hackers

It wasn't so long ago that we reported on a Vista crack , which gave hackers access to the new operating system (OS) without ever paying a dime. Now, it appears that crack has been improved, and it means more headaches for Microsoft as the home ... release of Vista nears in only a month's time. The original crack surrounded setting up a Key Management Server, and then exposing a weakness in Microsoft supported Voice Activation 2.0. By doing this, hackers could gain free access to Vista for 180 days before the activation ran out. That's six months, and although not an eternity, it's certainly ... (view more)

Not even the essence of life is safe from hackers, it seems. Although one might expect industrial chemical dumping to be the greatest threat to a city's water supply (the Detroit River is proof), hackers actually cracked a laptop at a Harrisburg, PA ... treatment plant earlier last month. The infected computer gave the intruders access to a variety of vital files. The question is: did they use those critical files? Not apparently, according to reports. Instead, the hackers took the opportunity to load the access point with Spyware and computer viruses, perhaps unaware of the power they wielded. ... (view more)

Commenting on yesterday's article concerning How to track down and report a Hacker , Infopackets Reader Robert M. writes: " I read yesterday's article with great interest; however, I noticed that you did not really define the different types of ... Hackers that are out there. I'd like to briefly comment on that, with some definitions I've come across. Hacker: While there are *many* different definitions of the term 'Hacker', Google's #1 answer reads, "[Hacker]: a slang term for a computer enthusiast. Among professional programmers, the term hacker implies an amateur or a programmer who ... (view more)

Happy Birthday to me! Today, I turn 30. Special thanks to those folks who noted my Birthday pre-announcement in the "today in History" section in Yesterday's newsletter. And now getting on with today's question, Infopackets Reader Roberta W. writes: ... " Dear Dennis, I'm having a heck of a time trying to figure out how to report a hacker that has been trying to hack in to my computer. I have 3 firewalls and plenty of antivirus software installed on my computer. I keep getting messages that dav.bay0.hotmail.com is 'sniffing' my communication ports, and is attempting to send me ... (view more)

Greetings to all! I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I'm officially on vacation! Last Saturday, I left for Toronto and am currently visiting my friend, Frank. On May 3rd, I will be flying out of Pearson Airport in Toronto ... and will later arrive in Cancun, Mexico. I won't be back until May 12th. The bad news is that I have limited access to the Internet and cannot retrieve personal files and old emails from the office. Before I left for the trip, I planned to route all incoming emails to the office computer, and then later download them via FTP server (to another ... (view more)

This issue of the Gazette is dedicated to "tying up a few loose knots" from our ongoing discussions about Hackers and Security threats . First, I'll give you all an update to Gazette issue dated October 10, 2002 (Windows Security Threat -- NTFS ... Alternate Data Streams ). To recap: an anonymous reader (John Doe) sent in an email that discussed a potential security risk in Windows which might allow a hacker to take a screen capture of a computer with the NTFS file system installed. I realize that this article was a bit on the "technical side", but I did my best to clear up ... (view more)

Yesterday's Visitor Feedback asked, " Can I track down a hacker ?" My answer to that question was a passive one -- mainly based on the fact it would take an inconceivable amount of time to prosecute each and every hacker who tries to wallow his way ... into your computer system. An algorithm for a typical Hacker might look something like this: Randomly select a computer to hack; Attempt to gain access to randomly selected computer; If access is granted, deliver a payload (send virus/trojan, delete files); If access is not granted, disconnect from this computer; Repeat process. With the ... (view more)