How Hacking Works: Methods Hackers Use to Breach Systems

In the computer world, there are good guys who create networks that help us communicate, work with others and get information…and then there are those not-so-good guys and girls who, for a variety of reasons, like to use their computers to worm their way into those networks and cause trouble. They’re called hackers, and they’ll routinely do things like: Hackers are ALWAYS at work, either trying to steal information for their own gain or disrupt business as usual. You hear a lot of about hackers on the news now and then, but just what are they doing? Here’s a bit of background to help you understand what it means when a website or company is “hacked.” For some reason, there are those who think that hackers are “cool” and that their spirit of mischief and sneaking is admirable. But the IT (Internet technology) experts who spend a lot of money building business or government networks would disagree. And, for that matter, so would anyone who has ever had their money or identity stolen by a hacker. There’s nothing playful about that. Most people would agree that there are three types of hackers: Finding out a password is the usually the first step in cracking a network’s security. (That’s why there are so many articles telling you to change your passwords often and make them hard to figure out!) Here are a few key terms that you’ll hear in discussions about hackers and what they do: You can protect yourself simply by creating passwords that are hard to predict, by using different passwords for different accounts, and by changing passwords every so often. These steps help to prevent you from being an “easy” target.