Who are today's hackers and what are the threats on the internet?
Report: Niki Papazoglou
At the same time, they compete with the capabilities of the manufacturer of a machine, a fabric, a painting, and in recent decades, a computer system. The latest attempt at competition, that of the computer system, is called "hacking".
From ransoms to decrypt files to the theft of bank account passwords, cyberattacks are increasingly a concern for businesses, internet users, the media and cybercrime prosecution..
A recent Greek example is that of the 27-year-old and 31-year-old who were arrested a short time ago for stealing Facebook user passwords. Another, on a global scale, was the announcement by Ebay through which it urged users to change passwords, since the security of the system had been breached. Neither of the two cases "cost a lot", but both terrified public opinion, regarding security in the age of broadband.
Teenagers passing the time, professionals ensuring the integrity of a system, or instruments of coordinated digital activism in response to state initiatives, who are hackers after all, and how different is the alarmism that accompanies them from the reality of cybersecurity?
The black hats and white hats of the hacker
"Blackhats" are those who carry out an attack for personal gain, for example, those who extract credit card details and at the same time money from their owners, malicious hackers.
On the other hand, "whitehats" aim for the joy of conquest, they do not carry out attacks with selfish purposes, they do not aim for money. Those of them who are also inclined to activism, form groups like "Anonymous" and the whole action from hacking turns into hactivism.
As for the time of the attack, George says: "The truth is that it looks like a war. While you are being attacked to take down your page, you are being hit by targeted computers from all over the world. Imagine having a tunnel that can accommodate a certain number of cars and suddenly more and more enter. Well, no matter how much you try to secure the entrances and normalize the flow, it is expected that at some point the tunnel will become blocked." After all, according to George, when a war begins, anything can happen. Especially in a world characterized by the phrase "what comes up, stays up" - in a free translation.
And somewhere here the cinematic version ends, which includes truths colored accordingly, of course, for the pleasure of the film-loving audience.
In the eyes of the average user, hacking can be defined as the ultimate war, a show of force or an easy way to get rich, but that's not exactly the case. Although Alexandros, an information systems security officer, identifies security gaps in companies' electronic systems by "hacking" them, few would call him a hacker.
"My company is approached by businesses to test the security of their networks, with penetration tests. Essentially, when someone comes to us, we try, within 15 days, to break the security of their system. By doing so, we identify the gaps that make them vulnerable to unpaid attacks, and by communicating the results to them, we provide the solution for a more secure network." These professional hackers, although they exist in Greece, are not used as much as abroad.
"Hacking, as a misunderstood concept, has been associated with something punishable. However, for me and many other employees it remains a job. Essentially it denotes someone who knows something very well. If I need to find the weakness of a system, I will have to hack into a code to identify its vulnerability. Essentially, I am committing a punishable act but with the approval of the website owner," adds Alexandros.
In general, in other European countries and in America, securing networks is a primary concern for a company. In our country's small market, however, businesses do not have the room for such services or the risk posed by a potential attack is not assessed as high enough to proceed with such a procedure. "If the cost of the service we offer exceeds what an attack on their website will cost someone, then they are definitely not concerned with the security of their network.".
Tackling hacking in Greece and other countries
In Greece, of course, as Alexandros informs us, there is no coordinating body responsible for informing users about the identified risks, except for the Cybercrime Prosecution, which deals only with criminal acts. In America, Cert informs the public about the risks of the Internet, about security, about the investigations carried out in the field of security, and even about some of the attacks that are organized, but not about all of them. At the international cybersecurity conference, Black Hat, which is organized every year in Las Vegas, the last time experts questioned whether companies should be required to publicize the attacks they receive, given that many shortcomings in protection mechanisms are observed.
