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Thread: The Cost of Hacking.

  1. #1
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    The Cost of Hacking.

    I'm sick and tired of people saying 'there's nothing on my system worth hacking, security's just not worth it'.

    I'm a computer technician and have heard this far too many times. AT LEAST twice a month someone comes in with a virus (acctually this happens very often) on their comp, or a computer that's been hacked.
    The customer only found out when the attacker was done playing with the backdoors and remote control utilities and decided to start messing with stuff... Then the poor unsuspecting customer is left to deal with the likely $100+ bill for the repair of thier OS and restoration of their data, if that's even possible.
    Statistically this may not be too bad, but when you add the inevitable weeks of random problems leading up to the discovery and the absolute loss of privacy that's occured, I'd say investing a little in security sound quite reasonable, if not neccessary.

    I only service systems in one small city so I can imagine what the demographic of 'household' hacks must be internationally, and how mutch money is lost pointlessly.

    Any opinions on this subject? or is this what we're all here about?
    I'm just ranting from my frustration with ignorance. I'm sure you all understand...

  2. #2
    Senior Member Wazz's Avatar
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    Security is Security, whether it's a credit card account or a chicks name.....some level of security is a valid concern for everyone. For the people that are aware of this and don't think it's worth it, they deserve what they get, yes?
    "It is a shame that stupidity is not painful" - Anton LaVey

  3. #3
    much .... much n much

  4. #4
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    Perhaps your right... ugh...

    Love your sig by the way!

    the enigma of eXterNaLity has elluded me today :/

  5. #5
    Fastest Thing Alive s0nIc's Avatar
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    its mainly about the demographical stature of "hackers" thats the issue. Professional hackers will NEVER bother to do small time attacks. however we have the usual wanna bee hackers who are usually kids using scripts and trojans to do their so called "hacking", our so called "script kiddies" are the ones that does all those small-time security busts.

  6. #6
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    I agree with you UpperCell. People need to take their computer security more seriously. Even if all they have is internet access and nothing more, that internet access account is worth protecting, to not be held liable for any damages a malicious user could/would do.


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  7. #7
    I totally agree with you uppercell. A lot of people claim that they have nothing worth protecting but what about their e-mail? Sure, some people may not send their credit card codes or something like that with mail but they may send a mail to a friend saying that they will be away for the weekend. If the wrong person reads this he knows that the house will be empty for a few days which will give him plenty of time to break in and steal what he want without risking that someone walks in on him.
    Someone might keep some important files from work on his/hers home pc and maybe, just maybe, that information can be sold to another company in the same line of work rendering the first company a great loss of income.
    And, let’s not forget those private pics of the little misses you took the night before...
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  8. #8
    You make a good point about the $'s. If you can explain that to the home users they would probably start defending themselves better. Nobody wants to waste money now do they.
    However another point also comes to mind.
    Lots of malicious internet user like to create botnets to perform DDoS on major hosts.
    With more and more people having a high speed (adsl/cable) connection to the internet this is a primary concern. Also lots of virii keep spreading because of the inequities of home users.
    The least home users can do is maintain a firewall and anti-virus software.

  9. #9
    Just a Virtualized Geek MrLinus's Avatar
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    Originally posted here by Wazz
    Security is Security, whether it's a credit card account or a chicks name.....some level of security is a valid concern for everyone. For the people that are aware of this and don't think it's worth it, they deserve what they get, yes?
    Wazz, I'd like to disagree with you on this. No one deserves to be attacked or "hacked". There is a real profit versus cost issue sometimes with security. If it costs $30,000 to protect $5,000 it makes no sense to put on security. That doesn't mean that someone should be attacked because they have a budget to deal with.

    Now as to the home user, one of the issues doesn't lie just at the feet of the user but at the feet of OS manufacturers that produce OSes that "appear" secure. Users get complacent and do think it will never happen to them. In addition, users aren't educated on how or why they should protect what they have. The idea of "I don't have anything worth stealing" doesn't address the issue of using them for an attack. It is an unfortunate reality that people don't want to have to do anything for security.

    In fact, users want to learn as little as possible about the OS they use and assume it will just work. This, IMHO, is an issue created by OS manufacturers who are attempting to make OSes as easy as possible for users to just setup and connect (RH is a recent example of this). So what does it mean for us as admins, techies, etc? Well, as I tell my students, as long as manufacturers keep making OSes like they do, people will be employed.
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  10. #10
    Dead Man Walking
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    I dont mean to sound cold hearted UpperCell but look at it as job security. I would be willing to wager that you even have a few repeat customers that you see every few months because they didnt listen last time you fixed their system. I am in a similar situation to you. I dont fix systems profesionaly but i do help freinds and family with their computers. I know its frustrating when you try to explain things to people who wont listen but at the end of the day you can look in the mirror and know that at least you tried.

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