Who hacks? Who cracks?
Date: May 10, 2004Source: Computer Crime Research Center
By:
All computer criminals can be divided into the following separate groups by purposes and spheres of their activities:
1. Hackers are users of computer systems and/or networks that are involved in searching illegal ways of obtaining unauthorized access to computers or data bases. According to some experts, their main task is to examine a computer system, to reveal flaws in its security, to inform users and developers with the purpose of its further improvement and to give suggestions on it. Nowadays law enforcement employees are anxious about appearance of so-called “white hackers”. Leaders of such formations explain that they do not apply their skills to attacks, they just examine flaws of operation systems with purpose to remove them. However, we know many cases when hackers, while examining information systems of organizations, offered their services to remove these flaws and the management paid more than $50 millions.
For last years hackers of the Eastern Europe hacked about 1 million of credit card numbers of 40 financial companied of the US; 64% of huge companies suffered losses from hackers’ activities. Experts estimate that cyber criminality returns huge profit yearly. At that 97% of these crimes are not even filed. Card frauds share $400 millions, viruses – $12 billions, piracy - $1 billion from this sum. It is anticipated that incomes from illegal copying of music, video or texts from the Internet will amount to $112 billions by 2005.
2. Crackers are more serious offenders, able to cause damage to a system. Cracker breaks into a system, he acts with the purpose to obtain unauthorized access to someone else’s information. Causes of may be different: hooligan motives, naughtiness, revenge, mercenary purposes, industrial or other espionage, etc.
Experts mark out three groups of crackers:
a) vandals – their main purpose to hack computer systems for further destruction (deletion of files, formatting of hard disk causing loss of the stored information, etc);
b) jokers – the most harmless (in view of damage to computer information) part of crackers. Their purpose is hacking of computer system and carrying in different sound, noise and visual effects;
c) breakers – professional criminals commit hacking of computer systems with purpose of money theft, industrial or commercial espionage, thefts of expensive software, etc.
3. Phreaker (phone + break = phreak) – involved in using phone networks with purpose of evading payment of telephone bills. Their criminal activity is directed at obtaining access codes, information thefts, thefts of phone cards and numbers of access with purpose to transfer telephone conversation charges to other people.
4. Carders pay for their expenses at the account of someone else’s credit cards.
5. Collectors (codes kids) collect and use software intercepting various passwords, codes and numbers of private phone companies that have access to global networks.
6. Cyber crows are malefactors involved in unauthorized break into computer systems of financial and banking accounts. They use computer technologies to obtain numbers of credit cards and some other valuable information for mercenary purposes. They often sell obtained info to other people.
7. Computer pirates are specialized in illegal cracking of protection systems of licensed software and then sell it at prices that are significantly lower than prices of the manufacturers.
Add comment
Email to a Friend
| Discussion is closed - view comments archieve |
| 2009-07-30 09:10:56 - i want to find whos hacking or cracking my pc ioanna anton |
| 2008-05-25 03:50:05 - Is it really immpossible to find out who... Vicki |
| 2007-02-15 16:32:52 - how can i be a detectiv for internet... valonnn |
| Total 3 comments |
