Computer Hacking

By: Archana Deoli

Presentation Over:

What is Hacking History of hacking Hackers What they do Types of Hackers Some Tools used for hacking Random fact How to deal with this problem Conclusion

HACKING
Authorized

or Unauthorized attempts to bypass the security mechanisms of an information systems or network In simple words Hacking means finding out weaknesses in a computer or computer network

History of Hackers

In December of 1947, the transistor was invented. Captain Crunch Steve Jobs Kevin Mitnick AT&T The Worm- Robert Tappan Morris Kevin Poulsen (a.k.a. Dark Dante) Tsumomu Shimomura David Smith Jon Johansen (a.k.a. DVD Jon)

Computer Crime The Beginning

In 1988 a "worm program" written by a college student shut down about 10 percent of computers connected to the Internet. This was the beginning of the era of cyber attacks. Today we have about 10,000 incidents of cyber attacks which are reported and the number grows.

Computer Crime - 1994

A 16-year-old music student called Richard Pryce, better known by the hacker alias Datastream Cowboy, is arrested and charged with breaking into hundreds of computers including those at the Griffiths Air Force base, NASA and the Korean Atomic Research Institute. His online mentor, "Kuji", is never found. Also this year, a group directed by Russian hackers broke into the computers of Citibank and transferred more than $10 million from customers' accounts. Eventually, Citibank recovered all but $400,000 of the pilfered money.

Computer Crime - 1995

In February, Kevin Mitnick is arrested for a second time. He is charged with stealing 20,000 credit card numbers. He eventually spends four years in jail and on his release his parole conditions demand that he avoid contact with computers and mobile phones. On November 15, Christopher Pile becomes the first person to be jailed for writing and distributing a computer virus. Mr Pile, who called himself the Black Baron, was sentenced to 18 months in jail. The US General Accounting Office reveals that US Defense Department computers sustained 250,000 attacks in 1995.

Computer Crime - 1999

In March, the Melissa virus goes on the rampage and wreaks havoc with computers worldwide. After a short investigation, the FBI tracks down and arrests the writer of the virus, a 29-year-old New Jersey computer programmer, David L Smith. More than 90 percent of large corporations and government agencies were the victims of computer security breaches in 1999

Computer Crime - 2000

In February, some of the most popular websites in the world such as Amazon and Yahoo are almost overwhelmed by being flooded with bogus requests for data. In May, the ILOVEYOU virus is unleashed and clogs computers worldwide. Over the coming months, variants of the virus are released that manage to catch out companies that didn't do enough to protect themselves. In October, Microsoft admits that its corporate network has been hacked and source code for future Windows products has been seen.

Who are Hackers?

A school definition for the term hacker. Is someone who never goes to class, who in fact sleeps all day, and who spends the night pursuing recreational activities rather than studying.

There are at least two common interpretations:

Someone who bypasses the systems access controls by taking advantage of security weaknesses left in the system by developers Someone who is both knowledgeable and skilled at computer programming, and who is a member of the hacker subculture, one with its own philosophy and code of ethics

What Do Hackers Do?

System Access confidential information Threaten someone from YOUR computer Broadcast your confidential letters or materials Store illegal or espionage material Network Eavesdrop and replay Imposer: server / client Modify data / stream Denial-of-Service

Types of Hackers

White-hat Hackers

The good guys who identify the security weakness of the system or network and inform the owner about them

Black Hat Hackers

A black hat is the villain or bad guy, who crash into victims security to steal information and destroy the victims security network.

Grey hat Hackers

A grey hat, in the hacking community, refers to a skilled hacker who is somewhere in between white and black hat hackers

Wheres he(hacking from?) Direct Attack vs. Online Tool

Onlin e Tool Target

Click Kiddie traffic from attack portal; not easily traced back to attacker
Target

Old School traffic direct from attacker; Maven Security Consulting, Inc. easily traced back

Copyright 2002 - All rights reserved

Top Tools Hackers Use

Spam

Downloads
Pop-ups

Active

Email Bombing
Refers to sending a large number of emails to the victim resulting in the victim's Email account (in case of an individual) or Mail servers (in case of a company or an email service provider) crashing.

Data Diddling

Altering raw data just before it is processed by a computer and then changing it back after the processing is completed.
Electricity Boards in India have been victims to data diddling programs inserted when private parties were computerizing their systems.

Salami Attacks

Used for the commission of financial crimes. Key here is to make the alteration so insignificant that in a single case it would go completely unnoticed.
E.g. a bank employee inserts a program, into the bank's servers, that deducts a small amount of money (say Rs. 5 a month) from the account of every customer. No account holder will probably notice this unauthorized debit, but the bank employee will make a sizable amount of money every month.

Denial of Service Attack

Involves flooding a computer resource with more requests than it can handle. Causes the resource (e.g. a web server) to crash thereby denying authorized users the service offered by the resource.

Virus Attacks

Programs that attach themselves to a computer or a file Circulate themselves to other files and to other computers on a network Affect the data on a computer, either by altering or deleting it

Worm Attacks

Do not need the host to attach themselves to. Make functional copies of themselves and do this repeatedly till they eat up all the available space on a computer's memory.

Logic Bombs

Event dependent programs. Programs are created to do something only when a certain event (known as a trigger event) occurs.
E.g. even some viruses may be termed logic bombs because they lie dormant all through the year and become active only on a particular date (like the Chernobyl virus).

Web Jacking
Occurs when someone forcefully takes control of a website (by cracking the password and later changing it).

KEY LOGGERS
Threats from Key Loggers
Key loggers: Record all keystrokes made on that system and store them in a log file, which can later automatically be emailed to the attacker. Countermeasures Periodic Detection practices should be made mandatory. A Typical Key Logger automatically loads itself into the memory, each time the computer boots. Thus, the start up script of the Key Logger should be removed.

PRETEXTING & PHISHING:

Pretexting is the act of creating and using an invented scenario to persuade a target to release information (e.g. date of birth, Social Security Number, last bill amt.) Phishing is an e-mail fraud method in which the perpetrator sends out email in an attempt to gather personal and financial information from recipients. Phishers attempt to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details. EBay and PayPal are two of the most targeted companies, and online banks are also common

targets

Multi-Tier Anonymity
Onlin e Tool Target Web Proxy

Web Portal

Random Fact !!!!

The

average age group of hackers are aged between 14-24 yrs.

Did you know ?

Social

networking sites like FACEBOOK, GMAIL, YAHOO comprised of 60% of direct or indirect hacking incidents.

Most popular virus

Links

involving private pictures of celebrities. Links showing pictures of famous personalities like videos of Osama Bin Ladens killing.

Another popular scam

Facebook lottery scam.

HOW TO DEAL WITH THIS PROBLEM

Software and Hardware defenses (e.g., Anti spam, antivirus software, firewalls) Other practical steps.

Conclusion

User awareness is key to a secure computer/network

Do not open suspicious files/emails Verify ActiveX/Java prompts Avoid using P2P programs Avoid downloading freeware If attacked, disconnect the network. Do not turn off the computer