The Mysterious Anonymous

 

Anonymous is fast becoming one of the most influential, or at least, most documented hacking group there is. Linked by the to all manner of notorious hacktivist cases, such as the WikiLeaks backlash [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11935539], an attack that saw them take down the MasterCard, PayPal and Visa websites after they removed their services from the website. Similarly, they aided the Egyptian revolution [http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/notaro20110309], and are described by that new media outlet as a hacker group that “takes down websites across the world for the greater good: peace, freedom of information and solidarity.” Anonymous boast many feats, as well as many members, the group itself is very illucid, it’s very easy to take part in some of their hacktivist actions, often they’ll upload programmes that do the work for you, or you’ll simply have to take part in e-mail campains or basic acts of hacking.

 

And Anonymous are more then just an online syndication. Created on the notorious 4Chan board, /b/ (described by many, including itself, as the asshole of the internet), Anonymous has an impressive record of IRL protests too. One of its more noted protest was Project Chanology [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Chanology], a protest that saw members of the loose-knit organisation protest outside the churches headquarters, dressed mostly in cloaks and hats to protect their identities. Alongside this protest came cyberattacks against the church of Scientology; Anonymous utilised DDoS and a variety of other methods to attack and disrupt the churches’ running.

 

Anonymous have fast become one of the most feared cybergroups, arguably, not least due to their size, one of the strongest and most formidable. Previous hacking victims have included the Bank of America [http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/03/anonymous-hackers-release-bank-of-america-emails/1], BMI [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/anonymous-hacker-group-attacks-bmi-166283], Amazon, PayPal, MasterCard and Visa, Sarah Palin [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4780133.ece], and many, many more. Most recently they have decided to take fight against Sony after Sony repressed information on how to jailbreak the PS3 [http://news.techworld.com/personal-tech/3268344/sony-ps3-websites-attacked-by-anonymous-group/]

 

And it kinda all started, believe it or not, when some kid hurt a cat.

 

 

Hacktivism

A portmanteau of hack and activism, hacktivism is the term coined to describe activists who choose to make their stand via the computer. Often hacktivists are portrayed neutrally, occasionally even sympathetically by the media, with a clear distinction made between “hacktivism” and “cyberterrorism”. This is most probably due to the issues many hacktivists hack against. Often the media and the hacktivist will find themselves on the same side, notable cases being the defence of WikiLeaks [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11935539], the rebellion in Egypt [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41407082/ns/technology_and_science-security/], and many other key political issues.

Due to the media’s previous history of vilifying all forms of hackers and hacking, hacktivists are treading new, uncertain territory. For a while now hacking and the cyberworld have been changing the way wars are fought, introducing the acts of data warfare, secret stealing, and cyberfighting. Yet these hacktivists are also changing who these wars are fought by. Hacktavists aren’t exclusively versed hackers. Often versed hackers will create and upload hacking tools and programmes, programmes that can be downloaded and used by anyone, turning any computer into a hacktivist device, and anyone into a basic little hacktivist. Below is a copypasta list of the most common tools used by hacktivist;

 

1. Defacing Web Pages Between 1995-1999 Attrition.org reported 5,000 website defacements. In such a scenario, the hacktivist will significantly alter the front page of a company’s or governmental agency’s website.

2. Web Sit-ins In this form of hacktivism, hackers attempt to send so much traffic to the site that the overwhelmed site becomes inaccessible to other users in a variation on a denial of service.

With the advent of geotagging and the ability to geo-bomb Google Earth with YouTube videos, an alternative definition of a web sit-in can be the targeting of a particular locale such as a government building with an overwhelming amount of geo-tagged videos.

3. E-mail Bombing Hacktivists send scores of e-mails with large file attachments to their target’s e-mail address.

4. Code Software and websites can achieve political purposes. For example, the encryption software PGP can be used to secure communications; PGP’s author, Phil Zimmermann said he distributed it first to the peace movement. Jim Warren suggests PGP’s wide dissemination was in response to Senate Bill 266, authored by Senators Biden and DeConcini, which demanded that “…communications systems permit the government to obtain the plain text contents of voice, data, and other communications…”. WikiLeaks is an example of a politically motivated website – it seeks to “keep governments open”.

5. Website Mirroring is used as a circumvention tool to bypass censorship blocks on websites. It is a technique that copies the content of a censored website and posts it to other domains and subdomains that are not censored.

6. Geo-bombing is a technique in which netizens add a geo-tag while editing YouTube videos so that the location of the video can be displayed in Google Earth.^[8]

7. Anonymous blogging is a method of speaking out to a wide audience about human rights issues, government oppression, etc. that utilizes various web tools such as free email accounts, IP masking, and blogging software to preserve a high level of anonymity. [Wikipedia]

 

There are many different forms of hacktivists, hacktivists who hack for their homeland, hacktivists who hack against oppression, hacktivists who hack for one issue, and one issue alone. More recently however we have seen the rise of online, mass hacktivist groups, the most notable being the group called Anonymous.

 

 

 

 

The Lush Affair

Late in December 2010, the Poole-based cosmetics company Lush released a statement saying they’d been hacked. They claimed anyone who placed an order online with them between the 4^th of October and the 20^th of January (this included me, FYI) were now at risk of having their credit card data stolen. Many old media outlets were quick to vilify the hackers, or sketchy in their articles [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-12248992], but some chose to quote the public, those affected by the attack. “Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant, said: ‘Why was the customer credit card information not encrypted? If it had been strongly encrypted then, although a hack might have been embarrassing, customers would not necessarily be at risk of fraud.

All companies need to treat the security of their customers’ personal information and credit card data seriously to reduce the chances of hackers being able to cause harm and corporate embarrassment.’” http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1349513/Thousands-bank-details-risk-hackers-hit-Lush-website.html

This quote, and many more like it, shows that many modern day citizens are v

ersed in computer safety, and believe it to be the resoposability of the website to protect and care for consumers data. Many new media outlets took a very firm stance against the company. They pointed out that the “Lush’s statement leaves plenty of questions unanswered, not least how many records were exposed by the attack and what went wrong with its UK site” [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/21/lush_cosmetics_hack_attack/], indicating that the time span in which data was put at risk indicate severe incompetence by the company. New media outlets report how “Noa Bar-Yosef, senior security strategist at Imperva, said: “It seems that Lush online application is riddled with vulnerabilities. They even comment on continuing to be a target and so they’re taking the website down. So it’s not just one sole vulnerability that could have been quickly fixed, but lots of security issues which would require a security overhaul.”

He said it appeared that the attack “clearly shows that L

ush was in breach of PCI DSS compliance,” – the regulations that bind etailers who accept Visa and Mastercard payments.” [http://www.internetretailing.net/2011/01/hacked-lush-site-seems-to-have-been-riddled-with-vulnerabilities/]

This difference in media portrayal shows the differen

ce between the uneducated old media, quick to vilify the hackers and victimise the webshop, and the slightly more hacker savvy, slightly more understanding new med

 

ia outlets, who hold unprotected websites and badly designed webshops accountable, calling them out as being careless and flawed. It is in cases like this that we see the start of the fracture separating the media’s portrayals.

 

Hacking/Cracking Term Controversy

One of the most prevalent attitudes in the media is that hacking can be used for financial gain. A lot of the traditional, paper and TV media outlets, and several of the technological, new media channels brashly claim that hackers are the ones who decode websites, sneak around, and steal you identity. However the reality of the situation is quite different.

 

“In common usage, a hacker is a stereotypical person who breaks into computers and computer networks, either for profit or motivated by the challenge. The subculture that has evolved around hackers is often referred to as the computer underground but is now an open community.

Other definitions of the word hacker exist that are not related to computer security. They are subject to the long standing hacker definition controversy about the true meaning of hacker. In this controversy, the term hacker is reclaimed by computer programmers who argue that someone breaking into computers is better called cracker, not making a difference between computer criminals (“black hats”) and computer security experts (“white hats”). Some white hat hackers claim that they also deserve the title hacker, and that only black hats should be called crackers. None of this controversy has gained any relevance in mainstream media, TV and movies, however.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_(computer_security)

 

As this quote explains, the media’s portrayal of cyberthiefs as hackers, as seen in coverage of the Lush data theft [http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/4662025/Kiwi-online-shoppers-details-stolen] and the Morgan Stanley data breach [http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2029564/morgan-stanley-network-hacked].

This term controversy should play a vital part in the media portray of hacking, as if the media were to utalise the correct terms, all those examples of data fraud and information theft wouldn’t be examples of hacking, but of cracking instead.

Below is a copypasta list of the different types of hackers, and the terms used by educated media outlets to describe them.

 

 

 

White hat

A white hat hacker breaks security for non-malicious reasons, for instance testing their own security system. This classification also includes individuals who perform penetration tests and vulnerability assessments within a contractual agreement. Often, this type of ‘white hat’ hacker is called an ethical hacker. The International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants, also known as the EC-Council has developed certifications, courseware, classes, and online training covering the diverse arena of Ethical Hacking.^[10]

Black hat

A black hat hacker, sometimes called a cracker, is someone who breaks computer security without authorization or uses technology (usually a computer, phone system or network) for malicious reasons such as vandalism, credit card fraud, identity theft, piracy, or other types of illegal activity.^[10][11]

Grey hat

A grey hat hacker is a combination of a Black Hat and a White Hat Hacker. A Grey Hat Hacker may surf the internet and hack into a computer system for the sole purpose of notifying the administrator that their system has been hacked, for example. Then they may offer to repair their system for a small fee.^[4]

Elite hacker

A social status among hackers, elite is used to describe the most skilled. Newly discovered exploits will circulate among these hackers. Elite groups such as Masters of Deceptionconferred a kind of credibility on their members.^{[12]:86,90,117} Elite (e.g. 31337) gives the term leet speak its name.

Script kiddie

A script kiddie is a non-expert who breaks into computer systems by using pre-packaged automated tools written by others, usually with little understanding of the underlying concept—hence the term script (i.e. a prearranged plan or set of activities) kiddie (i.e. kid, child—an individual lacking knowledge and experience, immature).^[11]

Neophyte

A neophyte, “n00b”, or “newbie” is someone who is new to hacking or phreaking and has almost no knowledge or experience of the workings of technology, and hacking.^[4]

Blue hat

A blue hat hacker is someone outside computer security consulting firms who is used to bug test a system prior to its launch, looking for exploits so they can be closed. Microsoftalso uses the term BlueHat to represent a series of security briefing events.^[13][14][15]

Hacktivist

A hacktivist is a hacker who utilizes technology to announce a social, ideological, religious, or political message. In general, most hacktivism involves website defacement or denial-of-service attacks. In more extreme cases, hacktivism is used as tool for cyberterrorism. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_(computer_security)]

 

Copypasta Explanation of Hacking Methods

Below is a list of many of the key methods used to hack and crack computers. This pay prove to be a handy reference point when decoding exactly what process or concept the media are talking about when they talk about “hacking” in a generic state, or a useful list to understand excatly what these terms mean when used by educated media outlets in context.

“Vulnerability scanner

A vulnerability scanner is a tool used to quickly check computers on a network for known weaknesses. Hackers also commonly use port scanners. These check to see which ports on a specified computer are “open” or available to access the computer, and sometimes will detect what program or service is listening on that port, and its version number. (Note that firewalls defend computers from intruders by limiting access to ports/machines both inbound and outbound, but can still be circumvented.)

Password cracking

Password cracking is the process of recovering passwords from data that has been stored in or transmitted by a computer system. A common approach is to repeatedly try guesses for the password.

Packet sniffer

A packet sniffer is an application that captures data packets, which can be used to capture passwords and other data in transit over the network.

Spoofing attack

A spoofing attack involves one program, system, or website successfully masquerading as another by falsifying data and thereby being treated as a trusted system by a user or another program. The purpose of this is usually to fool programs, systems, or users into revealing confidential information, such as user names and passwords, to the attacker.

Rootkit

A rootkit is designed to conceal the compromise of a computer’s security, and can represent any of a set of programs which work to subvert control of an operating system from its legitimate operators. Usually, a rootkit will obscure its installation and attempt to prevent its removal through a subversion of standard system security. Rootkits may include replacements for system binaries so that it becomes impossible for the legitimate user to detect the presence of the intruder on the system by looking at process tables.

Social engineering

Social engineering is the art of getting persons to reveal sensitive information about a system. This is usually done by impersonating someone or by convincing people to believe you have permissions to obtain such information.

Trojan horses

A Trojan horse is a program which seems to be doing one thing, but is actually doing another. A trojan horse can be used to set up a back door in a computer system such that the intruder can gain access later. (The name refers to the horse from the Trojan War, with conceptually similar function of deceiving defenders into bringing an intruder inside.)

Viruses

A virus is a self-replicating program that spreads by inserting copies of itself into other executable code or documents. Therefore, a computer virus behaves in a way similar to abiological virus, which spreads by inserting itself into living cells.

While some are harmless or mere hoaxes most computer viruses are considered malicious.

Worms

Like a virus, a worm is also a self-replicating program. A worm differs from a virus in that it propagates through computer networks without user intervention. Unlike a virus, it does not need to attach itself to an existing program. Many people conflate the terms “virus” and “worm”, using them both to describe any self-propagating program.

Key loggers

A key logger is a tool designed to record (‘log’) every keystroke on an affected machine for later retrieval. Its purpose is usually to allow the user of this tool to gain access to confidential information typed on the affected machine, such as a user’s password or other private data. Some key loggers uses virus-, trojan-, and rootkit-like methods to remain active and hidden. However, some key loggers are used in legitimate ways and sometimes to even enhance computer security. As an example, a business might have a key logger on a computer used at a point of sale and data collected by the key logger could be used for catching employee fraud. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_(computer_security)]”

A Brief Overview

When it comes to portraying hacking, many different types of media outlets use many different methods; the newer, younger generation driven media outlets occasionally have a good grasp on the processes involved, whereas occasionally the traditional, old fashioned media outlets sometimes don’t know where to begin. Often, instead of fully explaining (perhaps even fully understanding) the occasionally complex, occasionally simple processes involved when people hack, they choose to simply staple the word “hacking” onto anything that features technology and information manipulation, using it to explain away a number of offences, from news reporters “hacking” into voicemail messages [http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/feb/10/phone-hacking-john-prescott-named], to cyberthiefs “hacking” into websites [http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/jan/21/lush-website-hack-customers-fraud] (arguably, this attack on Lush is a better example of “cracking” then it is of hacking) Because of this umbrella usage of a term not many people fully understand, the act of hacking gains this mysterious allure, becoming a common feature of everyday cyberlife that most people have no understanding of.

Of course the media writers that do have a basic understanding can’t go into depth when it comes to hacking, the last thing they want is to unintentionally educate a league of new cybercriminals. It would perhaps be prudent if they explained it a little better, however. Instead of leaving the readers to imagine a technological wizard tapping away strings of green binary code on a black screen, they could point out that on a basic, yet still profitable level, a lot of hacking is still just a mix of trial and error and dumb luck. For example, a lot of the celebrities affected by the News of the World’s hacking affair [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11195407] weren’t caught out by some amazing feat of binary manipulation, but more the simple process of calling their voicemail numbers and typing in the basic password numbers, ie, 1111 or 1234, in the hope that the owner had neglected to change them. Similarity, a lot of e-mail hacks, or computer access hacks are carried out by attaining an e-mail address, then either guessing the password (or using a programme that runs through common English words and phrases), or answering a security question (after all, thanks to the wonders of Google, learning your mothers maiden name or the town she was born in isn’t all that hard).

The realities of hacking aren’t all that glamorous, after all, all hackers have to start from something, and as much as the media would like us to believe that hacking is the big bad wolf, often the realities are a lot less glamorous. But people do just love making mountains out of molehills, after all.

 

Here is a list of the 500 most common passwords a hacker will use. If your password is on this list, it would probably be a good idea to choose a better one.

Well Hello!

Hi there! Welcome to my newly created blog, my first steps into the lovely world of cyberspace. Over the next few weeks I intend to look at how hacking and hackers are portrayed in both the new and the old media outlets. Any comments or ideas are lovingly accepted and appreciated, and I hope you stick around to see if I’ve got anything interesting to say, or at least get a laugh out of my slightly scatty grasp on the actual concept and processes hackers use. Any corrections or ideas, please feel free to send them to me, and thank you for taking the time out to read this. Au revoir!