Preface

I have made this report file on the topic Hacking; I have tried my best to elucidate all the

relevant detail to the topic to be included in the report. While in the beginning I have tried

to give a general view about this topic.

My efforts and wholehearted co-corporation of each and every one has ended on a

successful note. I express my sincere gratitude to SUBASH who assisting me throughout

the preparation of this topic. I thank him for providing me the reinforcement, confidence

and most importantly the track for the topic whenever I needed it.

INTRODUCTION

In the computer security context, a hacker is someone who seeks

and exploits weaknesses in a computer system or computer network. Hackers may be

motivated by a multitude of reasons, such as profit, protest, challenge, enjoyment,[1] or

to evaluate those weaknesses to assist in removing them. The subculture that has

evolved around hackers is often referred to as the computer underground and is now

a known community. While other uses of the word hacker exist that are related to

computer security, such as referring to someone with an advanced understanding of

computers and computer networks, they are rarely used in mainstream context. They

are subject to the longstanding hacker definition controversy about the term's true

meaning. In this controversy, the term hacker is reclaimed by computer

programmers who argue that someone who breaks into computers, whether computer

criminal (black hats) or computer security expert (white hats), is more appropriately

called a cracker instead. Some white hat hackers, who claim that they also deserve

the title hacker, and that only black hats should be called "crackers"

Contents

History of Hacking

What is Hacking?

Who is Hacker?

Famous Hackers in history

Why do Hackers hack?

Types of Hacker

How to give a password to account

What should do after Hacked

How to secure our data

Advantages of Hacking

Disadvantages of Hacking

Conclusion

References

A history of hacking

Hacking has been around for more than a century. In the 1870s, several teenagers were

flung off the country's brand new phone system by enraged authorities. Here's a peek at

how busy hackers have been in the past 35 years.

Early 1960s

University facilities with huge mainframe computers, like MIT's artificial intelligence

lab, become staging grounds for hackers. At first, "hacker" was a positive term for a person

with a mastery of computers who could push programs beyond what they were designed

to do.

Early 1970s

John Draper makes a long-distance call for free by blowing a precise tone

into a telephone that tells the phone system to open a line. Draper

discovered the whistle as a give-away in a box of children's cereal. Draper,

who later earns the handle "Captain Crunch," is arrested repeatedly for

phone tampering throughout the 1970s.

Yippie social movement starts YIPL/TAP (Youth International Party Line/Technical

Assistance Program) magazine to help phone hackers (called "phreaks") make free long-

distance calls.

Two members of California's Homebrew Computer Club begin making "blue boxes,"

devices used to hack into the phone system. The members, who adopt handles "Berkeley

Blue" (Steve Jobs) and "Oak Toebark" (Steve Wozniak), later go on to found Apple

Computer.

Early 1980s

Author William Gibson coins the term "cyberspace" in a science fiction novel

called Necromancer.

In one of the first arrests of hackers, the FBI busts the Milwaukee-based 414s (named after

the local area code) after members are accused of 60 computer break-in sranging from

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre to Los Alamos National Laboratory.

John Draper

Comprehensive Crime Control Act gives Secret Service jurisdiction over

credit card and computer fraud.

Two hacker groups form, the Legion of Doom in the United States and

the Chaos Computer Club in Germany.

2600: The Hacker Quarterly is founded to share tips on phone and computer hacking.

Late 1980s

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act gives more clout to federal authorities.

Computer Emergency Response Team is formed by U.S. defences agencies. Based at

Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, its mission is to investigate the growing volume

of attacks on computer networks.

At 25, veteran hacker Kevin Mitnick secretly monitors the e-mail of MCI and Digital

Equipment security officials. He is convicted of damaging computers and stealing software

and is sentenced to one year in prison.

First National Bank of Chicago is the victim of a $70-million computer heist.

An Indiana hacker known as "Fry Guy" -- so named for hacking McDonald's -- is raided

by law enforcement. A similar sweep occurs in Atlanta for Legion of Doom hackers known

by the handles "Prophet," "Leftist" and "Urvile."

Early 1990s

After AT&T long-distance service crashes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, law

enforcement starts a national crackdown on hackers. The feds nab St. Louis' "Knight

Lightning" and in New York grab Masters of Deception trio "Phiber Optik," " Acid Phreak"

and "Scorpion." Fellow hacker "Eric Bloodaxe" is picked up in Austin, Texas.

Operation Sun devil, a special team of Secret Service agents and members of Arizona's

organized crime unit,conducts raids in 12 major cities, including Miami.

A 17-month search ends in the capture of hacker Kevin Lee Poulsen ("Dark Dante"), who

is indicted for stealing military documents.

Hackers break into Griffith Air Force Base, then pewter computers at NASA and

the Korean Atomic Research Institute. Scotland Yard nabs "Data Stream," a 16-year-old

British teenager who curls up in the fetal position when seized.

A Texas A&M professor receives death threats after a hacker logs on to his computer

from off-campus and sends 20,000 racist e-mail messages using his Internet address.

In a highly publicized case, Kevin Mitnick is arrested (again),

this time in Raleigh, N.C., after he is tracked down via computer

by Tsutomu Shimomura at the San Diego Supercomputer

Centre.

Late 1990s

Hackers break into and deface federal Web sites, including the

U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Air Force, CIA, NASA and

others.

Report by the General Accounting Office finds Defence

Department computers sustained 250,000 attacks by hackers in

1995 alone.

A Canadian hacker group called the Brotherhood, angry at hackers being falsely accused

of electronically stalking a Canadian family, break into the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

Web site and leave message: "The media are liars." Family's own 15-year-old son

eventually is identified as stalking culprit.

Hackers pierce security in Microsoft's NT operating system to illustrate its weaknesses.

Popular Internet search engine Yahoo! is hit by hackers claiming a "logic bomb" will go

off in the PCs of Yahoo!'s users on Christmas Day 1997 unless Kevin Mitnick is released

from prison. "There is no virus," Yahoo! spokeswoman Diane Hunt said.

1998

Anti-hacker ad runs during Super Bowl XXXII. The Network Associates ad, costing $1.3-

million for 30 seconds, shows two Russian missile silo crewmen worrying that a computer

order to launch missiles may have come from a hacker. They decide to blow up the world

anyway.

In January, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics is inundated for days with hundreds of

thousands of fake information requests, a hacker attack called "spamming."

Hackers break into United Nation's Children Fund Web site, threatening a "holocaust"

if Kevin Mitnick is not freed.

Hackers claim to have broken into a Pentagon network and stolen software for a military

satellite system. They threaten to sell the software to terrorists.

The U.S. Justice Department unveils National Infrastructure Protection Centre, which

is given a mission to protect the nation's telecommunications, technology and

transportation systems from hackers.

Kevin Mitnick [photo /

AP ]

Hacker group L0pht, in testimony before Congress, warns it could shut down nationwide

access to the Internet in less than 30 minutes. The group urges stronger security measures.

What is Hacking?

During the 1990s, the term "hacker" originally denoted a skilled programmer proficient in

machine code and computer operating systems. In particular, these individuals could

always hack on an unsatisfactory system to solve problems and engage in a little software

company espionage by interpreting a competitor's code.

Unfortunately, some of these hackers also became experts at accessing password-protected

computers, files, and networks and came to known as "crackers." Of course, an effective

and dangerous "cracker" must be a good hacker and the terms became intertwined. Hacker

won out in popular use and in the media and today refers to anyone who performs some

form of computer sabotage.

Hacker Tools

There now are more than 100,000 known viruses with more appearing virtually daily. The

myriad of hackers and their nefarious deeds can affect any computer owner whether an

occasional home user, e-mailer, student, blogger, or a network administrator on site or on

the internet. No matter your level of computer use, you must protect your computer,

business, or even your identity. The best way to know how to protect your computer is to

understand the hacker's tools and recognize their damage.

Viruses, Exploits, Worms, and More

The term computer "virus" originated to describe machine code command inserted into a

computer's memory that, on execution, copies itself into other programs and files on the

computer. Depending on the hacker's intent, the design of a virus can merely be an

inconvenience or have very serious consequences up to a potential catastrophe.

Generally, a virus is a piece of software, a series of data, or a command sequence that

exploits a bug, glitch, or vulnerability. Each example is appropriately termed an "exploit."

An exploit causes unintended or unanticipated behavior to occur in a computer's operating

system or applications while propagating itself within the computer.

An exploit and operates through a network security vulnerability or "hole" without

previous access to the vulnerable system is a "remote" exploit. An exploit that needs prior

access to a system is termed a "local" exploit. These are usually intended to increase the

hacker's access privileges beyond those granted by a system administrator.

Worms are simply viruses that send copies over network connections. A bomb resides

silently in a computer's memory until set off by a date or action. A Trojan horse is a

malicious program that cannot reproduce itself, but is distributed by CD or e-mail.

Protect Your Computer: Avoid Computer Holes/Vulnerabilities

Install only trusted software and delete unknown emails. If you have any doubt about a

piece of software's function, do not install it. If you receive e-mails from random people's

names, resist your curiosity and do not open it, just delete it.

Under no conditions download or open attachments from anyone that you do not know and

even then be cautious. Banks and most companies that create online personal accounts will

not send you attachments. If they do, it is probably best to go to the company site and

request the download or at least see if it is legitimate. Avoid adult web sites, a hacker's

paradise.

Whether in your e-mail or online, do not click on ads. If the ad is of interest, find the site.

Be careful with what you physically put into your computer. This is especially true for

shared R/W CDs, USB hard disks, or flash drives. This is an easy path for a virus to follow

from computer to computer.

Protection: Install Anti-Virus Software

Anti-virus software searches for evidence of the presence of viral programs, worm, bombs,

and Trojan horses by checking for the characteristic appearances or behaviors that is typical

of these programs. When found the program logs its discovery, its type, often its name or

an identifier, and it potential for damage. The anti-virus software then eliminates or

isolates/quarantines the infected files. For the individual, commercial software is relatively

inexpensive; however, there are free anti-virus programs available.

Since new viruses appear almost daily with new code it is imperative that you update you

antivirus program often to keep up with these threats; therefore, make sure to set your

program to update automatically. To avoid the annoyance of computer slowdown schedule

full scale scans late at night.

The same is true for your Windows Operating System. Very often, your OS is where

hackers discover the holes to exploit. Of course, in an ever-continuing battle, this software

is continuously updated with security patches.

Finally, secure your wireless network with a router that has a built in firewall. Almost all

wireless routers are set to no security when first installed. Log into the router and at least

set it to basic security with a strong password to replace the factory setting that any hacker

knows. A firewall or router that is not configured properly or non-existent allows hackers

to scan passwords, e-mails, or files that cross your network connection.

Hacker is a term used by some to mean "a clever programmer" and by others, especially

those in popular media, to mean "someone who tries to break into computer systems."

1) Eric Raymond, compiler of The New Hacker's Dictionary, defines a hacker as a clever

programmer. A "good hack" is a clever solution to a programming problem and "hacking"

is the act of doing it. Raymond lists five possible characteristics that qualify one as a hacker,

which we paraphrase here:

A person who enjoys learning details of a programming language or system

A person who enjoys actually doing the programming rather than just theorizing about

it

A person capable of appreciating someone else's hacking

A person who picks up programming quickly

A person who is an expert at a particular programming language or system, as in

"UNIX hacker"

Raymond deprecates the use of this term for someone who attempts to crack someone else's

system or otherwise uses programming or expert knowledge to act maliciously. He prefers

the term cracker for this meaning.

2) The term hacker is used in popular media to describe someone who attempts to break

into computer systems. Typically, this kind of hacker would be a proficient programmer or

engineer with sufficient technical knowledge to understand the weak points in a security

system. For more on this usage, see cracker.

One Of The World’s Most Famous Hackers & What Happened To Them

There are two types of hackers. First, you’ve got the kind that is so often portrayed by

Hollywood as an anti-social nerd with a chip on his shoulder out to dominate the

cyberworld by breaking into secure networks and messing things up. Second, you’ve got

the kind of people who just enjoy fiddling around with software source code and hardware

gigs.

That’s right. The term “hacker” originally referred to the second type, which held

absolutely no malevolent connotations. Only recently has the term been used to refer

primarily to criminal masterminds. There are good hackers and bad hackers! Nowadays,

benevolent hackers are often called “white hats” while the more sinister are called “black

hats.”

In this article, I’ll be talking specifically about famous hackers that don hats of black. Here

are five of the most widely known black hatters and what happened to them for their

recklessness.

Jonathan James

Jonathan James was known as “c0mrade” on the Internet. What is his ticket to fame? He

was convicted and sent to prison for hacking in the United States–all while he was still a

minor. At only fifteen years of age, he managed to hack into a number of networks,

including those belonging to Bell South, Miami-Dade, the U.S. Department of Defense,

and NASA.

Yes, James hacked into NASA’s network and downloaded enough source code to learn

how the International Space Station worked. The total value of the downloaded assets

equaled $1.7 million. To add insult to injury, NASA had to shut down their network for

three whole weeks while they investigated the breach, which cost them $41,000.

The story of James has a tragic ending, however. In 2007, a number of high profile

companies fell victim to a massive wave of malicious network attacks. Even though James

denied any involvement, he was suspected and investigated. In 2008, James committed

suicide, believing he would be convicted of crimes that he did not commit.

Kevin Mitnick

Kevin Mitnick’s journey as a computer hacker has been so interesting and compelling that

the U.S. Department of Justice called him the “most wanted computer criminal in U.S.

history.” His story is so wild that it was the basis for two featured films.

What did he do? After serving a year in prison for hacking into the Digital Equipment

Corporation’s network, he was let out for 3 years of supervised release. Near the end of

that period, however, he fled and went on a 2.5-year hacking spree that involved breaching

the national defense warning system and stealing corporate secrets.

Mitnick was eventually caught and convicted, ending with a 5-year prison sentence. After

serving those years fully, he became a consultant and public speaker for computer security.

He now runs Mitnick Security Consulting, LLC.

Albert Gonzalez

Albert Gonzalez paved his way to Internet fame when he collected over 170 million credit

card and ATM card numbers over a period of 2 years. Yep. That’s equal to a little

over half the population of the United States.

Gonzalez started off as the leader of a hacker group known as ShadowCrew. This group

would go on to steal 1.5 million credit card numbers and sell them online for profit. Shadow

Crew also fabricated fraudulent passports, health insurance cards, and birth certificates for

identity theft crimes totaling $4.3 million stolen.

The big bucks wouldn’t come until later, when Gonzalez hacked into the databases of TJX

Companies and Heartland Payment Systems for their stored credit card numbers. In 2010,

Gonzalez was sentenced to prison for 20 years (2 sentences of 20 years to be served out

simultaneously).

Kevin Poulsen

Kevin Poulsen, also known as “Dark Dante,” gained his fifteen minutes of fame by utilizing

his intricate knowledge of telephone systems. At one point, he hacked a radio station’s

phone lines and fixed himself as the winning caller, earning him a brand new Porsche.

According to media, he was called the “Hannibal Lecter of computer crime.”

He then earned his way onto the FBI’s wanted list when he hacked into federal systems

and stole wiretap information. Funny enough, he was later captured in a supermarket and

sentenced to 51 months in prison, as well paying $56,000 in restitution.

Like Kevin Mitnick, Poulsen changed his ways after being released from prison. He began

working as a journalist and is now a senior editor for Wired News. At one point, he even

helped law enforcement to identify 744 sex offenders on MySpace.

Gary McKinnon

Gary McKinnon was known by his Internet handle, “Solo.” Using that name, he

coordinated what would become the largest military computer hack of all time. The

allegations are that he, over a 13-month period from February 2001 to March 2002,

illegally gained access to 97 computers belonging to the U.S. Armed Forces and NASA.

McKinnon claimed that he was only searching for information related to free energy

suppression and UFO activity cover-ups. But according to U.S. authorities, he deleted a

number of critical files, rendering over 300 computers inoperable and resulting in over

$700,000 in damages.

Being of Scottish descent and operating out of the United Kingdom, McKinnon was able

to dodge the American government for a time. As of today, he continues to fight against

extradition to the United States.

Now, do you know any famous hackers who should be in this hall of infamy? Put his (or

her) name down in the comments.

Why do people hack computers?

When someone hacks a computer or network system, it's typically for one of three main

reasons:

Hacking for fun

Some hackers make attempts on computers, servers or network systems just for the

personal gratification. Others may feel that they need to prove something to their peers or

friends, and hack something only for the challenge.

Hacking to steal

Another reason to hack a system is to steal information or money. A large portion of

hacking attempts fall into this category. Banks and large companies are common targets

for hacking jobs, but sometimes smaller companies or even a specific person's computer

are targeted, as well.

Hacking to disrupt

There are also some hackers, including hacking groups; that target a company to disrupt

business, create chaos and just be a nuisance. These groups often be trying to make a

statement with their hacking, demonstrate security inadequacies, or to show general

disapproval for the business itself. Examples of hacking groups that made headlines are

Anonymous and LulzSec.

Types of Hacker

Hackers aren’t inherently bad — the word “hacker” doesn’t mean “criminal” or

“bad guy.” Geeks and tech writers often refer to “black hat,” “white hat,” and

“gray hat” hackers. These terms define different groups of hackers based on their

behavior.

The definition of the word “hacker” is controversial, and could mean either

someone who compromises computer security or a skilled developer in the free

software or open-source movements.

Black Hats

Black-hat hackers, or simply “black hats,” are the type of hacker the popular

media seems to focus on. Black-hat hackers violate computer security for

personal gain (such as stealing credit card numbers or harvesting personal data

for sale to identity thieves) or for pure maliciousness (such as creating a botnet

and using that botnet to perform DDOS attacks against websites they don’t like.)

Black hats fit the widely-held stereotype that hackers are criminals performing

illegal activities for personal gain and attacking others. They’re the computer

criminals.

A black-hat hacker who finds a new, “zero-day” security vulnerability would sell it

to criminal organizations on the black market or use it to compromise computer

systems.

Media portrayals of black-hat hackers may be accompanied by silly stock photos

like the below one, which is intended as a parody.

White Hats

White-hat hackers are the opposite of the black-hat hackers. They’re the “ethical

hackers,” experts in compromising computer security systems who use their

abilities for good, ethical, and legal purposes rather than bad, unethical, and

criminal purposes.

For example, many white-hat hackers are employed to test an organizations’

computer security systems. The organization authorizes the white-hat hacker to

attempt to compromise their systems. The white-hat hacker uses their knowledge

of computer security systems to compromise the organization’s systems, just as

a black hat hacker would. However, instead of using their access to steal from

the organization or vandalize its systems, the white-hat hacker reports back to

the organization and informs them of how they gained access, allowing the

organization to improve their defenses. This is known as “penetration testing,”

and it’s one example of an activity performed by white-hat hackers.

A white-hat hacker who finds a security vulnerability would disclose it to the

developer, allowing them to patch their product and improve its security before

it’s compromised. Various organizations pay “bounties” or award prizes for

revealing such discovered vulnerabilities, compensating white-hats for their work.

Gray Hats

Very few things in life are clear black-and-white categories. In reality, there’s

often a gray area. A gray-hat hacker falls somewhere between a black hat and a

white hat. A gray hat doesn’t work for their own personal gain or to cause

carnage, but they may technically commit crimes and do arguably unethical

things.

For example, a black hat hacker would compromise a computer system without

permission, stealing the data inside for their own personal gain or vandalizing the

system. A white-hat hacker would ask for permission before testing the system’s

security and alert the organization after compromising it. A gray-hat hacker might

attempt to compromise a computer system without permission, informing the

organization after the fact and allowing them to fix the problem. While the gray-

hat hacker didn’t use their access for bad purposes, they compromised a security

system without permission, which is illegal.

If a gray-hat hacker discovers a security flaw in a piece of software or on a

website, they may disclose the flaw publically instead of privately disclosing the

flaw to the organization and giving them time to fix it. They wouldn’t take

advantage of the flaw for their own personal gain — that would be black-hat

behavior — but the public disclosure could cause carnage as black-hat hackers

tried to take advantage of the flaw before it was fixed.

How to give a password to account

Use length to your advantage.

Create a password that has eight or more characters since this is usually the minimum for most

password requirements. The longer the password the more secure it is likely to be

Form a "random" sequence of words and/or letters.

Create a phrase or series of letter that is seemingly "random" but is easy to

remember. Call this your "base-word."

1. Example: My children are Jessie, Cassey, Michael and Jenny, so my base-word

becomes "jecamije".

2. Example: My first house was on Spooner Street becomes "houseonspooner".

Add numbers to the base-word to make it more secure.

1. Example: Add the ages of the children to the end making it "jecamije22191612".

2. Example: Add the house number to the end of the base-word to create

"houseonspooner1500".

Use punctuation and symbols to "complicate" it further.

1. Example: Add random punctuation to create "jecamije_22191612".

2. Example: Add a symbol to the word to make "houseonspooner#1500".

Create complexity with upper and lowercase letters.

1. Example: Take advantage of adding capital letter to create "JeCaMiJe22191612".

2. Example: Add the house number to the end of the base-word to create

"houseonSpooner1500".

Generate similar but altered passwords.

Use the same or similar base-words to help you remember your passwords easily

without making them "too" easy to crack.

1. Example: "JeCaMiJe_22191612" can become "mykidsJeCaMiJe-90807060" or

"12161922*JeCaMiJe".

2. Example: "HouseonSpooner#1500" can become "1500*myfirstHouseonSpooner"

or "***15HouseonSpooner00".

TIPS

Don't use obvious base-words like a name, birthday or date, these are

easier to crack than whole phrases.

Don't use your name, it will be easy to crack!

Change your passwords periodically or whenever it may have become

compromised. Frequent password changing is required by company policy

or federal law in some businesses, but may encourage users to choose

weaker passwords or write down their password near their computers.

Don't re-use an expired password.

You can also use accented letters. It makes your password much harder.

Take a word (for example, money), spell it backwards (yenom) and put

your birthdate in between. Say you were born February 5, 1974. So it

would be yfebe5n19o74m. Hard to remember, yes, but also nearly

impossibly to crack.

For even more security, try to use "nonsense words." Combine these with

numbers to make memorable, secure passwords. For example,

"brickbeak9468."

If you have trouble remembering all the passwords you need, try using a

password manager, they can store all your passwords securely using a

single master password.

Mixing in numbers and letters (E.G.: j78hu5948h0gy67g) can almost be

impossible to crack, so try using that tip. If you're afraid you'll forget your

password, write it down in a secure place where you won't forget it.

How to secure our data

Creating a strong password

To keep your account safe, here are a few tips on how to create a strong password:

Use a unique password for each of your important accounts

Use a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols in your password

Don’t use personal information or common words as a password

Make sure your backup password options are up-to-date and secure

Keep your passwords secure

What should I do if I've been hacked?

If you believe you have been hacked or a company that is hosting your account has been

hacked the most important thing you should do is change your passwords.

Reset your passwords

Your account and account details are what most hackers want. If you cannot log into your

account, try resetting your password. If resetting your password does not work, or the e-

mail associated with the account no longer works look for an account recovery option. If

all options fail to reset the account, you must contact the company to have them intervene.

When changing your password keep the considerations below in mind:

A password should never be easy to guess. Passwords like 1234, password, etc. are

easy to guess.

Don't use passwords that you've used in the past.

Passwords should have letters, numbers, spaces, and other characters.

Note: If you are using the same password for other accounts (which is not advised) you

need to change your other account passwords to a different password. Once a hacker

determines your username and password that information is stored and often shared and

can be used to compromise other accounts.

Tip: If you have a difficult time remembering all your passwords use a password

manager to store them safely.

Check your machine

If the company your accounts are hosted by did not notice or mention a security breach, it's

possible you or your machine have been the source of the attack. Make sure to scan your

computer for any spyware and malware that may be stealing your account details or logging

your keystrokes.

Tip: If malware is found on your computer you may want to reset your account passwords

again, as infections may have logged your new password.

Verify account details

After all of your passwords have been changed if your accounts have any shipping

information make sure the shipping information is still your address.

If the account authorizes any third-party programs or apps (e.g. Facebook and Twitter)

make sure no third-party apps have rights to your accounts that you haven't given

permission. Best advice is to delete any app you are unfamiliar with or do not remember

installing.

Let your other contacts know about the hack

If your e-mail account or any account with contacts is hacked, let your contacts know about

the hack. Hackers often gain access to other accounts by using affiliated accounts since

people are not as suspicious of e-mails coming from someone they know.

Verify past posts

If your social network (e.g. Google+, Twitter, or Facebook) has been hacked make sure

there are no posts or messages that have been made on your behalf. Social network accounts

are hacked to help spread spam, malware, and advertisements on your behalf.

New accounts setup

If a hacker gains access to your e-mail, they often use your e-mail address as a way to setup

new accounts. Check your inbox, sent items, and trash for any new account notifications

using your e-mail address. If new accounts have been created, you can try logging into

those accounts by using the reset password feature and then delete the account.

How do you secure my data?

We understand how important it is to keep your data safe and secure - which is why we've

gone to pretty extreme lengths to lock things down. We break our practical security

measures down into four attributes, based on best practice management of risk.

Encryption Our first security defence is simple, important but often overlooked - we make sure

every single connection between your computer or wireless device and the

AffinityLive servers is encrypted, using 265 bit securty encryption which is roughly

twice as strong as many banks use today. Unlike many other web-based services

that provide encryption as an option, with AffinityLive, this level of encryption and

security is compulsory - there is simply no way to access AffinityLive without at

least 256 bit encryption.

Access In addition to making sure the connection between your desktop and the servers is

secure, we also go to pretty significant lengths to ensure the connections our

engineers use to manage your system and keep it secure are also tightly controlled

and secured. All engineers are closely vetted, and access to the server infrastructure

by our engineers is only possibly via a 2048bit encrypted VPN connection, secured

in addition through private keys and a server-side access control list that allows for

immediate revocation if required. While a small group of our engineers need to be

able to access systems to manage, optimize and maintain them, the only services

that are accessible outside this protected channel are via the website and mail server

that you use, each of which is firewalled and locked down at the front door. The

database and file server that store your critical data are never accessible directly to

the outside world.

Segregation When it comes to data security, segregating your data from that of other

AffinityLive clients is an important and effective security measure. When you

become an AffinityLive client, your data is kept in a separate, segregated database

which is tied completely to your - and only your - deployment of AffinityLive. In

hosted or multi-tenant applications that run in the cloud, one of the risks is that

everything is stored together in a single database, and all it takes is one oversight

by a programmer and other people may get unauthorized access to your data. With

AffinityLive, we make sure you're quarantined and segregated into your own

database, to ensure this can never happen.

Vigilance & Expertise Servers, websites and applications are created by people, so in a sense there's

always a chance that a bug or hole might be found. The good news is that Affinity

Live is built upon systems and technology with more than a decade of proven

performance in large scale environments, including Google, Facebook and more.

By choosing to build upon servers like the Apache Web Server, the Postfix Mail

Server and the MySQL Database Server, we've made sure we're using some of the

most stable, secure and proven platforms to build Affinity Live upon. Should a hole

or exploit be found, we've also architected our systems to support a high level of

automation; within a matter of minutes we can have our dozens of systems and

services automatically updated and patched. With a team of dozens watching these

things around the clock, a mixture of expertise, vigilance and doing things right

ensures your data is protected and secure, much more so than it would be sitting on

a server in the corner of your office.

Advantages of hacking

Can be used to recover lost information where the computer password has been

lost.

Teaches you that no technology is 100% secure.

To test how good security is on your own network.

They call it white hat computer hacking.

Disadvantages of Hacking

Criminals can use it to their advantage.

It can harm someone's privacy

It's Illegal

Conclusion

The word "hacker" carries weight. People strongly disagree as to what a hacker is. Hacking

may be defined as legal or illegal, ethical or unethical. The media’s portrayal of hacking

has boosted one version of discourse. The conflict between discourses is important for our

understanding of computer hacking subculture. Also, the outcome of the conflict may

prove critical in deciding whether or not our society and institutions remain in the control

of a small elite or we move towards a radical democracy (a.k.a. socialism). It is my hope

that the hackers of the future will move beyond their limitations (through inclusion of

women, a deeper politicization, and more concern for recruitment and teaching) and

become hacktivists. They need to work with non-technologically based and technology-

borrowing social movements (like most modern social movements who use technology to

do their task more easily) in the struggle for global justice. Otherwise the non-

technologically based social movements may face difficulty continuing to resist as their

power base is eroded while that of the new techno power elite is growing – and the

fictionesque cyberpunk-1984 world may become real.

References

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacking