History of Hackers
The term 'hacker' was originally used to describe a person who had advanced skills in computing.
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs (founders of Microsoft and Apple) could be, and probably were, described as hackers during their membership of the pioneering 'Homebrew Club'. This was an informal society for people interested in early microcomputers.
At about the same time, a number of people who called themselves 'phreakers' were using various tones (normally used by engineers to test lines and exchanges) to get free telephone calls.
Because the tones were transmitted along with the call, it was possible to whistle down the telephone line and control the exchanges. Calls were routed to wherever they wanted, for free.
The phreakers become interested in breaking in to many of the computer systems they could contact using their tones. Somewhere along the line, the terms got confused, and the current usage of 'hacker' became common.
When the Internet came into regular use, the hackers went to town. See below for more on:
Why people do it?
- To learn about the systems they are attacking
- To embarrass the target organisation
- To make a point
- To use someone else's computer power
- Because they see it as fun
- Because they can
Who does it
The media thinks...
- All hackers are 'teenage computer whizz kids'.
- All hackers are geniuses
- Hacking is glamorous
- Hacking requires an in depth knowledge of computers
Who really does it
It takes all sorts...
- Teenage computer 'nerds'
- 'Script Kiddies'
- Evil geniuses
- Naive or disgruntled employees
- Hacking groups
- Bored systems administrators
- Unscrupulous competitors
- Foreign Intelligence services
Generally you can break the hackers down into three tiers:
- First tier - Very knowledgeable, find and code new exploits
- Second tier - Savvy, able to investigate vulnerable systems
- Third tier - 'Script Kiddies' - often poses the greatest threat
First Tier Hackers
A first tier hacker is a programmer with extensive, specific experience of systems, protocols and processes. They are often professional programmers who enjoy coding as a hobby on the side.
First tier hackers discover vulnerabilities and code programs to exploit them. They are not common, and carry out a lot of research to stay current.
Second Tier Hackers
Second tier hackers have experience of networking, different operating systems, and understand how to exploit vulnerabilities.
System administrators make good, second tier hackers. They will have a large collection of tools and understand hacking methods, but rely on others to find and code most exploits.
Third Tier Hackers
Third tier hackers are also known as 'Script Kiddies'.
These people earn no respect amongst the hacker community because they have no real idea what they are doing.
Generally, they are not IT professionals, but will download code from the Internet and run it on the office network or across the Internet. They know just enough to be dangerous.
Other sources of threat
- A disgruntled employee will not necessarily know much about IT systems, but their knowledge of your system enables them to attack when it is most vulnerable
- A naive employee can damage IT systems through an inability to operate even the simplest applications
What can happen if you have a security incident?
- Loss of customer confidence
- Loss of customers
- Brand damage
- Server or network downtime
- Loss of business critical information
All of the above equates to a monetary loss, either directly or indirectly.
There is a lot that you can do to protect your organisation against the threat of hacking and other unauthorised events on your systems.
For further advice see our Unauthorised Access and Good Housekeeping sections.
If you are concerned about your own risk from unauthorised access, check the Unauthorised Access Risk page, or run a Health Check now.
If you have been the victim of a hacking incident, check the Unauthorised Access Recovery page.