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Aspects Of Computer Security

Hackers, crackers, script kiddies, warez d00dz, etc. - the usual suspects

Actually, there are distinct groups who may cause your system damage.

Hackers - External system access threat True hackers would never knowingly cause damage to a system. That's not what it is about for them. It's the thrill of the chase that drives them. Pitting your wits against a system administrator who has at least as much knowledge as you and, because he runs the system, probably a lot more. To understand the mindset behind 'true' hacking consider this excerpt from 'Hacker speech styles' section at 'The Hacker Lexicon' available at www.tuxedo.org/~esr/ jargon/html/index.html

A non-hacker who is indelicate enough to ask a question like "So, are you working on finding that bug now or leaving it until later?" is likely to get the perfectly correct answer "Yes!" (that is, "Yes, I'm doing it either now or later, and you didn't ask which!")

You get the idea. It's a complete culture with a different language populated by people who tend to be intelligent and often gifted programers who are unlikely to be out to destroy your system. Unfortunately there are then a whole raft of people (which hackers consider lower life forms) who have much less knowledge about computer systems, this makes them more, not less, dangerous. They have read that it is possible to connect into a poorly secured system by running certain software tools and because it is possible, that means they have to do it.

Virus writers, script kiddies, etc - Virus and worm (Trojan horses) Viruses are written by individuals, usually competent programmers, in C, Pascal or some other low level language who seem to get a thrill from making a nuisance of themselves. 'Script kiddies' are people who alter existing programs, usually written by someone else in a higher, easier to program, language to achieve the same end. Quite what these peoples motives are is beyond the remit of this text.

Criminals. - In financial terms, the most dangerous, as their intention is to set out to steal your money. They are unlikely to have any particular programming skills but will work with others (see above) to achieve their aims.

Have a look at the link for the Hacker Lexicon for details and background of other groups if you are interested. The above are the main ones you should be concerned about.

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