HACKING THE NET
Curiosity and inquisitiveness are two characteristics deeply ingrained in nature and is a very natural part of all life forms. Curiosity killed the cat but inquisitiveness has sent many a hacker to jail for 'cybercrime' though over zealous inquisitiveness is normally their only crime. Anyone with sufficient interest in the 'art of hacking' can become quite accomplish in just a few short months but mastering it takes substantially longer. The learning curve of hacking is fairly steep, the subject is extremely interesting and the knowledge totally beyond awesome. Hence you hear names like, “Digigod”, “Cybergod” “Solo”, “C0mrade”, “Dark Dante” and “Byteking”, etc, etc, because analytical thought, mental brilliance or a high IQ and does tend give some people a complex of superiority. Which in some cases borders on arrogance then stupidity.
When one gets the hang of computers, ports, software and programming, understand communications protocols, have a familiarity with networks and routing tables and can visualize how they seamlessly integrate, curiosity can get the better of you. Knowing when to stop is the difference between a hacker and a cracker. Crackers are those individuals or teams intent on stealing sensitive or classified information, credit card details and other forms of identity theft for financial gain. Whereas hackers are those individuals who respect personal and corporate boundaries and do what they do for personal pleasure and advancement of knowledge. Most hackers today are employed as network security consultants or security analysts and the best example of such a hacker is Kevin Mitnick. He served time for his inquisitiveness and now works as a network security professional. People with hacking skills are in big demand and normally command above decent salaries. There is an old saying that says, "it takes a thief to catch a thief" well likewise "it takes a hacker (“White Hat”) to catch a cracker" ( “Black Hats” ). One of the hackers were even referred to as the “Hannibal Lecter of computer crime.”
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| Kevin Mitnick hacker supreme |
Hacking is a serious offence and as recent as 28th August, 'smilex' the administrator of the botnet “Bugat” aka Dridex got nabbed in Cypress by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In a joint venture of U.K and US disrupted his botnet which infected more than 125 000 computers in one year. Smilex is innocent until proven guilty but has already been labeled as a cyber criminal. He is being held for releasing a sophisticated malware package designed to steal banking and other credentials from infected computers that amounts to millions of USD. Smilex's real name is Andrey Ghinkul or Andrei Ghincul and he is from Moldova. It is alleged that he and his co-conspirators used the Dridex P2P malware to initiate fraudulent electronic funds transfers from the victims’ bank accounts into the accounts of their money mules, who then transferred the stolen funds to other members of the conspiracy.
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| Black hat hacker |
Because Smilex targeted American businesses, the USA is seeking for his extradition so that he can be tried in America. He will be charged with criminal conspiracy, unauthorized computer access with intent to defraud, damaging a computer, wire fraud and bank fraud. But don't let this put you off from learning hacking, because the key to becoming a successful hacker is to know where to draw the line.
If you've been infected, the following anti-virus software could help to alleviate your problems.
F-Secure
https://www.f-secure.com/en/web/home_global/online-scanner/
McAfee
http://www.mcafee.com/uk/downloads/free-tools/stinger.aspx/
Microsoft
http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx/
Sophos
https://www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/virus-removal-tool.aspx/
Trend Micro
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
