Internet Hacking

Imagine this, anyone, anywhere has the ability to connect to almost every computer in the whole world without even leaving this own home. Most of these computers are connected to the Internet which is, with the Internet's growing popularity and widespread usage, one of the most susceptible targets to the continually growing hacking movement. The term hacker has caused much debate in regards to the actual meaning of it, but hacking by any definition is the art of thinking outside the box. In order to be a great hacker there is not necessarily a ton of technical computer knowledge that one must know, but more the less one must be creative and have an open mind and try to think outside of the box. Another big debate within the hacking movement is the argument that is there a difference between a hacker and a cracker. It is said to be that a hacker is one who uses their skill for the good of society and a cracker uses this same skill maliciously in the destruction of society. Be it a hacker or a cracker they still have the same rare skill but just choose to use it in different ways. The hacking culture does not have leaders, it is built strictly on reputation.

Those who think outside the box are usually very brilliant in several different areas. These ways do not just consist of hacking, but also in phreaking, virii, and crypto. Of course everyone already understands the definition of hacking but not many people have heard of phreaking, virii, or crypto. Phreaking is hackings the public telephone network. Virii is the plural of virus and means computer virus. Most people do not realize that virii really have nothing to do with hacking but are used very commonly in hacking. Crypto is the abbreviation of cryptography. An encryption algorithm is a complex mathematical and logical equation used to cipher data. The algorithm is used to convert the 'clear text' into the 'cipher text'. There are two types of data encryption password hashing and VPNs. Password hashing is when the

Computer hacking can be categorized into three distinct genres, such as on-site access, which is being inside the confines of the network. Also there is access by dial-up, which is using a modem to dial into another computer's modem. Finally there is gaining access through the internet. On-site hacking can be easily found in most of the hacking texts present, whether it is on the Internet or in the computer section at any bookstore. Most of these texts also focus on dial-up hacking. It still remains extremely difficult to find information on Internet hacking because the internet has only been around for thirty years, unlike dial-up which has been around for a long time.

Before anyone tries to start hacking they will need a variety of items. They will need a computer and an ISP. Preferably the ISP account should not be attached to the hacker. Hackers also utilize a whole lot of software, a Internet browser, a telnet client, a FTP client, a ping utility, a IP scanner, a port scanner, a whois and nslookup utility, a traceroute utility, and a password cracker. Internet browsers are very important and before even beginning to understand how to hack one must know a great deal about how they work. The only truly important thing about the Internet browser chosen is the fact that is must support proxies, and preferably gopher. The telnet client is an extremely important part of hacking because it is the hacker's primary means of connecting to other computers. Telnet clients are found within almost any OS. FTP clients are built into almost every OS and are used to transfer files between two computers. The ping utility is used to test the connection between two computers. A successful ping might look like FIGURE 1 while an unsuccessful ping might look like FIGURE 2. The ping utility can be change the size of the packet and number of packets. IP scanners ping a certain range of IP addresses. These however are not built into the OS so one must be downloaded off of a website. Most IP scanners require a start address and an end address. If the IP scanner displays something similar to 'connected' it means that IP was successfully pinged and if the scanner displays something like 'not connected' it means that IP does not exist on that certain network. Port scanners are similar to IP scanners. The ports that the port scanner scans are not actual ports they are services on the server. A lot of the programs out there contain IP scanners and port scanners. ||| The traceroute utility traces the routers that a hacker must go through in order to reach a destination network. Traceroute also displays the IP addresses of all the routers its passes through on the way to the destination. The traceroute utility is built into both Windows and UNIX. Output from traceroute will look like FIGURE 3 if the traceroute was successful and the output would look like FIGURE 4 if a firewall if the destination is blocked by a firewall. The password cracker is a very important part of any hacker's arsenal of software. Most of the time the goal of a hacker is to gain root access which would require them to obtain the root password. The file that contains the password will almost certainly be encrypted so a good password cracker is a necessity if the hack is to be considered successful. Most of the password crackers test known usernames with a dictionary list of possible passwords until a match is made. Another program that a lot of hackers use but is not a required program to hack is a brute force program. Brute forcing is usually a last resort because it makes the attack known to the system administrator. Brute force programs continue to sending usernames and passwords until the system cracks.

A big part of getting away with hacking is knowing how to stay out of trouble. Even if a hacker is not doing anything destructive they could still be breaking several laws. A good way to keep out of trouble is by using shell bouncing, which is to telnet to different routers from another router. Another thing one must do is delete the log file that is created or use some type of cloaking program to hide the tracks. The amount of security and cover-up that should be used depends on how serious the hack.

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There are so many protocols that are used over the Internet a few of which are important to the hacker. There are a lot of protocols that are used specifically for dial-up but the only one of any importance is PPP (Point to Point Protocol). This protocol is used to connect to an ISP. PPP is takes the packets sent all throughout the Internet and translates them so they can be sent over a phone line. Telnet is another protocol that is used to remotely connect to a UNIX box that has a bunch of dumb terminals that all handled by the UNIX server. So it makes the