IT.
Igor Moiseenko
article is reprinted
with the reduction of
Journal Computerra "
No # 43 (170)
Music by Shov
Ending (beginning in room # 1)
As you can see, the history of hacking is full of unexpected
twists and highlights. That also represents the modern hacker?
Numerous foreign publications, full of spectacular stories
about hackers, do not give complete picture of this phenomenon.
Moreover, they serve as the main source of evidence captured
computer criminals (note, not hackers!); certificate
authorities, caught these criminals; at best - the views of
experts on computer security. The inner
world and the activities of hackers remain unknown.
Nevertheless, one can argue that a hacker
- It is more men than women, but rather
young than those in adulthood
(Although hacking tricks of all ages
submissive), but rather white than black, but rather
middle-income than the rich, often with
higher education (well, maybe incomplete) than without it.
Hacker, as a rule apolitical and is an atheist, although not
possible passion and ideas of the left-wing anarchist. In his
actions he seek to maximize follow ethical hacking and first
commandment says well-known: "Do no harm!" Except
of their moral duties, he believes the creation of free
software, and cooperate fully to contribute to access to less
sophisticated users information and various computer resources.
Hacker, usually poorly wrote, preferring the first to enter
text into a computer and then print it. He reads a lot, and his
interests are not limited to computer science in all its
manifestations and, moreover, may surprise with its diversity.
Hacker does not like provided on the form, so inclined to
anonymity. Goes to relationship is most often through modem
connection. Prefers to communicate with his
similar to a Specialized BBS. This BBS is usually carefully
camouflaged, are relatively small in size, because through them
is exchanged general information, opinions, news, and
do not steal software. Also published various
e-newsletters.
Usually, the hacker set up a friendly against the newcomers
and are always ready to assist them possible assistance.
However, carefully monitored to ensure that "dangerous"
information was available only to a narrow range of clearly
trusted men. Alas, on this he has
good reason. Firstly, it is worth bryaknut
anything about the found loopholes in the system begin to break
all and sundry. Accordingly, the probability of detecting
unusual activity, and as Consequently, increasing the
probability of "fixing" obnaruzhennnogo "back door". Secondly,
despite the apparent corporate, hackers in their competition
with each other. I would not be surprised if some of them draw
on their displays an asterisk by the number of "development"
systems, which indicates the degree of "slope" hacker. Third,
these times are not too favorable to the attackers and rather
rigidly taught them to be careful: the hacker
BBS frequent stories about hackers, who
after the arrest quickly "passed" the investigation
Not only they knew of colleagues, but also "special" secrets.
The modern hacker prefers to act alone. Numerous groups
adolescents engaged in an "experiment"
with computers, so far hacking
do not have time to grow. They either fall apart,
only lasted a year or two, or fall into
sphere of interests of the competent authorities.
True, the known and stable group of these hackers. These
groups consist of fully trust each other individuals, each of
the participants, usually owns a computer specialties at a very
high professional level: some provide dial-up connection, while
others - find weaknesses in computer systems, and others - to
identify files with identifying information (names, passwords,
privileges, etc.), the fourth - decryption closed system and
user files. All participants groups certainly have the
qualifications, sufficient to avoid damage and
not disclose the results of his colleagues.
Detect hacker is very difficult because it needs to be not
less expert than himself. Therefore, often in the hunt for
hackers detectives look for help from people who previously did
the same. For example, it is believed that without the help of
a former hacker and now one of the leading experts Sun, Tutsomo
Shimomura FBI is hardly able to catch Kevin Mitnick.
By the way, Mitnick, perhaps the last of the
tribe, "universal" hackers who
equally brilliantly solve diverse problems. The modern level of
technology forcing hackers to specialize in certain areas. Such
specialization makes it possible to allocate the total mass
hackers separate "interest groups"
for example, "crackers" (cracker) - Specialists in
circumvention of security mechanisms; "Cruncher" (cruncher) -
experts removal from protection software
copy, "kresherov" (crasher) - fans are actively experimenting
with computer system in order to clarify
capacity management.
What are the motives of the hackers?
Almost everyone who was seriously engaged in
the problem of hacking, note their lack of interest in the
application of any damage, and disclosure of privacy and the
more sensitive information. Hacker little draws on data
processed by computer system. He is interested in itself system
as a complex hardware-software complex ways to break into the
system, investigation of its internal mechanisms and
opportunity management, and use this system to access
other systems. As they say - go ahead and
up!
Why should they? And why do people hundreds of years
play chess? Modern computers
submitted hakeramchrezvychayno clever and
complex mechanism, throwing an intellectual challenge someone
not to answer that the true investigator in the state. In
addition, the process of penetration in and study architecture
operating system and applications provides a much more
satisfying than reading the protected data files.
Yes, as a result of interference by hackers
unplanned events can occur. Yes, hackers is a rebuke to the
developer in the imperfection of the system. But if a hacker
penetrated the system, it means that is not far off the day
when such Similarly, you can complain to a real computer
criminal. Hacker Do blame? Is he sold you the unfinished
system? Had he refused to the use of built-in mechanisms
security? Is he unable or too lazy to properly system
configure and make it support? ..
Trying to assign blame for hackers
own sins with betrays an unwillingness or inability to
understand that who is who in the new reality - in cyberspace.
Philosophical conceptualization of cyberspace no one has been
heavily involved. Start with at least clarify the question of
what it is - virtual reality or real "virtual"? If anyone
doubts the reality of cyberspace, let him wear a helmet VFX and
play at least the same Doom. Moreover, if at the expense of
some manipulation of the non-existent space can be affected
events in the real world, whether so "Virtual" world created by
man using computer technology? Pretty virtuality, if for a
different kind of manipulation it can get real time!
Humanity, discovering new
space, and immediately suffered back all
its contradictions. Therefore we should not all
what is happening in cyberspace, attributed only to hackers,
because there are already cyberpunk and cyber criminals, and
kiberbankiry and kiberpolitsiya and kiberpiraty. Few left until
kibersoldat and kiberterroristov. A characteristic feature of
cyberspace is the complete absence laws, since there are no
mechanisms for implementation of any rules that seem very many
representatives of the government explicitly omission.
Between the various participants' computer subculture "there
are well-defined relationship. For example, hackers recognize
some degree of training in computer pirates and the authors of
computer viruses, but This dislike, and of those, and others.
Pirates - a fact that this sort of activity with point of view
of hackers are not too intelligent. Hackers do not condemn the
pirates, because they partly contribute to the dissemination of
information. However, tend to avoid pirate BBS, partly because
these BBS contain almost no useful information to hackers and
partly because conviction that the pirates overload the
communication channels in the pursuit of new games. From the
authors of viruses are associated with hackers extremely
unpleasant associations, as first to break almost all the
principles of hacker ethic: the virus deprives the masses
reliable instrument, the virus destroys the information
belonging to all, the virus interferes with the free exchange
of programs, etc.
Alas, today, without any exaggeration
we can assume that the motto of the overwhelming
Most administrators of electronic
processing systems and transfer the figures persistent
conviction of the majority of mankind,
Specifically, lawyers, and a popular stereotype of the media is
bloodthirsty: "good hacker - hacker dead!"
Apart from the vigilantes are experts in the field of
information security. They somehow know exactly what
contrary to the myth, assiduously cultivated
media, the main security threat
computers are not hackers, and
people who by virtue of their official duties, work with
computers every day, plus millions "neprodvinutyh users with
powerful communication and computing technique. Statistics show
that for every vile hacker there is one
angry worker and eight negligent, and
all they can produce the destruction from within. Here is the
opinion of Robert Courtney, a consultant on security in IBM:
"The number one problem now and will always be errors and
omission. Following are crimes of internal employees,
especially non-technical staff of three types: single women
under the age of 35, "small old ladies "at the age of 50 who
wish to receive the money as alms, and older men, found that
career left them unsatisfied. Further natural disasters.
Sabotaging dishonest employees. Inundation of fluids. As
hackers and other outsiders, penetrating from outside, then
together they draw less than three percent. "
My excursion into the history and present
Hacking would be manifestly incomplete without an attempt to
consideration of this phenomenon from the standpoint of current
Russian realities and perspectives.
First of all, in the history of the world of hacking is a
series of events directly related to our country. For example,
1 April 1984 on Usenet was a message from General Secretary
Konstantin Chernenko, sent from a host kremvax. It later
emerged that the node did not exist, but the message was
April fools pranks of a Peter
Bitrema. Subsequently, our compatriot
Vadim Antonov actually created node
kremvax, who in August 1991 became
e-center anti-Communist
resistance.
In general, what good can you expect from
the country, gave birth to besmertnoe inference
of cybernetics as a sales girl of imperialism? It seems to be a
little bit. And here is wrong! In our country, created just
greenhouse conditions for hacking. For example, a hacker due to
the peculiarities of their activities are usually deprived of
the opportunity to work with documentation. And in Russia
boobsche rarely see proprietary documentation. Therefore, our
users master the import program, mostly by reading articles in
magazines or guide "for dummies", but most of all -
an educated bet. But they too know
our "lefty" about computers and programs
is that the guys from Microsoft Product Support Services and
dreamed of. And do not Have you ever
establish the "left" product, because
"Native" install or setup completely unwilling to work after
the intervention of a well-wishers, armed FDA 6.0? And you have
not tried to run past squeaks "Id Software "on a machine with
twice the RAM less than the specified minimum requirements? And
let him who faced something like that, and also studied
technical English for system messages DOS, first throw a stone
at me in response to assertion that there is nothing more than
gambling and amazing than the taming of the programs! So we
have the hackers, there is! The full reason, in my opinion, can
be called a hacker author unsurpassed "Tetris." Lozinski,
Kaspersky and other distinguished, but lesser-known fighters
with a viral plague, too, are hackers in the truest, original
sense of the word (yes More and hackers with a capital
letter!). And figure with his big hit of all time - also a
hacker. And have fun with the masses all "Lexicon" - too.
But this is one side of the coin. Frankly, on the reverse
side does not want to watch. Because of that, officially, side
etched all the worst features of the hacker world history. And
do not bode they are a restless tribe any good.
Writes, for example, Journal of Protection
information, "St. Petersburg Association" Confident ": Hackers
[Hacker] - a user who is trying to make changes to the
software, often without having to this law. Hacker can be
called a programmer who creates more or less useful utility
programs, usually poorly documented and sometimes cause
unwanted side effects. " Well, with this statement, reluctantly,
yet we can agree.
And the head of one of the units
FAPSI very "competent" said
"... Experts are four main
groups of offenders in cyberspace. The first group - the
so-called hackers, that is, users of information systems
involved in the search ILLEGAL ways to gain access to protected
data. They represent the largest group, usually consisting of
programmers, who have generally intolerant striving to overcome
the defense of any system. In the future, this group of
offenders will be leading in numbers. " Greetings to you,
Russian hackers! Heard Is You handcuffs jingling in these
embossed phrases? Of course, there is something joyful in the
fact that we are so scrupulously follow for global way, but why
on already known to rake attack?
One of the reasons I write this article, it became my full
consent with the words of Bob Bickford, spoken in
the International Conference "Hacker
4.0: "Our company is comprised of several
Presidents of companies, various artists
writers, engineers and programmers. All
These people consider themselves hackers and all received great
pleasure from their work, from finding ways to bypass the
problems and limitations of creation and not destruction. There
is a great injustice against these people and thousands of
professionals, like them, allowing individual ambitious teenage
criminals to destroy one world, embodying their style of
interaction with the universe: computer hacking. "
Hacking was born with computers. There is every reason to
believe that together computer-hacking or dies, or
reincarnate in the fact that computers will
replaced. Hacking - the childhood of any computer professional,
its computer Romance. As they grow older hackers do not
disappear, they just find a problem worthy of their talents.
Therefore we can say that computer hacking - a measure of
technological maturity of the society, the ability of this
society to cope with modern problems. Joseph Highland, editor
of Computers and Security, "said as something that "computer
hackers are property of the nation and the national head-
pain.
Despite periodic forecasts of imminent end of the hacking,
there is no reason to believe that curiosity, pushing people to
commit such actions, suddenly disappear. There will always be
bright personalities, who like a sense of power, allowing them
to play with the big machines and make these vehicles behave
unpredictably for the uninitiated, being completely controlled.
But the further isolation of hackers - this is a real
perespektiva. First of all, hardly Does anyone like the
prospect of encounter with the criminal law.
Secondly, hackers are becoming increasingly aware that
most dangerous to them - the media. So, we can assume that
hackers will try to avoid both the first and second. Especially
because to date, hackers have not only
sought to publicize their activities,
but preferred not even to call themselves
hackers. The explanation lies in the fact that
Hackers consider themselves (and deservedly!) elite
of programming community, and screaming
everywhere on its own elitism may
only idiots.
So what I have long been defined with its
relation to hacking. And you?
P. S. And, actually, what it is all snapped up by computer
hackers? One of the extended interpretation of the word admits
the existence of hackers in any area scientific and practical
activities, as a hacker means extraordinary thinking and acting
professional, fan his case. So it is quite possible there are
hackers, astronomers, chemists, hackers, hackers-physics, etc.
And all of you - computers, computers ...
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