Hacking Myths

[whoisnull]

well next thing

ok if You are securing a MS box you will be safe.... untill the next Default Feature will come up... No im not flaming the Good MS admins, but really, there not that wide spread, which is a shame cause i know there out there... my respects to you cause fXXing every week or month for that mather a new thing is discovered!!, leads me to ( sorry ) OpenBSD, they (and me) patch ( counting from may ) ar not patching yet!!!!! and howmany MS admins out there how are doing there job! have patched XP/2003???? sinds that period?,

thing is that in MY opinion, MS is not taking care of there customers.

NULL

[embro1001]

While debwalin is right when he says it's how much you know your OS, what about the people designing it? For *some* reason, every time Microsoft releases some piece of software, they have to release a patch to go along with it. People downloaded Service Pack 1 for XP, only to find out it had memory management problems.

My opinion is that since these people are designing software for money, they tend to skim through the debugging process. Even if they find an error, they may release the program because it's Deadline time.
In the Linux world (generally), everything is constantly being upgraded. Oftentimes the software is right the first time, or else it get updated pretty darn fast. This is because these programmers take personal pride in what they do, and want to share it with others.

Something to think about.

Something to think about.

[Palemoon]

Used to follow this site daily but after 11 months in the IT meltdown especally in my state I am happy to see someone take on the myths out here. Thing is most netowrks do deploy and keep firewalls up to date. All this probing even here at home some 85 just today most auto attacks from infected home users. Point being is I see it all could I knowing the attack method then trash out any of these systems, answer is yep. But why would I even bother cause some kid will trash it a home users and move one. M$ products are as was said a money making machine and to blaance the cost against a budget can be a killer. But get real I see someone scanning port 53 or 135 it's a newbie for sure crap has been around since M$ figured out how to go online in 1996 or so. So sit back at watch as all the IT jobs are exported to India and I do not fault them, so new myth is an American IT worker can find a job now days. Unions do play an important role you all know after all we had none in the wake of 9/11 and hard as we worked to get it all together and working what we make is a libility now to the corp bottom line. Go for it keep the thread alive myths have to be exposed!
Peace

[One Who Watches]

One thing I have noticed about IT jobs after 9/11 though, in response to Palemoon's statement above. Is that the government especially, but to an extent companies as well, are paranoid about safety. Their IT aspect is no different. Whether it is government or commercial, they WANT Americans to learn how to secure American networks. I have noticed a sharp incline in the desire for Americans with security clearances to be network security managers in America.

[n0t 1337]

Third, sm1 can use ur puter to hack the FBI and u may go to jail....

Chances are fairly slim that your puter would be used in such a high profile attack. And if this is the fbi (or any high profile organiztion) we are talking about, im sure they would have a data forensics person look at your hardrive- and find that you had been hacked.

[Palemoon]

I want to up the ante a bit to the myths.
1. As Network Admin you expect company owners and workers to actually work and not sit in adult chat rooms. False

2. Said workers and owners get pissed when you secure the network and see network traffic live. True, becuase they all think they are the only ones doing it on line LOL.

3. You will be fired if you secure a network so the bosses babe or dude has no tunnel into the system. True, True, True

4. Want to see some really old myths played out go to an adult chat room or ICQ, MSN, Yahoo you name it. Funny how packets can be looked at and fir that matter all network traffic live in real time you know stuff you tell your self I'd just as not want to know that about all these people,

Soo in the end run knowing as owners, board members etc you do the job and do and can show you actually can print it all out. You get the call it is not that you have not done an excellent job and in my case protecting their total ass-ets from being over run by their own stupidity, but hey I got a guy out sourced that can emote take care of the system at 1/8 and no benefits we pay you thanks there is the door.

I do not fault any up and arriving 3rd world country hell my wife is from one I do however object to Americian Corps out sourcing everything becuase over time even the export help will grow to want the same things as I because i t will take that amount of bucks to support their family.

Biggest myth is as Net Admin you got a plush job, you have in fact a job more close to a sewer worker, cause your gonna be expect to cover the corp trash...hey fact look at the damn world markets. Sorry I exposed and was truthful about the crap on-line but if one has to actually work to make a living as I did after so much you just go off when your dismissed and do other stuff. There is no glory in Net Admin and unless your from a 3rd world country any hope as a programmer. This in fact is called the outsourcing of America choose well this world to much time is spent on corp media spins and marketing hype then actucal facts. 20 years taught me that one

[One Who Watches]

Yeah, no doubt. Net Admin is no plush job. It's a pain in the butt, I agree. Everyone has a problem with security because it "infringes" on what they can do. You run your ass off trying to make all the idiots understand they can't do certain things, and then when you try to change policy to make it more secure, they freak. Then you have pricing and budget, and implementation and policy, etc., etc. Jeeze. Understandable with human nature, but definetly no plush job. You get paid for being stressed 24/7.
God, you got to love it. Wouldn't live in any other age, honestly.
Watcher

[Palemoon]

WEll happy for ya OWW, but I'm an old hat have ethics and I refuse to cover corp tracks. LOL I'm sitting on crap that would pucker the butts of the owners of the last place I worked. Thing is that 24/7 auto reports via software that had it or I just simply programed it so I'd not be caught off guard going to work. But that is the ethics lesson not the myth so you sit there and sort it out, and it goes to back what mommy or daddy said the truth isalways the best. So export on a grand level American corps do for much oh I'd say about 60% of IT now here. No Unions in IT no clout, and just mothers and fathers in far away lands working for 1/8 of what maybe soon you will no longer have.

IT myth even if you got that 120% return on the bucks spent for IT your not gonna sit at the table long because .02 percent is paid with the knowledge and easy of learing IT to 3rd world places..it is the bottom line.

I'd not live in any other age either, in my life time lol it is taught as history what lacks now though are the ethics. I paid the price would not cover it up more IT staff are have done so was why the Web melt down. Can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool the IT department and IT admmin autos crap we never wanted to know about but must let not very secure corps types feel secure then catch crap becuase email did not get out to a babe or dude...geez these look at the Dot com bust still do not get it or have a life..no more 24/7 fpr me burned 6 CD's logs over just last two jobs. My thinking is I will shove if I am pushed in the mean time I'm sure my replacemnt as let them know yep he could, my ace is with ethics can of shoved, and I'm very close to that.

Hell M$ is suing spammers when 90% of the crap is from their own system...called working the system. Gates bought the code for DOS he did not do it nor did Allen why he bailed out years ago ethics and the myth that MS created something. No fault he bailed out early only worth a few million and is loosing tons a day, unlike media hype Bill a college business major dropout funny how that is always lost.. Exploit a few billion and you can call yourself a Chef Software Archectuit?????? Nuff is tme for all you younger folks to make what ever you will of it, and alwys ask yourself when the gut with the big house on the hill over looking the bay sleeps well cause a bunch of people find exploits and flaws in their product for free. Glad my car was not designed around it flaws, but the cost of fixing those flaws fell directly upon who made it not some 3rd party selling me an add on..hint..hint anti viri spam protection. Kidz give away what should have been sold..never work for free.

[anjali]

One More myth

Hackers can virtually break any file u encrypt be it 128 bit or 256 bit encryption.....


Hackers by the powers of their knowledge alone cannot decrypt or brutre force encrypted files as the hardware resources required to carry such activities are enormous.....

Recently I read that it took US government months to decrypt some files.... over a Super computer....

So don't panic and your files are not as unsecured as it looks to u.....

[RiOtEr]

Windows is easier to hack then Linux - (sure to raise a few stirs with this one) ok, if you secure Windows it will be secure, if you secure Linux it will be secure, if you don`t secure them then you can attack them with a high degree of success.

blah windows by default has a lot more exploits that you cant patch than linux and patches take alot longer to propigate because you have mabey 30-40 people working on it linux there is hundreds of people and a possiblity of millions that can patch it
so i disagree on that one