Hacking: Behind the Scenes, Behind the Act

Hacking, or hacker framing, is when a hacker gains unauthorized access to your devices with plans to facilitate criminal activity. In some cases, hackers go as far as planting incriminating evidence on the victim’s device, like a cell phone or laptop, to be used against them later in court. In fact, 1 out of every 36 cell phones had “high-risk” apps on their phones making them more susceptible to being hacked. With technology advancing at a rapid rate, it can be difficult for the average person to stay vigilant against criminals and their convincing dupes. When it comes to hacking, it is always better to be safe than sorry. 

Today, there are two kinds of hacking, traditional hacking, and hacktivism. Traditional hacking is where the hacker gains unauthorized access to a person or company’s device with no moral or ethical intentions and is typically carried out for monetary gain. Hacktivism is generally when the hacker is a social or political activist, with goals that go beyond personal financial gains. Some people even refer to hacktivism as “ethical hacking” and therefore do not necessarily consider it a criminal activity. No matter the reason, hacking poses a serious risk for people and their data. 

There are many tools and methods which hacktivists use to accomplish their goals, such as doxing, blogging anonymously, DoS and DDoS attacks, information leaks, and website replication. Doxing is where the hacker collects sensitive information and makes them public. Blogging anonymously is a method typically used by writers and whistle-blowers to maintain privacy. DoS and DDoS attacks are where the hacker floods targeted systems, keeping users from accessing them. Information leaks are a method used mostly by inside sources of hacking to make classified information public. And website replication is where the hacker tries to avoid normal censorship. While there are many methods for hacking, spear phishing (targeting phishing attacks) is still the most popular method used by hackers in targeted attacks. 

While anyone can fall victim to hacking and hacker framing, hackers tend to target those with higher status or power, whether it be at the government level or economic level, or even the corporate level. Traditional hackers tend to go after those with power or status because that is how they will be able to obtain a larger financial gain for their efforts.; Hacktivism, on the other hand, targets people of higher power or status to either silence their efforts or expose them to the public for an ethical or moral dilemma. In fact, according to a report conducted by Verizon, the most desired bit of information a hacker seeks is credentials. But even though hackers generally only go after those of higher power or status does not mean that the average person cannot fall victim. 

The history of hacking starts a bit unusually, as the first hacker didn’t accomplish it with any of the high-tech tools available in the 1970s, but with a whistle toy that came in his cereal box which earned him the nickname “Captain Crunch.” From there, the criminal techniques of hacking accelerated almost as fast as the technology they were looking to hack. In 2003, the first of many hacker groups was created called Anonymous. Anonymous made its first significant move five years later in 2008 when they launched an attack on the Church of Scientology website and exposed what they considered to be poor morals and ethics surrounding the religion. Then in 2013, Yahoo was hacked with over 3 billion accounts’ data being affected in the breach making it the largest hack in history. It is safe to say that instances of hacking have only increased with intensity as time has progressed. 

Hacking and hacktivism are serious threats not only to people’s data but their financials as well. In fact, the number of data breaches from 2019 to the first quarter of 2020 increased by almost 273%. With the number of data breaches and hacking increasing year after year, people are going to have to work harder than ever to make sure that their information stays protected. But with the help of digital forensics, even if someone does fall victim to hacking or hacker framing, they stand a chance of regaining their security and clearing their name.