Hackers gone wild

[Koolkid101 0]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030702/ap_on_hi_te/hacker_warnings_7

WASHINGTON - The government and private technology experts warned Wednesday that hackers plan to attack thousands of Web sites Sunday in a loosely coordinated "contest" that could disrupt Internet traffic.

Organizers established a Web site, defacers-challenge.com, listing in broken English the rules for hackers who might participate. The Web site appeared to operate out of California and cautioned to "deface its crime" — an apparent acknowledgment that vandalizing Internet pages is illegal.

The Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday it was aware of the hackers' plans but did not expect to issue any formal public warnings. The Chief Information Officers Council, part of the Office of Management and Budget, cautioned U.S. agencies and instructed experts to tighten security at federal Web sites.

"Frankly, hacker challenges occur frequently, and we don't think they all rise to the level of a warning," Homeland Security spokesman David Wray said.

Home Internet users, who typically do not operate Web sites, probably would not be affected directly, said Oliver Friedrichs, the senior manager for security response at Symantec Corp.

An early-warning network for the technology industry, operating with Homeland Security, notified companies that it received "credible information" about the planned attacks and already has detected surveillance probes by hackers looking for weaknesses in corporate and government networks.

"We emphasize that all Web site administrators should ensure that their sites are not vulnerable," wrote Peter Allor of Internet Security Systems Inc., the Atlanta-based company that runs the Information Technology Information Sharing and Analysis Center.

Friedrichs, though, said Symantec's global monitoring network wasn't detecting unusual probes.

"We really haven't seen any of that activity," he said. "We're certainly going to keep watching and looking."

Separately, the New York Office of Cyber-Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination warned Internet providers and other organizations that the goal of the hackers was to vandalize 6,000 Web sites in six hours.

New York officials urged companies to change default computer passwords, begin monitoring Web site activities more aggressively, remove unnecessary functions from server computers and apply the latest software repairs from vendors such as Microsoft Corp.

Chris Rouland, director of the X-force security team at ISS, said researchers monitoring underground chat rooms and other Internet activity detected a drop in the numbers of vandalized Web sites recently and an increase in the types of surveillance scans that typically precede computer break-ins.

"It's kind of a sand-bagging period," said Rouland, who predicted that hackers were quietly breaking into computers and waiting to vandalize them on Sunday.

The purported "prize" for participating hackers was 500-megabytes of online storage space, which made little sense to computer experts. They said hackers capable of breaking into thousands of computers could easily steal that amount of storage on corporate networks.

___

On the Net:

Hacker contest: www.defacers-challenge.com

[Placebo 29]

The problem with the concept of this is that they're doing it purely to cause trouble, what happened to the greater good of doing it for a cause? My friend had her ICQ UIN stolen today, not quite related but she's had it for 6 years and it sucks

[Badgerboy 0]

The problem with the concept of this is that they're doing it purely to cause trouble, what happened to the greater good of doing it for a cause? My friend had her ICQ UIN stolen today, not quite related but she's had it for 6 years and it sucks

Email ICQ support and they will sort it out, as long as you can remember the details you used when you signed up.

[kegetys 2]

You are mixing up hackers and crackers  

[ran 0]

You are mixing up hackers and crackers  

the little biscuits ?

[Skul 0]

Hackers... crackers, who cares? They're gonna cause trouble!

[kegetys 2]

Hackers... crackers, who cares? They're gonna cause trouble!

What trouble have hackers (as in the word's real meaning) have caused to you?

[Skul 0]

I don't see a difference. Hackers, to me, has always given me an impression of someone hacking computers.

[Placebo 29]

Email ICQ support and they will sort it out, as long as you can remember the details you used when you signed up.

Yup I've told her to do that, I also told her not to hold her breath, Mirabilis don't care, I had the same thing happen to me a while back and Emailed them and they did nothing, I managed to get it back because the muppet who stole my UIN hadn't changed my Email address, and although it was an old expired Email address I was able to get it back and then do the password request thing, the person who stole my friend's has changed the Email address so that won't work.

[FSPilot 0]

I have to admit, it'll be interesting to see what happens.

[Major Fubar 0]

Dispshits who get their jollies ruining other people PCs and websites need to have their geek asses thrown in prison where they can become good friends with a 300 lb guy named Bubba...maybe even get engaged to him.

[Milkman 1]

Hackers... crackers, who cares? They're gonna cause trouble!

What trouble have hackers (as in the word's real meaning) have caused to you?

And crackers are white people? Thats what people call me. One word can have many meanings. You almost seem offended that people could mix up the words, very suspicious Kegetys, you been up to uh.. "hacking" I mean excuse me, "cracking" lately?      

[Major Fubar 0]

Hackers... crackers, who cares? They're gonna cause trouble!

What trouble have hackers (as in the word's real meaning) have caused to you?

And crackers are white people? Thats what people call me. One word can have many meanings. You almost seem offended that people could mix up the words, very suspicious Kegetys, you been up to uh.. "hacking" I mean excuse me, "cracking" lately?      

One of my IT lecturers was always pedantic about the (mis)use of these terms...to me, it's all the same though. We all know what they mean - it's like Alsation or German Sheppherd...if I yell at you "Watch out for that German Sheppherd about to bite your ass", are you really gonna waggle your finger at me and tell me it's called an Alsation, or are you gonna get out of it's way?

[ralphwiggum 6]

hackers have curiosity and probes servers for psychological reasons. however, crackers and hackers differ from that point.

a hacker, upon seeing a vulnerability, will confirm it and send an email to sys admin and leave the server intact.

a cracker will do malicious things, such as altering data and creating backdoors for future intrusion.

there is actually something called "hacker's ethic."

[kegetys 2]

very suspicious Kegetys, you been up to uh.. "hacking" I mean excuse me, "cracking" lately?      

No I havent been cracking lately, but I do hacks all the time, you should know that from my works in OFP :P

Quote[/b] ]hackers have curiosity and probes servers for psychological reasons.

Possibly, but you dont need to crack into anywhere and you can be a hacker. A hacker is just a computer enthusiast. from the link I posted above:

Quote[/b] ]Hacker

[originally, someone who makes furniture with an axe]

1. A person who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary.

2. One who programs enthusiastically (even obsessively) or who enjoys programming rather than just theorizing about programming.

3. A person capable of appreciating hack value.

4. A person who is good at programming quickly.

5. An expert at a particular program, or one who frequently does work using it or on it; as in `a Unix hacker'. (Definitions 1 through 5 are correlated, and people who fit them congregate.)

6. An expert or enthusiast of any kind. One might be an astronomy hacker, for example.

7. One who enjoys the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or circumventing limitations.

And compare that to cracker:

Quote[/b] ]Cracker

One who breaks security on a system.

Quote[/b] ]there is actually something called "hacker's ethic."

here

[RAF_Maverick 0]

a hacker, upon seeing a vulnerability, will confirm it and send an email to sys admin and leave the server intact.

a cracker will do malicious things, such as altering data and creating backdoors for future intrusion.

I think you've been watching too much Matrix mate  

[USSoldier11B 0]

This reminds me of that cheesy movie appropriately titled "Hackers."

Some people need to get a job....or be drafted....

[Cloney 0]

This reminds me of that cheesy movie appropriately titled "Hackers."

Some people need to get a job....or be drafted....

But if we draft people we won't have a HIGHLY MOTIVATED ARMY OF ONE SUPER-HOOAH FORCE OF INDIVIDUALS!

[USSoldier11B 0]

Quote[/b] ]But if we draft people we won't have a HIGHLY MOTIVATED ARMY OF ONE SUPER-HOOAH FORCE OF INDIVIDUALS!

Why we are soldiers

[Supah 0]

Glad i will be enjoying a vacation just about then Yes there is a difference between hackers and crackers. Hackers need to be offered jobs and crackers need to be shot on sight. I could rant here for an hour but lets just say i as a sys/network admin strongly dislike crackers.

[joltan 0]

Quote[/b] ]there is actually something called "hacker's ethic."

here

Lol, that link mentions Fidonet as a "huge network" - OMG! That page must be old! Jez, I wonder how many people even know nowadays what that was...

[Supah 0]

Quote[/b] ]there is actually something called "hacker's ethic."

here

Lol, that link mentions Fidonet as a "huge network" - OMG! That page must be old! Jez, I wonder how many people even know nowadays what that was...

Really old outdated email thingy ?

[ralphwiggum 6]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/07/06/hacker.day.reut/index.html

basically, not a disaster.

closing