Hacking Question?

[coolraj003]

Hi Guys

First off it is more of a discussion than a question/s. Just to clarify a few/lot of things that i have heard and seen happening around me. Please feel free to share your knowledge about this "Taboo" topic.

I have been looking to post this somewhere but thought it might best be suited here as all the techies would be able to answer a few things. Now not sure what reaction i will get about this topc as Hacking is controversial topic, but I want to gain knowledge about it. I mean how is it possible for someone to do it? What are various levels of hacking?
Be aware of a few wierd questions as well as they will follow.

Just before someone asks me why Im asking about this, simple answer is curosity.

I wanna know. No intentions of doing it or watever but i guess you have to have knowledge about a lot of things when into computers and the biggest threat to the world of computing is Hacking, I guess. So I d rather have as much knowledge about it as I can get. Anyone out there who has answers would be greatly appreciated.

Raj

[jermaghs07]

It is perfectly fine to learn about hacking. The more you know about it the easer it is to prevent getting hacked. 90% of hackers do it as a hobby, they will right little scripts that they plant in your computer to pop up a message or something innocent like that. the other 10% has a little more malicious intent. the main goal of hacking is to gain information that doesn't belong to you i.e. credit card info, top secret government files and so on.

the easest way to hack is to find the backdoor of the system that you are wanting to hack. on almost every OS, program or server the main adminstrator or programer will install a backdoor that bypasses all of the main security functions, so that if they need to get into the system again or need to make a change they don't have to go through the hastle of loging in and going through all the security options.

There is actually a lot to learn on this subject. i suggest looking up a few articles on it.

[jbennet]

90% of hacking is exploiting the users own stupididy (inproper configuration , failure to keep up with security updates, inproper use)

[jermaghs07]

very true....
if one has the proper security measures it is very very hard for one to hack.

The head of the CIA database security started out as a hacker. he hacked the CIA database just to show them their weaknesses. instead of prosecuting him they gave him a job.

[jbennet]

if one has the proper security measures it is very very hard for one to hack.

yes, thats why i get annoyed when everyone always complaines about windows. A fuly-patched windows install, where users are not admins, and there is a decent policy in place, is very secure indeed

[jermaghs07]

I have to say windows security is about the only thing i do like about windows.

90% of hacking is exploiting the users own stupididy (inproper configuration , failure to keep up with security updates, inproper use)

Agreed !

[coolraj003]

right then, finally i started gettin the replies. So this is what i experienced about 3 odd years ago. I used to study in this college and one day we came to college and it was swarmed by police. Apparently someone somewhere in russia, i think, had hacked into the college servers during night time and using those servers he did some illegal stuff. Obviously he routed it thru college servers thats why police swarmed my college but was content after getting all the details from it staff. Now would that be classed as hacking. I mean college servers had quite a few security measures so it was not an average joe's play to do sommin like that. How can someone do sommin like that? Was it just that they used the college servers as proxies or something as i am not very clear about the purpose of proxies either. SO feel free to explain. I am hoping to keep this thread going for a while as i wanna make it a thread which could be a proper "Fountain of Knowledge" for anyone who wants to know the basic ABC of hacking. Hope you all dont mind inputting in your 2 cents/pence/paise etc etc.

Appreciate the responses guys

Raj

[Maulth]

More than likely the college "servers" had a VNC connection open, or something as equally retarded, like someone posted above, 90% of hacking is taking advantage of retarded system configs, or exploits due to non-updated systems. To the OP: I'm going to caution you. This kind of knowledge can tempt you, whether you think it will or not. I will go over a few things I know, and by no means am I an expert hacker, more like a kid who got caught in a bad situation, and was forced to learn.
About my post: I am not going to give any links or any tools to "hack" other people. I will give a general overview of what is common and possible, but in no way am I going to give other people tools that can be used improperly to harm others.

Most people do not count DoSing (Denial of Service) as hacking, but I sure as hell do. Among the internet junkies, this is a fairly formidable approach to ultimately overwhelming and crashing a server/computer. A DoS attack is one in which too much information, ALOT, is sent far too quickly, which then blocks the target from processing other incoming connections. It pretty much just jams the desired target, and will keep remaining jammed, or slow if it's an unskilled and uncoordinated attack. This kind of attack can be devestating say if you run a business over the internet, e-commerce, and you are suddenly targeted.

Ports: While alot of people use exploits other people can "inject" there own backdoor torjans and other malicious code, via open ports on a system. The most common port open is 80, seeing as it is the port your computer uses for your browser to view webpages. There are a vast number of ports on your computer ranging from 1-30,000. I'm sure it's higher than that, but I don't feel like looking up the general number at the moment. Every program or game you run that connects to the internet, uses a different port, so you can imagine how quickly this could become a problem.

Alot of the time hacking results in a person's ignorance. I'm sure many people, even on this very forum, use one or two passwords for most of their online login's. That is a very big no-no. A skilled person can crack even the most complex hash, and even the forum "standard" which at the moment I believe is md5. Alot of times a forum will "salt" a hash, adding extra characters to the string, which makes it nearly impossible to crack. If I were to crack a database, steall all the hash's for the passwords, I could create a large ammount of headache, for a large ammount of people. This is even more dangerous if you use that password for an online banking site, or an account that has access to your paypal, googlecheckout, or credit card.

These are the most common things I have been forced to deal with, and I believe some of the more common things found on the internet. Most of the time though, someone who "hacks" doesn't really understand what they are doing. There are very few real hackers left in the world, and those who aren't employed by government agencies, are even smaller. Alot of the time when a site get's hacked, or something along those lines, they go to certain sites, ones I will not name here, and find general exploits for various operating systems, and various forums. I would have to say if you do indeed use SMF forum boards, you immediatley apply every patch that is released for it. SMF is easily one of the most hacked boards out there. Also, if you own Windows Server 2003, or windows 2000, make sure you have ALL the new patches, those two are the most commonly targeted operating systems. Windows 2003 is the OS that most datacenters use, other than linux.
If you have more questions, feel free to ask.

Also, as to proxies, the only thing they usually are used for is to change your IP. A VNC connection could use your computer as a Proxy, and do bad things from.

[coolraj003]

Dude it is tempting alright but i aint easily tempted. I just want to know about it as been hearing a lot about the news where these hackers, mostly teenagers, do a crap load of damage to a lot of people. But i wanted to go into a bit deeper side of it later on. First i wanted to clear up the basics. Now as you say that they will send a lot of data to jam signal to machines which end up having a DOS. How would they do it, is it by just randomly selecting a ip address and bombard em with data? or is there some other sort of specialise scripted software they would use to sift through the addresses for vulnerable one.

Raj

[Maulth]

Both. There is special software designed to do just that, and in essence here is what it does. It sends a lot of packets, the "thing" that contains data, really fast. Most web-servers that are for large corporations, such as sprint, Steam, Activision, ect. Have some sort of "defense" against this. What this defense does is when it gets a large number of packets from an IP address at one time, it automaticaly blocks that IP. This is effective against someone like I mentioned in my previous post, they don't know what they are doing. Say, for instance, you have a significantly large botnet. (A single unit in a botnet is usually a "zombie" computer that a certain host has control of, and most of the time the person that owns this "zombie" computer, won't even realize someone else has control of it. Now imagine that someone has a botnet in the upper 1000's.) Most web-servers, or other computer related targets, won't be able to handle such a large DoS attack. Also, no, they usually do not just randomly select IP's, that gets a little risky. The FBI's cyber-crime unit will not usually go after a "hacker" who is DoSing unless he/she does up to $5000 worth of damage, or he/she attacks a government facility, such as a school website, government website, ect. A DoS attack is only effective if you have an outside source, or multiple outside sources. A home computer cannot sustain a DoS attack for a prolonged period of time, for a few reasons. It eats up your bandwidth, your ISP usually monitors high bandwidth usage, and if yours shoots up in a very short amount of time, you are either downloading a very large file, or you are DoSing. There are a lot more intricate things to "hacking" but in reality, those would be the basics. Next up would probably be port scanning, you basically scan an IP address for open ports, from which you can do whatever with.

[jermaghs07]

Most hackers just write a little script in command prompt that will send hundreds of ping commands per computer. then send it as a virus to thousands of computers. then at a specific time they all send the ping commands at once. which the web server has to reply to each ping(unless they have it turned off)(try pinging microsoft.com).
that is the easiest way to do it.

[Maulth]

Most hackers just write a little script in command prompt that will send hundreds of ping commands per computer. then send it as a virus to thousands of computers. then at a specific time they all send the ping commands at once. which the web server has to reply to each ping(unless they have it turned off)(try pinging microsoft.com).
that is the easiest way to do it.

Eh, I've found it more common through "IRC Bots" They seem harmless enough, but they really have a more sinister purpose.

[technogeek_42]

More than likely the college "servers" had a VNC connection open, or something as equally retarded, like someone posted above, 90% of hacking is taking advantage of retarded system configs, or exploits due to non-updated systems. To the OP: I'm going to caution you. This kind of knowledge can tempt you, whether you think it will or not. I will go over a few things I know, and by no means am I an expert hacker, more like a kid who got caught in a bad situation, and was forced to learn.
About my post: I am not going to give any links or any tools to "hack" other people. I will give a general overview of what is common and possible, but in no way am I going to give other people tools that can be used improperly to harm others.

Most people do not count DoSing (Denial of Service) as hacking, but I sure as hell do. Among the internet junkies, this is a fairly formidable approach to ultimately overwhelming and crashing a server/computer. A DoS attack is one in which too much information, ALOT, is sent far too quickly, which then blocks the target from processing other incoming connections. It pretty much just jams the desired target, and will keep remaining jammed, or slow if it's an unskilled and uncoordinated attack. This kind of attack can be devestating say if you run a business over the internet, e-commerce, and you are suddenly targeted.

Ports: While alot of people use exploits other people can "inject" there own backdoor torjans and other malicious code, via open ports on a system. The most common port open is 80, seeing as it is the port your computer uses for your browser to view webpages. There are a vast number of ports on your computer ranging from 1-30,000. I'm sure it's higher than that, but I don't feel like looking up the general number at the moment. Every program or game you run that connects to the internet, uses a different port, so you can imagine how quickly this could become a problem.

Alot of the time hacking results in a person's ignorance. I'm sure many people, even on this very forum, use one or two passwords for most of their online login's. That is a very big no-no. A skilled person can crack even the most complex hash, and even the forum "standard" which at the moment I believe is md5. Alot of times a forum will "salt" a hash, adding extra characters to the string, which makes it nearly impossible to crack. If I were to crack a database, steall all the hash's for the passwords, I could create a large ammount of headache, for a large ammount of people. This is even more dangerous if you use that password for an online banking site, or an account that has access to your paypal, googlecheckout, or credit card.

These are the most common things I have been forced to deal with, and I believe some of the more common things found on the internet. Most of the time though, someone who "hacks" doesn't really understand what they are doing. There are very few real hackers left in the world, and those who aren't employed by government agencies, are even smaller. Alot of the time when a site get's hacked, or something along those lines, they go to certain sites, ones I will not name here, and find general exploits for various operating systems, and various forums. I would have to say if you do indeed use SMF forum boards, you immediatley apply every patch that is released for it. SMF is easily one of the most hacked boards out there. Also, if you own Windows Server 2003, or windows 2000, make sure you have ALL the new patches, those two are the most commonly targeted operating systems. Windows 2003 is the OS that most datacenters use, other than linux.
If you have more questions, feel free to ask.

Also, as to proxies, the only thing they usually are used for is to change your IP. A VNC connection could use your computer as a Proxy, and do bad things from.

how can i determine the ip. address of one computer..?
and what is the function of VNC connection or what is the type of that system connection...?
and just a little confucing question..... why hackers do hacking...? HOW they do that.........????

[coolraj003]

Maulth..u the man. Thanks a lot for the replies man, you have a lot of knowledge about this subject. Keep it coming bro. Its a real eye opener, although a few things just went way over my head without me even realising them haha. Jokes apart this info is great man. I want this topic going and make it a proper source for information on Hacking, how to avoid it and what to do in case u r the victim of such act?

Now as you say when a PC sends data it eats up the bandwidth and ISP monitor these spkes in bandwidth usage. How much spike are we talkin here? I mean i usually download a lot(upto 7gb in a week sometimes), and speeds are quite good. Around 1-2mb per sec. now that should alarm my isp by now for one thing or another. or is it just when hacker is sneding out a lot of data for DOS, that ll alarm the ISP.

Also need to look up for MD5 and other security features used by various sites. Is there anywhere to find out how safe are the particular bank websites as compared to each other. Just want to be assured that no one in siberia or russia can access my accounts(not that they gonna find much in them...shame)

Raj

[Maulth]

Well, if someone is determined enough, they don't need to be a true hacker at all. Google takes care of most of their problems, if they know what to search for. md5 was a good hash a while back, but if it's unsalted, it's simple to find a cracking site, type in the hash, and then you have some poor person's password. The tricky part is getting the actual hash, that is usually done via MySQL injection. That is where someone acesses your db and runs a "command line" type of query through your db. I'm not going to go into specifics, but if you do want a page on how to prevent this kind of attack I will post a link.
http://www.tizag.com/mysqlTutorial/mysql-php-sql-injection.php
Also, to any mods that do look at this, if that link somehow violates any rules, please remove it and accept my apologies. I need to get over and read the rules sometime >.>
As for an ISP monitoring a spike, it's more of a large mountain of increased bandwidth. If you try a DoS attack over a sustained period, the ISP will see that your bandwidth has spiked, and then they will see that you are sending data, rather than receiving it like you would in a download. As for the bank, the bank I go through manually changes my password for my online account every 7-10 days, it consists of 8 letters, a mix of upper/lowercase, and 4 numbers, all mixed up. When any transactions occuring over a day are made online, they then call my cell phone and notify me. I don't know if your bank does something along those lines, but my bank is fairly safe. But, if you go to goole and type in "Russia DDoS Estonia" you will get a whole bunch of results where what I just said wasn't the case. If you want to further your scope of intelligence on the matter, I suggest you read a few of those reports.

@technogeek
Honestly, the most common way to find an IP is through 3rd party clients, such as ventrilo, game servers, ect. I know that sounds retarded, but I assure you it's true. You can also get someone's IP based upon records on forums, although with dynamic IP's, those silly changing things, you would have to scan a whole IP range to find the correct target. You ask why people hack, that is an amazing question. That's kind of like asking why Racism exists. I can't answer that, people hack for different things. There are two different kinds of hackers, at least in my mind. There are those that intend to do damage, and then there are ones like myself, which I dub ethical hackers. People whom hack to extend there knowledge about a system, or even the virtual world, or to defend themselves and friends against other bad hackers. Hacking started out honestly enough, it was just the modification to a program, a game even. Look what it has become today, you can't say credit card theft, or identity theft, without hacking in that same sentence.
Also A VNC connection is much like a remote desktop connection, you can modify, and create/delete files on a system with a VNC server running. Most web servers do have VNC running for remote access for their webmaster/admin's, and sometimes have passwords EASILY brute-forced by an dictionary brute forcer.

[coolraj003]

dude been reading a lot about the UK bank details for sale on some hackin sites for as less as £5. how is it possible to take te details of username and password/s.

I m sure the banking passwords are quite safe as they do not allow for easy passwords. Now the thing is the bank log on is also at least two tiers so how is it that those details are also vulnerable to hackers. Is there any safety from such doings?

Raj

[Maulth]

There are things called keyloggers that you can get from just visiting a website. They record every keystroke that you make on your computer, and then upload a text file to the original creator, or somewhere else. They're usually easily detected with some form of antivirus, but sometimes...they aren't. Also, sometime people can "intercept" packets of information and decode them and get whatever it was that you sent, whether it be a file, a password, a message, ect. I haven't really dabbled in this area, but I believe it's called "sniffing" a packet.

[coolraj003]

so may be we should all stick to the pegions, way more reliable, arent they? They dont take odd routes and go straight to the destinations.

well i have this site advisor by mcafee would that alert me about any keyloggers on a website, or do they skip through that sevice. I do use firefox than IE to log onto my bank, i just heard from somewhere/someone that it is more secure and less susceptable to hacking than IE, dont know how much of the fact that is though. What do you have to say about it?

Raj

[jbennet]

ie7 is about as secure

ie6 wasnt though. The reason people reccomend FF over IE6 is because IE6 by default allows sites to readthe clipboard - and if you are one of these stupid people who use copy/paste for bank details, passwords etc... then it could be read by malicious sites

[Maulth]

See, that's an area I'm not very familiar with. I don't know a whole lot about how secure most browsers are, but I prefer firefox just as a personal preference.
Also, I read an interesting article on here earlier, about how IBM is ready to give up on cyber "defence" because the "hackers" are like one step ahead of everyone.

[coolraj003]

so what are they planning to do a Yard Sale for all the login details first and then up their sticks from Cyber Defence??? Thats not very IBM like is it? then may be we should contact a few hackers and ask them to keep us secure from other hackers?? If the trusted names are giving up so i think the best way is to befriend our enemy to keep on the safe side, unless there is any other concrete solution. Oh i miss the days when you did not have to worry about such things.

Raj

[Maulth]

There are still other companies, and I'm sure IBM won't give in completely, they are just saying it's a hopeless situation.

[technogeek_42]

y do u say that...? how to determine the ip add of a computer

[jbennet]

depends on the scenario, more details please technogeek

[coolraj003]

I thought Maulth had answered for your question Technogeek,

"Maulth: Honestly, the most common way to find an IP is through 3rd party clients, such as ventrilo, game servers, ect. I know that sounds retarded, but I assure you it's true. You can also get someone's IP based upon records on forums, although with dynamic IP's, those silly changing things, you would have to scan a whole IP range to find the correct target. You ask why people hack, that is an amazing question. That's kind of like asking why Racism exists. I can't answer that, people hack for different things. There are two different kinds of hackers, at least in my mind. There are those that intend to do damage, and then there are ones like myself, which I dub ethical hackers. People whom hack to extend there knowledge about a system, or even the virtual world, or to defend themselves and friends against other bad hackers. Hacking started out honestly enough, it was just the modification to a program, a game even. Look what it has become today, you can't say credit card theft, or identity theft, without hacking in that same sentence."

Think u missed this bit.

Raj

[technogeek_42]

depends on the scenario, more details please technogeek

ok how to determine the IP address of an computer and what is that IP address...?

[Maulth]

Isn't that exactly the same question you asked earlier? I answered on page 2. People usually find it easiest to use a third party tool (mirc, ventrilo, game servers, ect.) but there are other ways.

[coolraj003]

Now that we are on this subject how do these tools work? You know how do they determine the Addresses?
I mean do they just scan the range of addresses on game servers for example.

Or the third party tools use different approach???

[jbennet]

basically, if you are doing anything to a client pc (e.g playing a game against it), your pc must know its IP because thats how it knows who its communicating with