When you connect to the Internet, you are allowing you computer to communicate with millions of people who are also on the Internet. Suddenly, your hard drive is fair game. Some people called by various names: hackers, whackers, crackers, and some other more colorful names if your data is being destroyed. These people make it their business to find and make use of exposed hard drives. Sometimes, they just take an innocent look around; sometimes they delete files or even deposit a virus of nature. However, hope is not lost, with the steps outline in this paper you will be able effectively shield your computer from those who wish to make mischief.

When you connect to the Internet, especially through a broadband connection any open ports, or shared file files and services are like a beacon for hackers’ automatic scanners. You see, along with granting you extremely fast downloads and browsing capabilities broadband connection also leave you computer wide open to the world since it an always-on connection. The risk is greater for those people that have static IP address. Since this address never changes hackers can come back whenever they wish.

Now for the interesting part, just how exactly does a hacker gain access to your system? The first step involves getting a password. One way that this can be accomplished is with a password-harvesting virus. A hacker merely sends the virus onto someone’s network, which then attaches itself to the networks logon procedure and then sends the information back to the hacker. This information is of course sent to bogus e-mail or a newsgroup where the hacker is waiting to snatch it up. There are numerous ways to cloak your e-mail and create ghost accounts but that is beyond the scope of this paper. It is only important to know that it can be done. One of the programs used by hackers is called a “mockingbird”. This is a small program that automatically intercepts name/password combinations as they are entered and send them back to the hacker. Another method may arise from some consultation work. While working on site the hacking may create a back door. Having done this he has a way t!

Perhaps you have heard that there is a distinction drawn between the merely curious (the true hacker) and the destructive (the black hats, whacker or cracker). This distinction is a bit self-serving, there is however some truth to it. A pure hacker is only interested in decryption, seeing if they can breach security, or learning all that they can about networks and systems. The just watch, never do any harm to the subject. This definition fits many people, in fact it a pretty good description of anyone who is interested in learning. However, the media and the public ignore this distinction. To be fair, hackers do not always stay pure.

However, for every hacker trying to break in, there is a system administrator on the other side trying to build walls strong enough to keep data secure. One method companies use to fight back against hackers is known as bait and trace. There are several other names that are interchangeable, most notable being: iron box and Venus flytrap. These are all names for special traps set up to catch a cracker who is logging in over a remote connection. The idea is to provide the cracker with limited access to your network and

Some topics in this essay:
Kevin Mitenick, Zone Alarm, Internet Suddenly, Research Corporation, Internet Crime, iron box, zone alarm, Personal Firewall, crackers hackers, motives history hacker, bait files, broadband connection, hackers sub, false shell, motives history, history hacker, personal firewall,