
The Seven Types of Hackers 178
Bruce Schneier's blog links to a nifty article listing the
seven types of malicious hackers. The list is: Cyber criminals;
Spammers and adware spreaders; Advanced persistent threat (APT) agents;
Corporate spies;
Hactivists;
Cyber warriors;
and Rogue hackers.
Missed some (Score:5, Insightful)
The real pros. (The ones you never hear about)
Probably some others.
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Probably some others.
Insert name of government agency here ...
Re:Missed some (Score:5, Funny)
You're just being paranoid. Those government agencies don't exist. And if you don't believe me, just ask them.
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You're a spy and you don't really exist. So where does that leave us?
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So you all really don't exist, whats the purpose of being here then?
To confirm a lack of existence and discredit any rumors to the contrary. The aforementioned actions should not be interpreted as an indication that said non-existent entities do in fact exist.
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It doesn't have a name.
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Gotta Have Catchy Nicknames for Them Though (Score:1)
Here are your suggested nicknames:
Script kiddies.
The Can't-Somebody-Else-Code-It? Hacker
The real pros.
The Gingerbread Men
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The term as been around over a decade now. If I remember correctly it was first used to describe the milw0rm attacks on the Indian nuclear program.
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Script kiddies.
The Can't-Somebody-Else-Code-It? Hacker
"There's a hack for that."
Re:Gotta Have Catchy Nicknames for Them Though (Score:4, Interesting)
The seven types of useless speculation-based throwaway tech articles:
1) Those that try to classify things
2) Those that list traits of things or people
3) Those that troll-bait old tech holy wars
4) Those that recycle old ideas as new and revolutionary
5) Dups from this-day-last-year because the byline didn't display the year
6) Shameless FUD
7) Those that ego-stroke the intended audience by telling them how unique they are.
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Probably some others.
You mean He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
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Probably some others.
You mean He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
Hastur is a hacker?
Hastur never really came across as a hacker type.
Hastur is... (oh shit!)
*** Transmission terminated at the source ***
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He actually meant Candlejack. ...what? Of course, I am here. I just gave him some Microsoft marketing people from this site, they are dime a dozen.
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Security Experts.
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Don't forget: those who won't be named.
You know, the people that $^#!***LOST CARRIER
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Script kiddies. (They believe they are hackers)
Doesn't that fall under #7 (put by itself on the second page, so it's easy to miss):
"Malicious hacker No. 7: Rogue hackers There are hundreds of thousands of hackers who simply want to prove their skills, brag to friends, and are thrilled to engage in unauthorized activities. They may participate in other types of hacking (crimeware), but it isn't their only objective and motivation. These are the traditional stereotyped figures popularized by the 1983 film "War Games," hacking late at night, while drinki
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>>These are the petty criminals of the cyber world. They're a nuisance, but they aren't about to disrupt the Internet
TFA that wrote that was amazingly stupid. Robert Morris took down the internet, and he was basically the stereotypical rogue hacker described in the article. Ditto the guys that wrote Melissa (David Smith), Sasser (Sven Jaschan), and so forth.
Over the years, there have been multiple ways found to "disrupt the internet" and some have been exploited (negative routing table entries being a
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Script kiddies. (They believe they are hackers)
TFA
Malicious hacker No. 7: Rogue hackers
There are hundreds of thousands of hackers who simply want to prove their skills, brag to friends, and are thrilled to engage in unauthorized activities.
They may be "hacking stupid", but they are legion... just as the populace bearing arms...
Because we are yet to see them being persistent, it doesn't mean it cannot happen to make a mass transition from the "rogue" category to the "low-tech hacktivists" one.
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The legendary hot female hackers.
They only exist in fairy tales, and dreams of /. readers.
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Like the xkcd 1337 series.
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As of when I post this, noone has mentioned http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html [catb.org] and I rather doubt the author at infoworld has ever read it.
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Script kiddies. (They believe they are hackers)\
The real pros. (The ones you never hear about)
Probably some others.
No, no, no! It's Grumpy, Sleazy, Scammer, Pedant, NoLife, Recluse, and Doc aka The 7 Dwarves.
The common thread (Score:3)
They all think they're the "good" kind.
Re:The common thread (Score:4, Informative)
Nah. Some of them know they are criminals. Their moms probably think they're good boys, but these guys who are actively participating in organized crime know that they are bad guys.
That's it? (Score:1)
What about "Curious kids"?
Wait A Second (Score:5, Insightful)
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He lists malicious hackers!
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Then hactivist doesn't belong in there either., since activists are not motivated by malice.
Re:Wait A Second (Score:5, Insightful)
I always considered myself a hacker in its original sense. Someone who modded an existing piece of hardware or software to suit their needs, or to work around an existing issue. My latest and most simplest "hack" is getting Froyo on my phone, since my carrier wouldn't send the update. Where am I on the list? Certainly not Hackivist. I guess I am now a "modder" or "homebrewer". I am afraid that the previous terms will be added to the hacker list, with the word criminal added in front.
You're a hacker in my book. Those others are not. And I'm surprised that Slashdot has started using the word *exclusively* to mean criminals.
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(...) or refer to any brand of MP3 player as an "iPod".
I agree with everything you said before (I actually had a hard laugh the first time I heard someone call their computer a CPU), but — and even though I hate it when people call any portable music player an iPod — I see that from a different angle. It's just like people using the term "kleenex" when they mean "tissue." (I got other examples in mind, but they only apply to my country.)
I guess it all revolves around the eternal debate between descriptive and prescriptive grammar. Who's right? Who'
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[...] or refer to any brand of MP3 player as an "iPod".
I think you just used "MP3" to mean any digital audio file and compression format. It's easy to fall into those traps. Language is full of similar misconceptions or alterations that have built up through the years. Sometimes the meaning differs depending on what area you are in, like the word "theory" which means different things in science and otherwise, or "hacker" for that matter, which means different things in engineering and otherwise.
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Language evolves and once a phrase is out there publicly, used correctly or not, you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube.
Exactly. I just tried to help someone understand the origin of the phrase that has devolved into finding proof in a dessert. He maintained that "language evolves and math does not" but saying something that is patently ridiculous as a way of heightening one's credibility just doesn't seem to make sense. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating" makes sense. "The proof is in the pudding" does not; perhaps during a marriage proposal, I suppose, but not in general, and I agree, sometimes you just throw i
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Also note that wikileaks don't hack anything, they just receive and publish data.
That's very, very fishy.
Not that I think Hacktivism is necessarily malicious or 'bad'. but then I guess that makes me a rogue... LOL
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I always considered myself a hacker in its original sense. Someone who modded an existing piece of hardware or software to suit their needs, or to work around an existing issue. My latest and most simplest "hack" is getting Froyo on my phone, since my carrier wouldn't send the update.
You're a hacker in my book.
Those others are not.
And I'm surprised that Slashdot has started using the word *exclusively* to mean criminals.
Whatever happened to the word "cracker" (the original word describing a hacker with criminal intent)?
Re:Wait A Second (Score:4, Interesting)
Do you code? If not then how do you hack anything? You just load ROMs. So you're a modder. Now you may love the lifestyle, but in my not so humble opinion if you don't write code you really can only "hack" mechanical things because you can't alter the software of anything controlled by code. You can get other people to write it for you and run it. But does that really meet the definition? If so then I'm a mechanic. If that's the bar then half the world can be listed as hackers for jail breaking their phone. No sir you are a scenester. Which is okay I guess If you just want to look like you're a bad ass. Like those guys with all the Celtic tattoos on 50k "motorcycles". It's okay I guess. But it ain't no 1%er.
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Someone who modded an existing piece of hardware or software...
I guess you missed that part of his post? Either way, good job at coming off like an arrogant douche in the fine /. tradition of not reading something in detail. =P
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He said he loaded a ROM. I read it just fine asshole.
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Arrogant douchebag.
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LOL, you lose and I win, again. Read my nick sucker.
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Do you code? If not then how do you hack anything? You just load ROMs. So you're a modder. Now you may love the lifestyle, but in my not so humble opinion if you don't write code you really can only "hack" mechanical things because you can't alter the software of anything controlled by code. You can get other people to write it for you and run it. But does that really meet the definition? If so then I'm a mechanic. If that's the bar then half the world can be listed as hackers for jail breaking their phone. No sir you are a scenester. Which is okay I guess If you just want to look like you're a bad ass. Like those guys with all the Celtic tattoos on 50k "motorcycles". It's okay I guess. But it ain't no 1%er.
Wow, you've proven yourself to be Mr. Badass. Why don't you regal us with tales of your hacking adventures?
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I code on your mother's chip using JTAG.
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Sorry sorry I had that all wrong. I can only debug your mother's chip using JTAG. The code I write requires ANSI C.
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Hacker in its original sense is "one who hacks," esp. with a knife or axe. The definition you are talking about is little-used. The definition Bruce is talking about is by far the most common definition used in the infosec world. Since he is an infosec expert writing for an infosec blog it's fairly obvious which of the multiple definitions he intended. It's so obvious, in fact, that anyone who complains about the terminology here is just being intentionally thick. Kinda funny, really.
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Anyone upset that the English language overloads terminology needs to find himself a new language. Whining about this is as silly as whining about water being wet.
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How does one allow another to use a word exactly? Language evolves my friend. Evolve with it or you'll be very very angry in life. You obviously understand the meaning so the message was conveyed properly. So what's the big deal?
Re:Wait A Second (Score:5, Insightful)
Why exactly do those listed not fall under the category of malicious hackers?
"Hacker" is only used as a negative word in this context because of the adjective "malicious".
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I agree, the title certainly is misleading.
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No problem. It seems there are A LOT of people making that mistake in this thread.
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>>I was reading through the comments getting extremely aggravated waiting to see how long it would take someone to point out he's naming types of crackers, not hackers. Stop allowing people to use the word hacker as a negative word without making them informed.
I was scanning through the comments wondering when people, once again, would blame redneck hicks for all of our criminal computer activity.
Seriously, pedants - "crackers" is a stupid word, and this is why your War on Terminology failed. Black Ha
Missing option (Score:5, Funny)
8) Website devs who force simple articles to split unnecessarily across multiple webpages. They're in it for clicks and ad revenue, essentially scamming multiple banner-ad buyers into paying for the same article read. Here's an example. [infoworld.com]
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Also missing: users who have installed Adblock Plus [adblockplus.org] and don't even see the ads.
They don't see the ads, but they still see the inconvenience of imitating the limitations of a paper format.
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They're beneficial - they weren't going to buy anything anyway, so they've saved the ad server some bandwidth. It's not free, you know.
rogue hackers (Score:3)
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The moment I see them I inspect their gear. If they don't use c++ I grief them hard and boot them from the instance.
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It did, but they all died and they're never coming back.
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Wikileaks? Really? (Score:3)
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If you include in Wikileaks the people who are stealing the secrets and giving them to the organization, then Wikileaks are hackers. They're quite a bit less technical about their acquisition of data, but they are the most famous representative of the hacktivists subset of (cr|h)ackers that includes those who are more technical. If you prefer, you can always think Sneakers.
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I thought that was supposed to mean the people who are "defending" Wikileaks, Anonymous et. al.
It's unfortunate that the writing isn't very good, because the point he's trying to make (the random troublemaker is different from the commercially motivated is different from the targeted attacker) is a pretty good one.
I've always broken it down by "hats" (Score:4, Insightful)
from good to bad...
white hat, gray hat, black hat, and asshat
I don't remember where I originally heard this, known it for years, so sorry to the source.
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innacurate re: wikileaks (Score:5, Informative)
From the article:
I'll grant that Wikileaks are activists. I'll also grant that they have some great hackers working for them. But what the article describes as "hacktivism" is not what wikileaks does. Wikileaks employs hackers defensively, to provide a secure system that guarantees anonymity for the sources who leak information to them.
Although there have been allegations made in the press by people who probably don't know anything about information security, I have seen no evidence that suggests that Wikileaks obtains information by cracking into systems. On the contrary, Wikileaks have always claimed to work by receiving information from sources who were privileged with access to the information, and who elected to leak it to Wikileaks out of duty to their conscience.
There has been, to date, no evidence brought forward which suggests that Wikileaks has ever broken into a system to extract information out of it. That isn't the way they do things.
There are "hacktivists" who do things like deface websites in order to publicize a cause, or DDoS attack some target that they disagree with. But that is not what Wikileaks does, either. Misguided sympathizers from "Anonymous" may have done some of these things in an attempt to aid Wikileaks, but that is still not something that Wikileaks does or endorses.
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Oh, well as long as they claim to not hack systems, I see no reason not to trust them. I hereby proclaim Wikileaks to be an honest company because that's my opinion so it must be fact!
Doh, AC... Your proclamation seems a bit redundant (to use a mild term), don't you think?
Or you haven't heard about "Innocent until proven guilty" yet?
Hackers? (Score:2)
Angelina Jolie is suspiciously absent...
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Angelina Jolie is suspiciously absent...
Currently on active assignment for a job requiring a "Cat4 hacker"... be patient.
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Rogue Hack (Score:2)
When you're killed by the letter "k"
Maybe you should have an editor read this one, Rog (Score:5, Funny)
Um, if you think that a buffer overflow is supposed to defend you, then you're even more wrong.
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Now all we need (Score:2)
...is a list of skill bonuses for each class, and we can start rolling up characters!
The Slashdot poster (Score:2)
Only Two Types (Score:2)
There are only two types.
Those that you know about.
Those that you don't know about yet.
Thankfully, idiots make up 98%+ of the ones out there, but there are some that you never see, never know about, and are usually doing it as part of their normal job for whatever agency or government that is hiring them.
Of course, they aren't interested in us normal folk, so it's really us vs the idiots. And some days I wonder how they can be doing so well. Then I see my neighbor and it makes quite a lot of sense...
I need a Venn diagram to explain the fail (Score:2)
#1 "Criminal" is any law-breaker, which would be everyone on the list, except maybe "Cyber Warriors". Also maybe Hackticists, depending on if you consider "crime" to mean anything "socially detrimental".
#1a Maybe you meant for-profit criminals, which would still include Spam, Adware, and Corporate Spies.
#2 Spamming and adware spreading are two different activities. They may be of the similar low-hanging-fruit bulk-rate sort, but I don't know if they overlap.
#3 APT, w
Hacker vs. Cracker (Score:2)
In the 80's (before the internet) and before jargon was mixed up by casual computer users...
- A "hacker" meant someone who was proficent enough with computers (few people were at that time) that they typed really fast at their keyboard, usually writing code or scripts. Today a "hack" still means quickly written, not carefully thought out code.
- A "cracker" was someone who broke copy protection. Today that would include breaking network security.
I may be considered pedantic, but it would be good to retain
You might as well give me the keys to your etc. (Score:2)
Seven Types (Score:3)
Sidenote: Slashdot's css has fucked up OL. Another entry for my user style. Great job, Slashdot. Great job.
Sub 7 is 31337 (Score:2)
****malicious*** (Score:3)
It says "Your guide to the seven types of malicious hackers"
Please note the word malicious
There are many more types of hackers, which are not malicious at all.
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phreaks
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Woz would be a hobbyist hacker. Steve Jobs would be a suit.
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may 6, 2010. look for the photo in Wall Street Journal. Vice Admiral Joseph Maguire rang the NYSE opening bell, Maguire is deputy director for Strategic Operational Planning at the National Counterterrorism Center. Record high trading volume, dow drops over 1000 points... someone banked billions in an hour
How does it go? Something like "never attribute to malice that could be reasonable explained by stupidity" or something (because it weren't the guys that caused it the ones who banked them billions).
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Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
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Pro tip: When ever you see "APT," run in the other direction. That term belongs to Marketing now.
apt-get install...