What is a hacker?
A hacker is someone who accesses a computer system by circumventing its security system. (Hacker 1.) Online users being hacked is a growing issue related to Internet privacy. Did you know that your entire computer can be hacked, including your hard drive or just websites, such as Facebook and Twitter?
What do hackers take?
Hackers take our bank account information which allows them to use our money. Hackers take our username and passwords which allow them to see our phone number, personal address and photos. Hackers tap into hospitals information systems and take our personal health records. All of this information can be used to harm us or black mail us, and once they have it there is no way to get it back.
Social Media websites
- Facebook is easiest hacked when a consumer visits a website that has been compromised.
- Over 250,000 people have had their Twitter account hacked already this year.
- Both social media websites suggest you contact them immediately if this happens to you so they may start to resolve the problem.
- Both social media websites state that your password can be reset by the administrator once you have been hacked.
Tips to avoid being hacked
- Ensure that you have a firewall and it is working correctly
- Back up all of your important files
- Erase your "cookies" folder on a regular basis. This can be found in your settings as discussed on a prior blog
- Install and run an antivirus program. The key in doing this is to make sure the program you install has excellent ratings and does not contain a virus itself.
- When you are finished using a computer, even if for a short period of time- disconnect from the Internet and turn your computer off
Phreaking
Phreaking is a specific type of hacking. Phreaking affects your phone lines and services. An example of this is when noticing your monthly phone bill and it shows you have a number of phone calls you supposedly, but did not, call that were long distance and very costly. With further research I learned that this method has been around since the early eighties. Hackers often time hack by using and uploading a program that cracks passwords and fire walls.
Sources
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker
- http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/social-networking/networks/linkedin8.htm
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/feb/16/facebook-hacked
- http://thenextweb.com/twitter/2013/02/02/twitter-confirms-that-it-was-hacked-and-250000-users-may-have-been-compromised/
- http://www.ehow.com/how_4503871_prevent-computer-being-hacked.html
- http://www.123helpme.com/our-privacy-is-in-danger-view.asp?id=159278
- http://owni.eu/2011/07/25/murdochs-hacking-is-despicable-but-is-wikileaks-any-better/
- http://www.techbyte4u.com/2010/07/10-tips-to-protect-yourself-from-being.html
- http://www.pcworld.com/article/45726/article.html
The increase in hacking just goes to show that people need to be more careful when they are accessing social media websites. People need to make more secure and hard-to-guess passwords so that hackers will have a harder time finding out their personal information. I think that most people don't think that hacking is such a serious issue and that no one will care to find out their password, so they make it too simple.
ReplyDeleteHacking can be dangerous depending on the situation. For example, criminal activity can hurt different institution if they gain access to personal information. On the other hand, it can be useful to find out information that you have no knowledge of. For instance, it is too easy to create a weak virus that you can attach to a picture and transport to the person's computer, to find out information that you want to know. technically, still hacking but you are not harming anyone in the process, you are just being nosy. So, if you want to know if your boyfriend/girlfriend is cheating on you, go for it ;)
ReplyDeleteThere are many different kinds of hackers I believe they are called "White hat" and "black hat" and so on. With the people that hack into media sites are probably there for kicks and giggles, just to mess with a friends profile or to get back and someone they are mad at. Someone that hacks into a medical facility is probably doing so for more intrusive reasons. Medical offices can contain a lot of personal information ranging from bank information to social security and everything in between.
ReplyDeleteGood info. We. Had never heard of white hat and black hat hackers.
DeleteMedical records and banking statements would seem to be the most important in a personal matter. But I believe that more experienced hackers can pose as a threat to national security. I believe that in the case as far as bank statements go not only can people delete their cookies when online banking but also any valid piece of paper should be shredded. I have heard that many experienced hackers will stalk their prey and go through garbage cans looking for information that can aid their attempts. A person can never be too careful when dealing with hackers.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It is very important to shred papers. It is sometimes even necessary to go one step further and put the shredded papers into two different trash cans. This would help insure that if someone was to try and put it back together they would be unsuccessful. -on a side note, I had not previously considered it being a national threat, good thought
DeleteThis is an issue that seems to be getting out of hand. I feel that this kind of crime definitely requires some technical knowledge of computers. The average person would not even begin to know how to do this! With everything being internet-centered nowadays, you can practically ruin someone's life by gaining access to this personal information. What is it that goes through these hackers mind? One form of "hacking" that I've noticed (& experienced!) on social networking sites is when friends that have your password to your accounts, put stuff on your profile. Also, I've been on friends' computers & forgot to log out & they would do stuff like this. Most of time this is just "playing around". What happens if you & your friends have a disagreement? Knowing your password, they can change your password & post whatever they want! We definitely have to safeguard our accounts of all kind, even as far as not sharing information with people we trust.
ReplyDeleteYes I completely agree! I have been playfully hacked by my friends on social networks like Facebook. Unfortunately, I have had someone that I was friends with that had my log-in information and had a falling out,they then changed my password. Thankfully, it was when I was younger and they didn't change my e-mail address so I was able to recover my account and I changed everything. Since that happening I learned that is best not to share your information even sometimes with those you are close to.
DeleteSomething that I found interesting, is that Bank of America actually employs hackers to try and break their systems. They hire genious criminal minds to test their new systems. They try to commit fraud, steal data and money, or whatever else they could possibly do. I found it ammusing that there is legal hacking.
ReplyDeleteThat is definitely an unusual technique but I could see how it would be useful!
DeleteI'm glad that you included tips to avoid being hacked. Sometimes I feel internet illiterate when it comes to hacking and how vulnerable I really am to hackers. It scares me to think about what is to come in the future of hacking. More and more terrorism will probably be centered around hacking because of the growth of e government.
ReplyDeleteMeaghann Smith
Even with these helpful tips I am sure there are things we do each day that eave us vulnerable, unfortunately .
DeleteI've never even heard of Phreaking! I assume if I've ever been "Phreaked" I wouldn't notice since I only use a cell phone and free long distance is included. However, if I ever see a call to another country, I'll know what happened. Thanks for including this information!
ReplyDeleteA lot of social network hacking and email hacking is just for those "baby hackers" with nothing else to do. People who are just testing their skills to see what they can actually do. It does worry me though to see that people are able to hack into government data bases. Didn't a county or state surrounding our area get hacked? I believe it might have been the VA (Veteran's Affairs) office. It does make me feel somewhat comforted to know that if someone does hack into a system, like my hospital, that the hospital will more than likely provide me with free credit monitoring protection for at least a year. I feel that it is nice that companies are taking blame for their "holes" in their IT protection.
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ReplyDelete