The Hacker

Unlike most users, who only learn what is strictly necessary, a hacker learns to program, with the aim of extending applications to make them more easily accessible to everyone.

Over time, the figure of the computer expert emerged who, abusing his own skills, exploits any holes in the computer security of the attacked system to steal data and information to use at his own will and, certainly, for purposes other than those of the subject who suffers the violation.

From here comes the empirical distinction between the ethical hacker, the programmer, and the immoral hacker who carries out cyber violence practices.

Main Categories of Cyber Criminals

Beyond the reflections just proposed, there is no doubt about the illegality of numerous and specific attacks. Those who identify them as those who steal data define them, more precisely, as crackers. There are further categories or subdivisions:

• Phrachers specialize in stealing programs that offer free telephone services or in penetrating computers and databases of telephone companies.
• Phreakers know how to use telephone numbers or telephone cards to access other computers.
• Black hats act with the clear purpose of committing crimes, unlike white hats, who care about their morality and the legality of all actions performed.

Computer Attacks and Threats

• Malware

The term malware indicates any software created with the purpose of causing damage to a device on which it is executed and to the data stored there. There are two types:

• Parasitic type
• Boot sector

Unlike parasitic malicious programs, which are transmitted while the device is in operation, boot sector viruses spread through the boot, or the attempt to boot, from an infected external disk. Even if the disk does not contain the system files needed to boot, an attempt to boot from an infected disk will load the virus into memory. The virus attaches itself to memory as if it were a device driver and is very difficult to remove. Some of the most common malware in circulation are listed below.

• The Virus

A computer virus is a small program or software that contains a sequence of instructions that can automatically activate actions that damage a computer. It acts in a similar way to a biological virus: it is dangerous, therefore, because of its tendency to create epidemics.

Some of the instructions of the infectious program are dedicated to reproducing copies of itself.

After the reproductive phase, computer viruses begin to carry out activities of a different nature and, even when they are not directly harmful to the operating system that hosts them, they involve a certain waste of resources in terms of RAM, CPU, and hard disk space. In general, a virus directly damages only the software of the machine that hosts it, although it can also indirectly cause damage to the hardware, for example by causing the CPU to overheat, or by stopping the cooling fan.

• Worm

Worm malware modifies the Operating System of the computer, making sure to be executed automatically, slowing down the system with useless and harmful operations.

• The Trojan Horse

It is a program that the user downloads because it has useful and desired functions, but that, if executed, starts, without the user’s knowledge, harmful instructions for the operating system files.

• Spyware

This is software used to spy on the information of the system on which it is installed (browsing habits, passwords, and other sensitive data) which is then acquired by an interested but unauthorized third party.

• Dialer

Dialers manage the Internet connection through the old telephone line. They can be used to change the telephone number dialed by the user, for example, to call premium rate numbers, to illegally profit from them.

• Zip Bomb

A zip bomb is a program that deactivates the PC’s defenses to allow another virus to infect it. It is a malicious compressed archive that makes the program that reads it useless.

• Sniffing

This is the way in which a malicious person manages to passively intercept data that passes through a computer network. This activity is normally carried out for legitimate purposes (for example, the analysis and identification of communication problems or intrusion attempts) Cybersecurity for Accounting in Temple Terrace, Florida​.

The software used to perform these activities is called a sniffer, and, in addition to intercepting and storing traffic, it offers traffic analysis functions. But software of the same type can be used for illicit purposes such as fraudulent interception of passwords or other sensitive information.

• Spoofing

It is an attack used via email and consists of camouflaging oneself. The malicious person falsifies their address so that the recipient, seeing an email from a recognized organization, opens it immediately, thinking it is an important communication.

• Keylogger

It is a system that allows you to intercept everything a user types on a keyboard. It is widely used to steal data typed on ATM keyboards. There are two types of keyloggers:

• Hardware: Devices that are connected to the communication cable between the keyboard and the computer or inside the keyboard.
• Software: Programs that control and save the sequence of keys that are typed by a user.

• Phishing

It is a computer fraud aimed at stealing the identity of other people and, in practice, stealing, through emails, the access data to financial instruments managed online (username and password of current account, credit cards, prepaid cards, etc.). 

 Organization and firms should implement mechanisms to prevent and detect potential data breaches, as well as respond efficiently to it to ensure the continuity of operations.  

The system works by sending emails or opening pop-up windows. The malicious person takes advantage of the fact that an unaware or distracted user can click on attachments or pop-ups, without paying the necessary attention.

In addition to the above, the development of new methods to hack and access data is ongoing. In such situations, adopting efficient security measures to protect sensitive data and organizational systems is of utmost importance Cybersecurity for Accounting in Temple Terrace, Florida​.

Cybersecurity for Accounting in Temple Terrace, Florida