digg

Join DiggAbout

Discover the best of the web!
Learn more about Digg by taking the tour.

Computer Hackers Will Always Be Ahead Of The Law

gunslot.com — The United States Government, Playboy, Western Union, and CD Universe are just a few of thousands of businesses & government departments that have been hacked into costing over a billion dollars of damages per year and climbing. The number of hackings will continue to climb because finance & organization will keep hackers ahead of the law.

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • vroom101, on 12/13/2007, -1/+41Master Foo and the Script Kiddie
    http://catb.org/~esr/writings/unix-koans/script-ki ... ( catb.org/~esr/writings/unix-koans/script-kiddie.html )
    • choreanz, on 12/13/2007, -0/+5Very nice.
    • Mononuclear, on 12/13/2007, -2/+7Master Foo should have given him the IP 127.0.0.1
      • 0xception, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2I GET IT!
      • debuggercll, on 12/13/2007, -0/+10There's no place like 127.0.0.1
      • 1n4007, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2Heh. Reminds me of the script kiddie rapper that tried to hack stophiphop.com but instead erased his own hard drives...
    • hevnsnt, on 12/13/2007, -0/+3Nice link -- If I could digg ya twice I would
    • CrankyPants, on 12/13/2007, -0/+3Can't believe I've never seen that before.

      +del.icio.us
  • crazybugger, on 12/13/2007, -1/+11Law! What law ?
    • fkr3, on 12/13/2007, -2/+3It's that thing that gets hackers and other criminals put in prison.
      • andyakadum, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1It is? Since when!
      • darkamster07, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2you don't exactly see hackers getting chucked in jail every day
        • fkr3, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1Course not, and not every murderer is caught etc etc. But that's different from a blanket statement that they're immune to consequences.
    • debuggercll, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1It's the red colored code monsters that pop up and chase you when you're hacking with your virtual reality glasses.
    • JoelBakan01, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1Exactly. Law is only credible if it is being enforced by a legitimate government, otherwise, ***** the police. And why do they always show young people as hackers? It is the old school guys that don't get caught, those are just pictures of script kiddies.
  • Herostratus, on 12/13/2007, -2/+3Pwned
  • thegame11, on 12/13/2007, -6/+8Use temporary/disposable credit card numbers when shopping online and get a low limit credit card for use in brick and mortar stores!
    • tendonut, on 12/13/2007, -0/+6Or not.
      Anyone ever heard of Fraud Protection? Everybody offers it. But Visa is the only one who advertises it. My bank gave me the money back when my card was stolen the next day, and that was the end of that.
    • Weksa, on 12/13/2007, -0/+5But why would you depend on your bank to give it back to you? thegame11, was stating some very real ways to take matters into your own hands, while not having to rely on the bank to believe you ... seems smart to me. I like having control, and not having to call anyone afterwards ...
      • WaRdRivR, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2low limit credit cards don't necessarily help your credit look great, on the flip side having high limits doesn't either but thats only when you've used most of the limit. Banks do give money back, and fraud protection does work, CC companies are required to compensate fraudulent purchases over charged $50, thats low! I dunno i think Visa is great. They've set the standard for security.
        • ArmandoM, on 12/14/2007, -0/+1American Express advertises that you don't even have to pay the $50..

          Lucky for me I haven't had to test that out yet.
  • jacquesm, on 12/13/2007, -4/+12the CIA/NSA would be very happy if all of you 'would be hackers' continue to think that. One of the problems with so called hackers is that they can't imagine there are people smarter than they, and they can imagine even less that those might be in the employ of the govt.
    Some of the cleverest people on the planet work on the law enforcement side, they are not going to tip their hand anytime soon but trust me, if you send a packet encrypted that alone is a red flag, and it might as well be plaintext.
    If you really wish to communicate securely don't trust an automated cypher, use a one time pad and *BURN IT AFTER USE*, as well as your scrap paper. Both sending and receiving side, and bury your message in the middle of a large volume of data.
    • teh_techie, on 12/13/2007, -0/+17*Burns notepad.exe*... "There..... phew"
    • a5tr0cr3ep, on 12/13/2007, -0/+3its an arms race, just like war; one side grows stronger and others catch up or medicine; we make a vaccine and the virus mutates and the medicine has to change. I look at it this way...whatever someone builds (i.e. security features) someone can un-build. its that simple.
      • jacquesm, on 12/13/2007, -0/+3the one time pad is the final move in this respect, there is no possibly way to crack it unless you mess up.
        • ccheath, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2KEYWORD: unless
          think about it... human error has lots of ways it can affect security
          just look at what mitnick was able to pull off
          and i'm sure human error had a hand to play in his capture as well
    • WaRdRivR, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2i know this doesn't add much to the convo. and i'll prob get dugg down but when you mention smart employees of CIA/NSA are you speaking of those working in 'computer forensics'?
    • SuperCow1127, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2Holy crap! Encrypted traffic is a red flag!? I better stop using e-commerce!

      I would love to hear about your sources, though I doubt they exist.
    • ksemel, on 12/13/2007, -0/+4Some of the people who work for the government THINK they are the cleverest people on the planet.
      Truly clever folks understand they can make three times as much money working in the private sector and they don't have to hand in their ethics at the door.
    • bzaks, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1What about the fact that most hackers aren't people who do anything illegal? In fact, the ones that do the REAL damage, probably account for about 1% of all hackers...
      • chrispr, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2Nah, it's actually flipped. There are a few hackers that just enjoy playing on systems, but there's a multi-billion dollar industry in hacking. Luckily for the explorers, most law enforcement agencies care more about the hackers gaining money.
    • chrispr, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1I don't even know where to start with that. Yes, intelligent people are in law enforcement. Pretty much everything else you said after that is retarded.
  • DanBoodro, on 12/13/2007, -2/+49Haha, I always love how governments blame hackers for billions of dollars in damages.

    Government: "*****! We forgot to update Norton!"
    • Dark7, on 12/13/2007, -8/+8I totally agree. If you leave your house door unlocked it is totally fair game for people to come in and steal everything you have, it's not their fault at all.
      • Iamyourowner, on 12/13/2007, -0/+7are you serious?
      • teh_techie, on 12/13/2007, -1/+6/sarcasm

        ^... that was for those of you that couldn't tell he was being sarcastic...
        • Iamyourowner, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2Well you never know. A lot of digg users are morons.
      • DanBoodro, on 12/13/2007, -0/+0Whoa bro, never said if the doors open help yourself. Just saying the government doesn't take necessary measures with security...at all. They are almost putting up a sign on the door saying "Hey! Got some classified ***** and a whole buncha porn! Come check it out!".
      • darkamster07, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1how about if I just walk into your house with my magic machine and duplicate all of your possessions so we both can have them? classic win-win.
    • MacSuxWindozSux, on 12/13/2007, -0/+3In reality the Government and Corporations usually don't realize they've been hacked
      They don't report it publicly to avoid the embarrassment.
      They don't report it publicly to avoid the law suits from lost customer information.
  • adml_shake, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1Duh.
  • nico623, on 12/13/2007, -3/+3Only if their pre-Billy Bob Thorton, and still somewhat bisexual.
  • hughesj919, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1Talk about stating the obvoius.
  • mrjit, on 12/13/2007, -1/+15Hire more young people into FBI/CIA programs, not bureaucratic and useless old bags.
    • jershie, on 12/13/2007, -2/+5Don't count on it! As long as the FBI/CIA still hooks potential candidates up to a lie detector and asks "Have you used marijuana more than 5 times in your life", I have a pretty good idea they're not going to be recruiting real well with some of my hacker friends and associates.
      • hevnsnt, on 12/13/2007, -0/+4The FBI & CIA have significantly relaxed their Marijuana usage restriction. If I remember correctly I believe it is no more than 15 times & you could not have ever of sold it.
      • mrjit, on 12/13/2007, -0/+3Yeah, they still polygraph the hell out of potentials. At least as of last year.
        • hevnsnt, on 12/13/2007, -0/+3So tell the truth, no problem.
        • mrjit, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2It's not about passing the polygraph, it's about passing the polygraph on their terms, with the lifestyle they believe you are supposed to have lived, which I guarantee you 95% of not only Digg, but real life people haven't lived. I won't go into how I know, just take a guess.
      • chrispr, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2"Are you a chronic masterbator?"
        "Sir he's spiking off the charts!"
    • adml_shake, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1Hire the people hacking you (with in the US) or give them 20 years in Prison.
    • mlfoley, on 12/13/2007, -1/+1The people who join the FBI or CIA or NSA have sold their souls. Why encourage that?
      • The_Dude, on 12/13/2007, -1/+1Because that's less of an offense than stealing credit cards and money from banks? Yeah, I don't really care about their souls.
  • jershie, on 12/13/2007, -2/+6As long as the majority of people still think hackers use joysticks to penetrate a company's defenses (like a video game), shooting their way past security defenses (think "Hackers"), it will continue to make the average computer user think that they can't possibly protect themselves from an attack! With a firewall & just simply locking down your wireless internet connection, you are making it almost impossible for 95% of the "hackers" out there who are really just using probes and other tools they got for free online and I doubt have ever done some real hacking in a DOS environment.
    • objectcode, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2or a *nix shell
    • Sidzilla, on 12/13/2007, -1/+2Just for the record, the director of Hackers used the "city" screens shown while hacking to keep viewer interest and as a metaphor. Watching lines of code is boring as hell, and most movies go for the glitz since it is a visual medium. I t was a conscious decision on the director's part to do that. On the plus side, they also showed dumpster diving, shoulder surfing, and social engineering being used. All in all it was probably a more accurate view of hacking than most movies depict.
  • bubbles19518, on 12/13/2007, -3/+4h4x0r3d!!!!111!11!1!1111oneoneeleven
  • Iamyourowner, on 12/13/2007, -12/+3Hackers can suck my nuts. Also, If I met any person who creates viruses or spams people I would reconstruct their face.
    • objectcode, on 12/13/2007, -0/+11im sure they will all stop after reading that comment
    • DanBoodro, on 12/13/2007, -0/+7Wow, if you think that a hacker is someone who creates viruses and spams people than...wow. Just wow. Indeed some hackers may create viruses, but why would any hacker ever have interest in spamming? And the only ones writing viruses are the power hungry, egotistical, high strung pricks. Unless of course it's completely necessary. And just by displaying how much you get raped by mass media descriptions of hackers, I would very much like for you to be a target in one of those ranting script kiddy's eyes.
      • thefandango, on 12/13/2007, -2/+1Hackers have a great interest in spamming, and writing back door programs.There's money in it. And it doesn't even have to be the ones using keyloggers for your credit card or bank information.
        Mostly it is about getting control of your computer so you get to send thier spam email FOR them, or in turn "sell" use of your computer and thousands of others to spammers for ~20 cents each, but with 50 thousand computers on thier botnet, that's a decent chunk of change.
        What motivates people to be malicious on the internet is the same as what motivates people to be malicious in real life. Money.
        but yeah, iamyourowner's mouse is probably "moving by itself" right now lol
      • Iamyourowner, on 12/13/2007, -0/+0Well first I never said that. Maybe read my sentence again. But hackers are also interested in viruses and spammers. I know what a hacker is. I was just going on another opinion about those low lifes who spam and create viruses.
    • wvdavis, on 12/13/2007, -0/+4Take it easy Francis.
      • Sidzilla, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1Dugg for the "Stripes" reference!!!
  • PresRob, on 12/13/2007, -2/+2If computer criminals and authorities both remembered that there is a statute of limitations and that computer technology is advancing so rapidly that solving the crimes from 5-6 years ago would seem far more likely than trying to catch yesterday's crook. If the police focused on older crimes in the computer field, they would have a much easier time making cases and catching the bad guys.
    • yodaj007, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1Good lord that's a lot of data to sift through. You'd have to keep a historical record of every IP address, DNS entry, ISP customer in use for years. You'd also need to keep a record of router logs. And if the hacker is going through an open proxy, once that proxy closes down the trail ends there. And somehow you'd need to keep a copy of the hackers hard drive for evidence. Oh, and if the hacker used an open network in, say, a library or a computer store, the trail would end there as the security tapes,if there were any, would be long gone. If the hack came from an office and that company closed down and lost its logs and hard drives for any reason, the trail would end there.

      That's ignoring the possibility that the hacker is performing a man-in-the-middle attack, or other attacks involving imitating a legitimate machine. So you'd also need to keep records of every machine's ARP cache and routing table on every network so you could backtrace such attacks. If the hacker broke into another computer and hacked you from that machine, that machine would have to somehow prevent said hacker from touching its logs.

      Solving computer crimes from 5-6 years ago is impossible.
  • scott2007, on 12/13/2007, -1/+3The sad truth is that most system administrators aren't properly trained regarding security issues, such as proper system configuration and the need to keep software updated. This results in end users who aren't protected or adequately trained on security as well.
    • The_Dude, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1You mean they're hacks? A sys admin? No! Say it ain't so!
    • gilzow, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1It's more than just under-trained SysAdmins. You have a lot of people building web-apps with no experience/training in security. Plus, you have a lot of desktop-app programmers who are now building webapp who might have experience in security for desktop-apps, but no experience/training in web app security.
  • uziko, on 12/13/2007, -1/+11Most hackers are just script kiddies the real hackers are the ones that create customized programs for the attack that they are going to make.
    • SideShowMel0329, on 12/13/2007, -1/+6Go to Scandinavia and you'd be surprised what kids do with their spare time.
  • mal1964, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1what will always be ahead of the law;? Everything!
  • bentrinh, on 12/13/2007, -3/+13All if you guys are talking about CRACKERS not hackers. In case you don't know, crackers do damage, hackers do not.
    • sponeil, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1If you're going to be anal about it, both groups are considered "hackers" because both hack code.
    • MindTrigger, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1Thank you bentrinh, I didn't see your post, but I posted a similar statement below. It falls on def ears though, because everyone has worked so hard over the last couple decades to make "hackers" a dirty word.
    • mal1964, on 12/13/2007, -1/+1I hack for crack
      • syberkowboy, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1And crack for smack
        • mal1964, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1Dammit i do that to. I always nap when i do smack
    • jantman, on 12/13/2007, -1/+0I expect to see such blatant disregard for correct nomenclature in the mainstream news. NOT on digg.
    • ksemel, on 12/13/2007, -1/+2Yeah, and the right name for Star Trek fans is "Trekkers", spam is a luncheon meat from a can, and you use cotton swabs to clean your ears.
      Over time, words will always come to mean what people use them to mean regardless of your efforts. Don't waste your time shoveling sand uphill.
      • ArmandoM, on 12/14/2007, -0/+1I always thought that Trekkie meant a fan of TOS, Trekker was for TNG...

        I also always thought Spam was the luncheon meat, and spam was junk email.

        And you shouldn't stick anything in your ear other than your elbow. Even if it's the "Q-tip" brand.
    • chrispr, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2I'm so absolutely tired of the terminology battles between these two. Depending on the circles you communicate in, cracker and hacker can have multiple meaning.
      The idea is to get the message across.
  • LiquidSilence, on 12/13/2007, -3/+2Hackers cannot be employed by government agencies for the lack of education or degree so they'll always be ahead of the law (outlaws)! Therefore, most businesses would find the internet an unsafe place to harbor a business and that could be the end of the internet as we know it!!! The internet would be a place for blogs,file sharing, email,and chatting!!!
  • mottsky, on 12/13/2007, -4/+6HACK THE PLANET!!!
  • bump, on 12/13/2007, -0/+4Allow me to pose this question. How would the law ever be ahead of, or even caught up, to the hackers?


    • xMedic, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1A possible solution to end all illegal activities is to implant a some kind of tracker device into every living being in the world. Tracks movements, brain activity, blood pressure, etc.
      Not today, but in 10-20 years maybe.
  • mlfoley, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2And God bless them for that!
  • Ninnux, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1@MrJit :: You, my friend, do not know The Way. Those useless old bags create the market for professional hackers, on both teams.
    • calcium20, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1On reading this, MrJit was enlightened.
  • DESTROYER2118, on 12/13/2007, -0/+5LoL at people clicking random links in a thread about hackers.
  • bbrotschi, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2this article starts with a photo of Kevin Mitnick, mis-uses the term hacker and then claims there is no solution, and we are all helpless ?
  • Error601, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1That's kind of like saying muggers will be ahead of the law because there's always more when some get caught.
  • yelow, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2Jonathan James looks like he's wearing a skirt in the shadow! :D

    -Tim
  • MindTrigger, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2First of all, the correct term for someone doing DAMAGE during/after breaking into systems is 'Crackers'. 'Hackers' are digital explorers who generally do no harm, and often warn admins of their security holes so they can be plugged.

    Now that we got that ***** out of the way....

    Crackers/Hackers are proactive, where the authorities are mostly reactive. The authorities have no choice but to put most of their efforts into reacting to whatever is happening at the time.
  • sentinal, on 12/13/2007, -0/+2TRUST YOUR TECHNOLUST!!
  • ende, on 12/13/2007, -0/+0Well funded? Well if you call being 16 and living off of your parents well funded, I guess so! Damn script kiddies..
  • mal1964, on 12/13/2007, -3/+1i hack for crack my girlfriend gets it in the crack while she hacks, then we both crack after we hack and yack while lying in the sack
  • odessadark, on 12/13/2007, -0/+0How hard can they be to catch? This article has plenty of pictures of real life hackers listening to their iPod or leaving the mall after using a stolen credit card to make a purchase at the Sunglasses Hut.

  • mal1964, on 12/13/2007, -1/+1Mark and Tori's "hacks and cracks" while im on your computer taking care of some dick with my hack, you take care of some dick with her crack
    • mal1964, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1Feel free to insert a name or your choice, many will work. Get creative have fun with it invite the neighbors you'll have hours or fun
  • jdack, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1They will always be ahead of the law, but buried any way because the rest of the article is horse-*****.
  • andyakadum, on 12/13/2007, -3/+2FREE KEVIN!
    • pixelpunk79, on 12/13/2007, -0/+0Kevin's already free.
      The revolution was televised.
  • pixelpunk79, on 12/13/2007, -0/+0The majority of Hackers are never caught because they work on both sides! These so called 'gray hats' are the real enthusiasts that aren’t working in the computer industry for the money, they’re in it because they love a puzzle and work towards the reward of figuring out something on their own.


  • chrispr, on 12/13/2007, -0/+3lol @ every digger is suddenly a Computer Security/Computer Forensics expert.
  • 10GunSalute, on 12/14/2007, -0/+1Haha, wow, that article made me laugh and cry at the same time. Shame on you guys for Digginng such an ignorant article.
  • LaerrusFish, on 12/14/2007, -0/+1Somehow I think the "billions" of dollars lost is extremely exaggerated.
    I'm sure this is due to the insurance claims filed.
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.