High Speed Hacking 101

This is a site for beginners. For newly connected high-speed users who have no previous experience with the intricacies of Internet security. It is not a technically detailed introduction - it is designed to promote awareness of the issues and provide basic resources for PC cable setup.

Hackers are collecting machines. They call it "Owning Them". What it means is that they take control of a PC and add it to a list of PC's that are capable of hacking/attacking other PC's. Once they have enough they launch attacks against organizations who, for whatever reason, have ticked them off.

Your PC could be on a list right now, would you know it?

Virus Scans can detect many of the tools used by hackers and will probably prevent them from arriving as e-mail attachments. However many of the hacks don't even need e-mail! They arrive straight from the Internet as "buffer overflow" or "stack attacks" on the very software that makes your Internet connection. You're on-line, your PC reboots, "Gee, what happened there?", "Oh, just a glitch". You're hacked!

Should you be concerned?

Unlike Viruses, which tend to show themselves (cute little critters on screen, "Gotcha" messages, e-mails to all your buddies, or a reformatted hard drive), hack tools tend to just sit there and wait for a command from their owners. After all, the hacker doesn't want to damage your PC, he wants it in his arsenal. Some will even improve your network settings for you - not for your benefit - to improve its attack capabilities.

Imagine This: You're sitting at home, there's a knock on the door, it's the FBI (OPP, whatever...). They have a warrant to search your home.

A PC with an IP address 38.103.63.58 (your PC, ie YOU)  has been implicated in an attack against the Whitehouse (IBM, Microsoft, whatever...) web site. They take away your PC as evidence and you are charged with an Internet crime.

It seems farfetched but what evidence do you have that it wasn't you? A basic PC doesn't have logs of on-line activity, doesn't record who was accessing your PC or how they were manipulating it. Fortunately the FBI should recognize that you were also a victim and not press charges.

Less fortunately many of the Internet Carriers - the guys who provide the service to your ISP - are taking matters into their own hands and are starting to block access to bad apples at the network backbone. As more do this your PC will have less and less access to the Internet. Eventually you will be blocked entirely.

How did it happen?

Most hacks are based on known system bugs or poorly configured systems. When you installed your network card you probably let it auto-configure using the default settings. While a networked high-speed connection is no more of a risk than a dial-up, the default settings are primarily for easy home networking and are totally insecure.

Microsoft Windows installs many services (such as File Sharing and Personal Web Server - that are a hackers playground) by default. This is not a "bug" in Windows, it's designed to make it easier for you to run your system. It also makes it easier to hack.

Should you get rid of High-speed?

High-speed connections are no worse than dial-up. However:-

• Dial-up defaults are a little less "open".
• High-speed connections are always "on".
• Hackers are more attracted to high-speed, always "on" connections.
• Hackers target and preferentially scan the high-speed networks.

What should you do?

Hacking is like burglary , the casual burglar is more likely to ignore the house with locks on the doors if the house next door has the doors wide open (however some people put locks on then leave the doors open). Put locks on your machine and close the doors!

1) Test Your PC: Go to the ShieldsUp site and test your PC. This will show you how vulnerable your PC currently is and what services are running. Do it NOW.

2) Disable Services: Disable the unnecessary services like Network Logon, File and Printer Sharing and Personal Web Server. Unbind unnecessary protocols from your network card. The ShieldsUp site has step-by-step instructions for this.

3) Update Your System Software: And keep it up to date. Microsoft issued almost 200 security updates last year (2000) and has issued 60 so far this year (2001). Most of the big hack attacks used holes that had been patched sometimes years earlier. Use the Update button!

5) Install a Virus Scanner: A virus scanner is not the same as a firewall, however some of their functions overlap, and some scanners include a firewall - and vice versa. Read the fine print and install what you need.

6) Retest Your machine: Back to ShieldsUp. Feel better now? Don't. There are other ways into your machine.
Check your Browser security settings - do you allow scripts?
Check your E-mail security settings - do you open a preview window? It can auto-launch viruses.
Set E-mail security to "Restricted sites zone".
Check your Windows Explorer settings - don't hide file extensions, they are your first clue as to which attachments you can safely open.

For more information visit the Stormranger site.

Computing Consultants, PO Box 486, Corunna, Ontario, Canada, N0N 1H0.

This is not a security site. We do not sell or promote security services. We do not claim that our systems are better than anyone else's and we do not claim to be unhackable. The information presented is to provide basic security information to an audience new to the concepts and to foster an awareness of the need for everyone to take at least the minimum precautions.