Hacking: How Do We Prevent?

In early 1960s, "'hacker' was a positive term for a person with a mastery of computers who could push programs beyond what they were designed to do." (A history of hacking) However, in media reports , hackers often the term refers to those "Software Hacker " (software cracker). Until nowadays, it has been used refers to those people who specifically make use of computer networks to sabotage or prank.

Hackers use a variety of different criminal modus. Some hackers will steal personal information on the network, and then they sell it to a private detective or personnel companies. Others will spread their own virus through the Internet or constantly attack some specific objects. For example, some former employees place "logic bomb”. What’s more, many commercial espionages and military tipsters will obtain some of information that you cannot imagine through the Internet.

The attacks of hackers could cause us a lot of trouble or loss , then how do we prevent it in daily lives?

1. Hide IP address

Hackers often make use of some network detective technology to check our host information. The main purpose is to get the IP address of the network host. IP addresses is a very important concept in the network security. If attackers know our IP addresses, it is equal to prepare a target for them to attack. They can launch a variety of attacks to this IP, such as DoS attacks. Using a proxy server  is the primary method to hide IP address.

2. Close unnecessary ports

Hackers often scan our computer ports during invasion. If we install a port monitoring program, this monitoring program will have warning notices. If we encounter this kind of invasion, we can use some available software tools to turn off unneeded ports. For example, using "Norton Internet Security" to close ports 80 and 443 which provide web services. Some other less frequently used ports can also be turned off.

3. Install necessary security software

We should also install and use some necessary anti-hacking softwares in our computers. Anti-virus software and firewalls are essential as well. Opening them during surfing on the Internet so that our security is also guaranteed even if a hacker attack.

Reference:

“A history of hacking.” http://www.sptimes.com/Hackers/history.hacking.html

“Denial-of-service attack.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial-of-service_attack

“Logic bomb.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic_bomb