Hacking online

[Degenerate]

Hoping this is the right place for the post

I am been thinkinh about hackers going in your computers and stuff.. What can they do? can they hack hotmail? can they go to my computer onlinw with out me noticing? what about a hardware firewall? What do the military or goverment computers use to protect their computers?

 

[erub]

watch out for those black helicopters...

 

[veryape]

There is a ton of software out there devoted to stopping anyone from hacking into your system, unless of course they are really good, in which case there is nothing you can do. I mean i'm in your computer right now and you don't wouldn't even know unless I told you right? J/K

 

[JohnnyPC]

But seriously folks...whaton earth would the average 16 year computer wonder boy hacker want in YOUR system? Unless your email machine has the latest top secret info about the next wave of 64 bit CPUs priced under $75 then relax, have a beverage and don't be so dang paranoid!!!!

 

[Technonut]

Just the fact that there are people probing and trying to find open ports on your system is cause enough for concern IMO. If you have Zone Alarm installed download This free add-on to see how often it occurs.

I reported a repeated intrusion attempt to the Computer Security Officer at Stanford University, and received this reply:


<< Thank you for notifying us of the port 22 scanning from the system homewood.Stanford.EDU (171.64.160.105) earlier this week. The system was compromised by an outside individual and has been removed from the network pending the completion of our investigation. >>



Even though I may not have sensitive data on MY system, it may have helped others.

 

[earthling]

here is a link to a good security site www.sans.org/sansnews.... sign up for there news letters.

 

[Dewey]

I agree with Technonut. If you are worried, install zonealarm. But please don't panic when you get lots of unwanted activity reported by zonealarm. I personally turn off the notification of such events since I get about 30 unwanted pings, telenets, ftps etc. blocked each day. It's very shocking, but I also agree with JohnnyPC. There probably isn't anything too interesting about your machine. The best use of your machine would be to use it to attack other machine to keep the originator anonymous.

 

[erikiksaz]

1) Yes, they can hack hotmail (I think it's been done a while back)

2) If you mean by "going to your computer online without me noticing," as them turning on your system over the internet, i don't really think that's possible. They can do whatever they want so long as your computer is up and running, but actually hitting the "on" switch, well, i don't think that's possible, at least from what i think/know. It'll be quite a feat if they can! BUT, if you do have any trojans installed on your computer, they can play around with your system as much as they'd like.

3) I'm sure that if a hacker was skilled and determined, a firewall wouldn't pose too much of an obstacle.

 

[limsandy]

A teenager just recently broke into Nvidia's network and let me tell you this. Nvidia's security is top-notch.... probably the next level after DOF/FBI.

So to answer your question, a skilful hacker can gain access to your computer within minutes or even seconds [edit] and sadly, there's nothing you can do about it, unless your computer is powerless. [/edit]

 

[madthumbs]

I think some trojans are able to turn your computer on, but they have to be installed to begin with, and it would have to be hardware dependant. Like in real life... there are people that are just curious, and then there are people who vandalise. I wrote Steve Gibson on an issue once, asking if it was possible for a hacker to increase the refresh rate of a monitor beyond normal or any other hardware destructive thing. This could cause a fire, and definetly dammage to the monitor. He replied that it's never been done, and can't be done. I wanted to become an elite hacker to prove him wrong. Can it be done?

 

[YaKuZa]

<< I think some trojans are able to turn your computer on, but they have to be installed to begin with, and it would have to be hardware dependant. Like in real life... there are people that are just curious, and then there are people who vandalise. I wrote Steve Gibson on an issue once, asking if it was possible for a hacker to increase the refresh rate of a monitor beyond normal or any other hardware destructive thing. This could cause a fire, and definetly dammage to the monitor. He replied that it's never been done, and can't be done. I wanted to become an elite hacker to prove him wrong. Can it be done? >>



When you increase your refresh rate, doesn't your monitor automatically shut itself off?