by Nigel Holmes

Created on: September 08, 2010

Since the early 1980’s the term “hacker” has been used to describe someone who tries to gain unauthorized access to a computer. Hacking is the activity of attempting to break in to a computer, and likewise, a computer that has been compromised is said to have been hacked.

Computer hacking takes many different forms and most of it probably goes unnoticed: the hacker is merely interested in defeating security systems and gaining access. In this he is little different to someone who solves crossword puzzles. It’s the intellectual challenge that drives him.

Some such hackers get their satisfaction purely from solving the problem, but many want other people to know of their expertise and success. This is a common phenomenon in the computer programming world, where reputation counts for everything. So to demonstrate their skills they may leave little “markers” the way a dog does on his daily walk. Such a hacker will insert messages into web pages, or perhaps post details on a discussion board telling others how the trick was done. The problem with this is that other people with more nefarious intentions may follow the path that has been blazed.

These hackers, sometimes known as “Black Hat” hackers attempt to break into to computer systems either steal or to cause damage. Stealing can take the form of siphoning off large sums of money, but more usually it's information that gets stolen. This can be things like credit card details, passwords or personal information such as details of cell phone calls or medical records.

“Black Hat” hackers can damage computer systems in several ways. They might just modify lines of code in order to make a system crash, but more commonly, they try to plant malicious code that will spread across networks of computers. These take the form of viruses, Trojan horses and worms and are usually designed to cause some level of inconvenience to computer users.

Why would they want to do this? Well there are two motivations. One is simply to prove to their fellow hackers just how clever they are, and the other is so that they can extort money from the victims by offering some form of recovery service. But not all hackers have selfish motives.

The “White Hat” hacker operates on altruistic principles. He considers it his mission to probe security vulnerabilities and advise companies on the weaknesses in their systems and software. Some of these White Hat hackers actually do this professionally. In other words, companies pay them to find ways into their computers so that they know where they need to improve. Other White Hats will do this for free, claiming to share the same spirit of public service yet perhaps in reality driven by the same need to prove their talent but without causing any damage.

Hacking is an arms race between those who try to compromise computer systems and those who develop security systems and software. Some hackers argue that this helps companies to improve their products, but others have more sinister motives.

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