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Hackers
Jessica Floyd
Professor Teresa Ashley
CIS 106
February 15, 2015

Hackers

“We worried for decades about WMDs – Weapons of Mass Destruction. Now it is time to worry about a new kind of WMDs – Weapons of Mass Disruption.”
― John Mariotti “Hacker; Someone who maliciously breaks into a system for personal gain.” (Beaver, 10) Hacking is a growing phenomenon that has proven itself to be a menace to both the public organizations and business security. In todays modern society it is very important for us to understand how hackers can infiltrate our systems and gain access to our personal information. Being knowledgeable about some of the common tools hackers are using will help us to protect our computers from being cracked into. Hacking has been around for decades dating all the way back to 1903 with the infamous Nevil Maskelyne who hacked into a wireless telegraphy demonstration by sending denigrating mores codes through a projector. (Marks) Another prominent, but more recent scandal was the attack on Target’s security and payment system that left millions of consumers credit card numbers and personal information open and at risk to be obtained for illegal use. Although Target spent 1.6 million on malware protection and had a team of security specialists watching for signs of intrusion, the hackers still gained access to the publics personal information. With all of the protection Target had surrounding its payment system some may wonder how a breach in security could have happened. These hackers were able to break into Target’s secured system by accessing their computers’ Random Access Memory, also known as RAM. RAM is defined as volatile memory whose contents can be changed (Soper, Price, Mueller, 967). Data must exist somewhere before it is stored, saved, and encrypted; that space where uncoded information resides is your RAM. Random access memory poses as a high security threat when it processes uncoded personal information, because it leaves the public vulnerable to memory hacking. One tool hackers use to access RAM is known as “Rdasrv” which grants a hacker access to information at point of sale where personal information is processed through RAM. Stealing personal information through point of sale in this manner is known as “RAM scrapping”. Another common tool that is used within the hacking community is malware known as Rootkits. Rachit Mathur, Senior Antivirus Researcher for Mcafee, explains that, “Rootkits typically modify certain areas in the memory of the running operating system (OS) to hijack execution control from the OS.” Once a Rootkit is successfully installed the hacker then has the ability to hide any evidence of any modification that has and will take place. Sony BMG is a well known company that has been involved in a questionable hacking scandal. Unlike Target Sony BMG were not the victims of this attack, rather they indirectly victimized their own customers. Any customer who purchased cds from this reputable source unknowingly installed a rootkit onto their computers. Although Sony BMG did not intend for the rootkits to be used in a malicious way, what this company did was still a form of hacking. In an article published on Fox News web page on November 3, 2005 a spokesperson for Sony BMG explains how the rootkit software was intended to protect the company from users who wanted to exceed the amount of the three allowable copies of the companies DRM protected music, however the measure resulted in the rootkits that Sony installed making customers computers more easily accessible to skilled hackers.
Today’s modern society proves to be an enormous playing field for hackers. With society moving farther and farther away from the use of paper and tangible point of sale purchases, the hacking community is given a larger range of potential systems to be cracked into. As a society we are obsessed with the utilization of tablets, computers, cell phones and new technology, which leads us to online purchasing and online banking and the release of some of our most personal information. We are definitely becoming a virtual world; we want everything completed fast and in one click and the new technologies that give us an opportunity to do so. While we are exploring, utilizing and obsessing over our new tech toys, we need to keep in mind whose playground we are really playing on: hackers. Marc Goodman author of “Future Crimes” quotes, “There is a gathering storm before us. The technological bedrock on which we are building the future of humanity is deeply unstable and like a house of cards can come crashing down at any moment.”
With all the the tools hackers have available to them to break into our systems it is important for us to know at least the basic defenses we should practice when it comes to protecting ourselves from them. We can avoid making our system vulnerable to attacks by staying away from random links we can’t verify and be careful when we're opening attachments sent through our emails. Make sure that we are continuously backing up our documents and files, because we would want these accessible incase our computer crash. One of the most prevalent precautions we can take is installing security software onto our computers. Using good housekeeping skills as far as updating and maintaining our software will make us less vulnerable to attacks. We have just as much access to tools and information that hackers do to protect ourselves. Don't become a victim access tools and resources, use countermeasures to protect yourself!

References

Beaver,K .(2012). Hacking for Dummies. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzUxODU3OV9fQU41?sid=d4b7136c-6cab-4c83-8891-81b303666131@sessionmgr115&vid=3&format=EB&lpid=lp_C1-2&rid=0
Marks,P. (2011, December 27). newscientist.com. The Gentlemans Hackers 1903 Iulz. Retrieved February 10, 2015 from http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228440.700-dotdashdiss-the-gentleman-hackers-1903-lulz.html?page=1#.VODwYvnF98E
Soper, M., Prowse, D. & Muller, S. (2013). Authorized Cert Guide,Comptia A+. Indiana: Pearson Education.
Sony BMG Hacking into CD Buyers Computers. ( 2005, November 3). FoxNews.com. Retrieved February 10, 2015 from http://www.foxnews.com/story/2005/11/03/sony-bmg-hacking-into-cd-buyers-computers/
Schultz, E. & Ray, E. (2008). infosectoday.com. Rootkits: The Ultimate Malware Threat. Retrieved February 10, 2015 from http://www.infosectoday.com/Articles/Rootkits.htm

Riley,M. Elgin,B. Lawrence, D. & Matlack, C. (2014, March 13). bloomberg.com. Missed alarms and 40 million stolen credit card numbers: How Target blew it. Retrieved February 11, 2015 from http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-03-13/target-missed-alarms-in-epic-hack-of-credit-card-data
Zetter, K. (2014, September 30). wired.com. How RAM scrappers work: The sneaky tools behind credit card attacks. Retrieved February 12, 2015 from http://www.wired.com/2014/09/ram-scrapers-how-they-work/

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