Quote:
Originally Posted by Sigaba
It wouldn't be the first time that some bored guy in a back room went surfing for this that and the other in the middle of the night.
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That seems very common. But there is a bigger problem - failure to safeguard the system due to time or lack of knowledge.
It seems there are two species of crackers (in this case, hackers are benign, crackers are those who criminally attack systems). One are the script kiddies, who use a tool to attack systems and have no idea what they're doing. They just poke about until they find a vulnerable system. Another type are much more dangerous. They seek out vulnerabilities, and they truly understand - at a deep level - what they're doing.
As an example, years ago (circa 1995), there was a glaring vulnerability in the Unix email system. The manual was (is?) a thick book - but someone who knew the vulnerability could have their way with a system. Not good. When the vulnerability was discovered, a software patch was generated to protect against that vulnerability. Those who applied the patch were protected - and those who failed to do so weren't. You can imagine what happens if an administrator fails to do those patches.
The home user should make a point of applying software patches too - and not just for his or her own sake.
My apologies if I've belabored the obvious.