HACKING THE NET

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.”

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. 

Black hat hacker

The first offence was a transfer of $999,000 from the Sharon, Pennsylvania, City School District’s account at First National Bank to an account in Kiev, Ukraine.  The second offence was a transfer of  $2,158,600 from a Penneco Oil account held at First Commonwealth Bank to an account in Krasnodar, Russia.  The third offence was a transfer of   $1,350,000 from a Penneco Oil account held at First Commonwealth Bank to an account in Minsk, Belarus.  The fourth was a attempt to transfer $76,520 from a Penneco Oil account held at First Commonwealth Bank to an account in Philadelphia. But the FBI estimates that peer-to-peer malware and the Bugat botnet is responsible for at  least $10 million domestically. The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), have released a Technical Alert (TA15-286A)  for all Microsoft Windows Affected Systems  about the Dridex botnet. 

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/