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Hacker tracker Fighting anarchy on the Web by DOMINIQUE RITTER
His company Chitech Technologies Inc. specializes in installing and maintaining computer networks, meaning a lot of Liu's work involves safeguarding companies against hacker attacks. With technical tools and strategies, Liu and his counterparts defend computer systems against incursions and, in post-hacker scenarios, put systems back together again. "The well-being of the entire internet is everybody's responsibility," explains Liu of his job. "If you do not take care of it, other people will suffer. It's to the benefit of the entire network." How real is the hacker threat? Chitech conducted an experiment last year in which they spent about four hours per day online, acting as an individual without using information that could reveal their identity. Over a period of three months, they had an average of two hack attempts per week. "What we discovered is that this is a serious problem," says Liu. Profiling the perps Although he spends his time fighting hackers, Liu says he doesn't really understand his anonymous enemies and claims not to associate with anyone from the hacker community. Liu's foes are unknown to him. According to the RCMP, there is no real hacker profile anymore, due to the proliferation of computers over the last decade. However, the stereotypical profile apparently is not entirely defunct. The teenager from the South Shore who made headlines last January following his arrest on suspicion of hacking into several high-profile organizations (including NASA) conforms perfectly with the "bored, dysfunctional male loner between the ages of 15 and 25 with an unhappy family life" profile formerly used by the Mounties. "Very few people actually report a hacker crime," said Constable Michael McCrory of the RCMP's Montreal computer crime division. "For most people, it's easier to just plug the problem and try to prevent it from happening again." And the fact is that hackers are easier to block than they are to nab. "We're always up against technology," explained McCrory apologetically. "We do our darndest but it takes an awful lot of time." The number of hacker arrests made within the last year will not serve to soothe those Web surfers unsettled by the hacker threat. National statistics are not available, but the RCMP's Montreal division has arrested only 12 hackers in the last year. Targets The good news is that private Internet users are rarely the targets of malicious hacks and the contents of your PC probably aren't of interest to the computerphile with the know-how to break into banks and governments. But because hackers will not use a direct line from their computers to their victims, all sorts of unsuspecting users--such as you--become unknowing "jump boards" for Internet cowboys. Internet service providers (ISP) are frequent targets because their network will often serve hundreds or thousands of users, thus making hacker activities hard to detect. "Attacking an ISP is sometimes fun for a hacker because they can affect so many people [all of the server's customers]," explained Liu. "But more often than not the real target is something else and the ISP is just a jump board." Internet relayed chats (IRC) are also useful tools for hackers, according to Liu. This popular Internet service allows "real time chatting" via cyberspace and also permits hackers to set up forums and swap tales of conquest. "It seems to be about bragging rights," said Liu of hackers who boast about their accomplishments online. "Some naïve people think they can make a name for themselves then find employment [in hacker prevention]. But that doesn't really happen." Tips According to Liu, the most important anti-hacker safeguard you can implement is the selection of a good password. Here is what he recommends: * don't use common names * don't use dictionary words * don't use dates * use alpha-numeric combination: (letters and numbers) * use a combination of capitals and lower case * don't write down your password According to Liu, it will take a supercomputer over one hundred years to exhaust an ideal password of six to eight digits, whereas a hacker's "cracker" can run through the catalogue of a 50,000-word dictionary in 5 minutes. And if you watched the much maligned Hackers, you needn't be told that "sex," "secret," "god" and are the most common passwords. So choose wisely, Web friends. |
He reads the hacker manuals and is familiar with the latest hacker tools. But Yuan Liu is no internet anarchist: he's the hacker antichrist.