Bischoff noted that most hackers are malicious and would like to breach and explore computer systems all over the world. Studies verified hackers cause billions of dollars of damage and disrupt society and businesses everywhere and should be stopped. First, there is a need to analyze the aspects of the destructive and ethical hackers. Another aspect that is needed to be observed is, the psyche of the juvenile and disruptive hackers that cause the most damage due to lack of knowledge and skill. In the end, the precautions and the capital that has been invested in Internet and network protection against the destructive hackers by companies.
Howarth explained that most ethical hackers are called white hat hackers. Quittner noted hackers most known for major destruction in companies and governments are known as black hat hackers. There is one more type of hackers and they are script kiddies, which are “hackers” that depend on scripts, a chat based program, which black hats attach exploits and attacks on and post on the Internet.(2)
QuinThe type the media is most likely to report on script kiddies, they are the ones who usually get caught by bragging on chats. The average age of these script kiddies is around twelve to thirty. Most of the script kiddies that are past age eighteen only have a twelve grade education, and the most common of the script kiddies are white and male. Most of these hackers leave damage or calling cards on purpose, for recognition in their underground community, but even if they are not to leave damage, they are most likely to. They do not have the skills to find holes in programming on protection and patch them back up so no damage is done, which will cost company’s millions of dollars just to repair their information networks. Gorka Sadowski, director of emerging technologies for security systems developer NetScreen Technologies, referred to these packet kiddies. Some of these kids want to make a name for themselves, and other are in the prime of adolescence and are just saying “Screw the System”.
Black hat hackers are the most rare and elite of all the hacker groups. Most are connected with criminal activities, such as espionage. Not all hackers labeled black hat hackers are connected with criminal activities in real life. There are many out-of-date hackers considered black hat. They are the ones that are usually from the 1960′s and use the word hacker with honor and freedom. Most of these hackers do not have a negative intent they are usually programs from Stanford or MIT. They have good ethics and believe in open source and fixing flaws in programming.
Most black hat hackers are criminals and are very powerful. Political and personal revenge is a major motivating factor in becoming a true black hat hacker, but the most elite hackers go for the money. Industrial espionage is one of the best paid jobs for a hacker. A typical espionage attacks takes about three weeks and they usually pull in a million dollars a job. Black hats are good at what they do and usually don’t get caught. Around 90% of companies reported at least one attack in the last year. Three-fourths of them reported some kind of financial loss because of the attacks, and 19% reported ten or more attacks.
The stereotype for hackers is usually some kind of social misfit, which some are. (teenage hackers 1) The majority are not, hackers and script kiddies are usually so diverse in lifestyles that there is not definition. They can be rich to poor, straight A to straight D students, shy to out going, and lazy to sporty kids.
The FBI arrested the first teen hacker in 1983, and for the past twenty years, it’s become a predominantly teenage activity. (Teenage hackers 1) The media and public regard hackers as masked villains that break into systems in the middle of the night, though most hackers are normal kids in every school, neighborhood, and churches. There are no villains, just curios teens that are inclined to computers. Then they have to make a choice between giving it up or becoming a full time criminal. Almost all hackers have a sense of “ethical flexibility”. (Quinter 1) Ethical flexibility in their case is thinking what they are doing is a game, or for fun, since human contact is a bare minimum over a computer. Many more have a “Robin Hood syndrome”, which they believe what they are doing is alright and for the better of society.
With the booming Internet revolution of business, a lot of companies let security slip with a minimum with rushing to make money. They have left many holes and easily exploitable programming. Jim Cannady explains to the Henry Telecommunications and Technology partnership that there is not and will never be a completely secure system. He explained that vital information will not be safe with minimal security, it needs to be layered since no one product can protect information for long by itself.
The majorities, 60%, of all attackers are disgruntled employees, current and former, states the Computer Crime and Security Survey. Also, 94% of respondents detected a computer virus in 2001, up from 85% in 2000. This means more hackers and script kiddies are learning how to attack.
Hackers are very diverse and have their own society that most public and media do not know of. Hackers cause billions of dollars of damage each year on Internet dependent and connected companies. The battle between the ethical, white hat hackers and the destructive black hat hackers is a long war, with no end in site. The average American can become a hacker or a script kiddy; there are no requirements for becoming one, except a simple concept of computers. The cost of repair to network systems and reputations is countless. The capital poured into protection is worth it, until the software and systems are outdated.
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