Task 6A-1

1. darknet.org.uk

2.1 Protocol monitoring and spoofing tools, domain information gathering tool, password cracking toolkits, web application hacking toolkits.

2.2 Maintaining an up-to-date firewall & keeping the latest security updates. Monitoring any new developments for any discrepancies that might lead to or allow hacking to take place.

2.3 Yes and no. Yes, as it provides information to enable security & awareness about the risks that are around regarding the latest hacking tools & techniques; and no, as it encourages hackers to try these new techniques and also create more advanced tools & techniques to cause further harm and damage.

2.4 Most definitely. Monitoring these sites will give network administrators an upper hand as to new developments on hacking and possibly create better protection for their networks before any new hacking tools & techniques become available.

Hi Sheilesh

My take on security is much like yours:

• 52 million hits on Google if one types in “hacking” It seems as if the two sites I’m listing and the others suggested in the forum are less than a drop in the bucket.
www.catb.org
www.puremango.co.uk

• Hacking tools like Security exploit; vulnerability scanner (e.g. port scanners to see which ports are “open”; packet sniffer (captures TCP/IP packets which can be used to capture e.g. passwords); spoofing attack (essentially an assumed identity by hacker); rootkit (hides the fact that the computer’s security has been breached); social engineering ( a person unsuspectingly reveals sensitive information about a system because the hacker poses as someone who has permission to obtain such information) are a constant menace.
Then there are the Trojan horses, worms and viruses that are well known.

• Hacking cannot be 100% prevented. Hackers are motivated by a host of reasons, some malicious, some academic, some more ambiguous. Hacking poses a personal challenge to some people and hence will always elicit a response. Programming is dynamic – hacking follows suit.

Maintaining firewalls and software, e.g. Norton Anti-virus and AVG, protecting computers against spyware and viruses, and regularly updating that software can offer reasonable protection against hacking.

• Hacking information so freely available invites too much attention from would-be hackers. But, the person intelligent and determined enough to hack into sensitive systems will not need the internet for their information. Much of the information freely available will be able to be blocked by anti-virus software. Still, hacking can be expensive because, for example, instructions “How to hack into a Coke machine” and many other items are available in the internet and small merchants, not just computer users, may suffer petty crime.

• Computer hacking can deliver anything from inconvenience to serious breaches of security thus network administrators have to monitor hacker sites. They are duty bound to inform their clients about imminent threats. This can only be done if they are fully informed about the latest hacker trends.

1. www.darknet.org

2.1 ip scanners

2.2 By keeping up to date with the latest firewalls and antispyware programs but eventually ways around all these walls will be unearthed.

2.3 Well i would have to say yes because the only way to stop a intruder is to understand the way they work so it is good for them to give us their secrets but...i would also have to say no as it brings up ideas to those innocent onlookers..."mmmm...maybe i should try it?!"

2.4 Yes they should so that they know what new ways of hacking are out there as knowledge is power. I dont think there would be a "why not" in this question!