do many hackers use viruses to give themselves a back door into a system? Do many of them work?
    They can use trojans which are not virii that create a backdoor in a system and many crackers use trojans to regain entry instead of re-cracking a system if you catch my jist.
    They are simple programs and they work everyday quite effectively.

    Is there anything else that may be important I haven’t asked you?
    Well basically I have to say Hacking is different than Cracking, it is important you distuingish in order to avoid flaming and so on. There is a lot involved in hacking despite what the media portrays as mindless kiddies so dont think these questions satisfy an opinion of hacking.

    Ok, answered what I could hope it helps.
    Ennis.

  4. #4
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    1. Some kind of firewall. There are different kind of firewalls for each school.

    2. Through a "backdoor" Or he/she/they plant a trojan so it will be much easier to get in without a user name or password


    4. Alot different than the past. Nowadays, people(script kiddies) have ultilties and pre-made programs to break in. People can download anything off the internet and begin an instant hacking without requiring any thinking. Script kiddies today are giving hackers a bad name because they think it's fun screwing somebody's computer.

    5. IMO, I'd hire a hacker to be my Network Ad. because he/she has the knowledge of how to protect.

    7. I can't really say much about this. Most teenager hackers are unserious about hacking. They think it's all in the fun. Most true hackers are much older than the teenagers today. Proberly around in their mids 20s to 50 years old. So the answer is no.

    8. Yes. It helps people to understand how a computer operates. Hackers = Better understanding of computer

    Most hackers now are programmers. Not some script kiddie playing around with a pre-made program and doing some passive hacking without doing any brain works.

    Alot of good questions you got there.
    Knowledge is Power.

  5. #5
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    Re: ****important****school Rpt****

    I'm not a super-hacker with hardened typing skills of steel or anything, but just my <insert low amount of currency here>... Also, I would really recommend looking up anything you find in the jargon dictionary that is maintained here at Antionline.

    1. How is our school protecting itself from hackers?
      Well, I can't say much about your school in particular, but most of the time, the main ways crackers can get in either involve an unpatched program, or through simple laziness or mistakes on the part of the system's administrator.
    2. How do hackers get into a system without a username or password?
      Do you mean a computer they are sitting at, or into a website or something over the web? Either they find a place where the system adminstrator has forgotten to require one, or they find a program that has a known bug in it, and may be able to use that bug in order to trick the computer into running a few commands because of the bug. (Buffer Overflow)
    3. Have hackers ever been a problem for you?
      Not me personally.
    4. I read somewhere some hackers become network administrators, would you ever hire one and do you think that many admins have been hackers?
      Well, I think some commercial businesses tried it once, and the guy they hired posted about their vulnerability all over the internet, instead of telling them so they could fix it. If you DO hire someone who has a history of either being accused or convicted of computer crime (a cracker), be wary of how much to trust them.
    5. Do you think hackers do anything damaging to a system, and aren’t as big of problem makers as people think?
      Well, 'Hackers' don't do damage, that's the way a lot of people on the net are trying to change the connotations to the term. 'Crackers' are usually the term given to 'Criminal-Hackers' by the not-so-illegal computer professionals.
    6. Are the majority of hacker’s teenagers?
      Well, the majority of the 'Script Kiddies' are. I really need a venn diagram to explain this, but most script kiddies are teens, but that doesn't necessarily mean that all teens are script kiddies.
    7. Are there any benefits for hacking?
      Well, crawling around the guts of software and hardware gives you a definite feeling for the place. It's useful to have a wide background and experience in computers.
    8. Do many hackers use viruses to give themselves a back door into a system? Do many of them work?
      That's a very popular script-kiddie tactic. It doesn't mean crackers won't do it occasionally, but the main draw is to the script kiddie crowd, because they can do all sorts of nefarious things without the effort or knowledge which should accompany it, and all with a nice point-and-click interface. Sometimes the budding script kiddies won't show their friends, because they can seem more mysterious and powerful if their friends don't see how easy it is.
    [HvC]Terr: L33T Technical Proficiency

  6. #6
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    ****important****school Rpt****

    < snip >
    1. How is our school protecting itself from hackers?
    Don't know, do you have a properly configured fireall and an IDS? IS the OS patched to the most recent stable pacthes?

    2. How do hackers get into a system without a username or password?
    # 1 way used to be a buffer overflow

    3. Have hackers ever been a problem for you?
    nope

    4. Is hacking more of a problem today compared to five years ago? How is it different?
    All the good hackers were hacking 5 years ago, today what you have is lamers and script kid O's with a puter full of lame how to's on cracking and a directory full of exploit code the ydon't understand. It is just more visible thanks to the media.

    5. I read somewhere some hackers become network administrators, would you ever hire one and do you think that many admins have been hackers?
    Sure why not, they know a hell of a lot more than MCSE's or whatever other paper wavers in the IT industry.

    6. Do you think hackers do anything damaging to a system, and aren?t as big of problem makers as people think?
    The pursuit is the fun part, most peoples systems are totally boring, why hang around unless you want to use it for a DDoS which is also lame and boring. only script kiddies and lamers break stuff.

    7. Are the majority of hacker?s teenagers?
    ever been to def con? i would say absolutely not. this is more media bull sh*t. I would say between roughly 23'ish and 40 is the norm for actual hackers.

    8. Are there any benefits for hacking? what do you think!

    9. Do many hackers use viruses to give themselves a back door into a system? Do many of them work? yes and yes

    10. Is there anything else that may be important I haven?t asked you?
    yes. what kind of hackers are there? from lame to amazing:
    lamers
    script kiddies
    wannabe's (only get more respect cause they usually read a little)
    grey hat hackers (can't make up their *****ing minds)
    black hat hackers
    white hat hackers
    uber hacker (there is like 2 of these and they both know yoda personaly)

  7. #7
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    i know yoda

    hehe my dad looks like yoda im might up a picture some time
    hehe
    does this make me uber?

  8. #8
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    1)If your school is connected to the Internet, then there is or should be a secure firewall in place. A firewall is a program that blocks unauthorized access to a network from the outside and keeps unauthorized persons inside the network from accessing the Internet. There is probably some intrusion detection device in place that monitors the system for suspicious activity. They probably have a strict rule about bringing personal floppy’s in and restrict the general installation of software, thus preventing virus infections and Trojans.

    2) Hackers generally take over an existing account. Either by over riding security mechanisms (like buffer overflows) bypassing the need for a password, brute force attacks which are done by devices that keeps guessing the password until it gets it right. Even when a Trojan is used, the hacker is on the network as the user whose machine has the Trojan installed. Sometimes the computer is tricked into trusting the hacker’s commands as coming from the computer’s system itself (the system account). Another common means of access is “Social Engineering”, which is the art of gaining someone’s confidence, trying to get him or her to give up their password or to divulge enough information about themselves (children, pets, spouse, birthday) so a good guess can be made.
    The goal of a hacker is to gain as many network privileges as possible, so after gaining access as a normal user or better, they proceed to go after the administrator’s account.

    3)Here the term hacker needs to be defined. I like to compare hacking to crime in general. Some are lured to crime, care nothing for the law and become criminals. Some are lured by this dark side of human nature but will not break the law and become cops.
    Black hat hackers, care nothing for the law and are criminals
    White hat hackers are lured to this dark side of human nature but care a lot about right and wrong and become security specialists.
    Black hat hackers are a problem for everyone, including myself. Constant vigilance is a must, reading every security bulletin and finding out how it could affect you, takes a lot of time and effort. Not doing so could mean your job. At home it could mean a lot of money, if someone accessed your account and charged things to it or got your credit information.

    4) Today there are a lot more hackers, both white and black. There is a lot more of every kind of computer person than there was five years ago. With more people aware of the hacker problem, it takes a greater degree of knowledge and skill for a hacker to break in. With internet worms like nimda and sadmind, it has become obvious to every one who is aware of their own existance, how important it is to stay on top of the situation. Five years ago people were aware of the problem but downplayed it, so it was much easier for someone to get into a system, some thought if they didn’t make themselves visible, no one would come after them. Wrong.

    5) answered in 3

    6) White hat hackers cause no harm (intentionally). Black hat hackers, themselves, cause no damage to the network, unless they’ve been hired to disrupt some company’s system. They don’t want to be discovered. What they do to the owners of the system can be disastrous. Company secrets stolen, financial losses, etc.. After a hacker is done with a system, its usually traded for other info the hacker desires. This is when damage to the network becomes likely. Then of course there’s “Script Kiddies”, who aren’t really hackers at all, just malicious vandals using someone else’s programs and causing all the damage they can. Just like the bad little boys and girls they are.

    7) Most hackers begin hacking as teenagers. A serious Black Hat hacker today, is a career criminal unless of course you live in S.E Asia or China and its a part of your education (sarcasm). It takes a lot of time and experience to become really good. I believe most are adults. The same is true for the White Hat, except for the criminal part, even though some white hat activity can be seen as being on the wrong side of the law. Just checking an SMTP server’s relay policy to help determine if they are a spammer or just had their server hi-jacked, is not quite legal in most places.

    8) For a White Hat Hacker, it’s the knowledge gained of how to protect a network or catch a crook and in general how things work. This is worth a great deal these days. Not to mention the intrigue and excitement. For the Black Hat the benefits are the same as for any other thief, money and the good possibility of a jail term. For the Serious Black Hat, very few people can know what they do, there’s no prestige and no showing off. They can’t allow any legitimate people to get too far into their lives.

    9) Trojans (which are reported by virus detection software to be viruses) are used a lot. Micro $oft was recently broken into using an email Trojan. This went undetected for at least two weeks. Trojans are often put in place after the initial break-in to make further exploitation easier.

    Hope you find some of this useful, even if you don’t, I had fun.
    There are some great books about hacking/hackers out there, like “the cookoo’s egg”, “Underground”, or anything about Kevin Mitnick.
    Bukhari:V3B48N826 “The Prophet said, ‘Isn’t the witness of a woman equal to half of that of a man?’ The women said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘This is because of the deficiency of a woman’s mind.’”

  9. #9

    Cool

    Hey there. I'm far from an expert, but I'll give my best shot at answering these...

    ***1. How is our school protecting itself from hackers?***

    -Schools tend to use Norton or similair programs for security, as well as using the administrator account to lock off a lot of vulnerable sections.

    *****2. How do hackers get into a system without a username or password?******

    -They use a variety of means, from boot disks to registry editing, to disable the password feature or simply create a new one for themselves.

    ****3. Have hackers ever been a problem for you?****

    -No, because in the true sense of the word, Hackers aren't out to hurt anyone.


    ****4. Is hacking more of a problem today compared to five years ago? How is it different?*****

    -The more the world relies on the internet and computers, the easier it will be for hackers to get in; and thus the threat will always loom.

    *****5. I read somewhere some hackers become network administrators, would you ever hire one and do you think that many admins have been hackers? *****

    -I would hire one, and keep my eye on him/her. I don't think the majority have been, but yes, many have been.

    ***6. Do you think hackers do anything damaging to a system, and aren’t as big of problem makers as people think? *****

    -True hackers don't damage systems if they can help it.

    ****7. Are the majority of hacker’s teenagers? ****

    -The majority of hopefuls and hackers-to-be are teenagers. Although very few get into it early enough and are smart enough to master the art before their 20's.

    ****8. Are there any benefits for hacking? *****

    -If you get caught, free housing and meals.
    -If not, the ability to see the world in a different way and to know no information is out of your reach.(Well, mostly)

    ***9. Do many hackers use viruses to give themselves a back door into a system? Do many of them work? ***

    -Some 'hackers' use things like Trojans and Back Orifice to create back doors, I'd say the slight majority work, but a lot depends on the one using them.



    Hope this helped.

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