Two years ago, a fifteen-year-old boy logged onto the Internet under the alias 'Comrade'. To some of us, our idea of hacking might include breaking into an email account or viewing confidential company information. However, no one expected that 'Comrade' would cause a three-week shutdown at NASA, steal government email passwords, intercept over 3000 emails and download close to $2 million worth of software used to operate the international space station. If that was not shocking enough, he had twice gained access to the computers used by the Pentagon to monitor threats of nuclear and biological warfare.
Computer hacking has been around for as long as we can remember - certainly as long as we have had a World Wide Web.
Occasionally, the news speaks of silly pranks which imply nothing more than a temporary shutdown of a website, although 'Comrades' hack forced a three-week shutdown for repairs and cost the U.S. government $41,000.
Recently, the case of the hackers tampering with the CIA's website, changing the title to 'Central Stupidity Agency' and filling it with obscenities was merely a nuisance for the agency. It posed no real threat because the CIA's files are inaccessible via that Internet site.
Computer hacking has been around for as long as we can remember - certainly as long as we have had a World Wide Web.Occasionally, the news speaks of silly pranks which imply nothing more than a temporary shutdown of a website, although 'Comrades' hack forced a three-week shutdown for repairs and cost the U.S. government $41,000.
Recently, the case of the hackers tampering with the CIA's website, changing the title to 'Central Stupidity Agency' and filling it with obscenities was merely a nuisance for the agency. It posed no real threat because the CIA's files are inaccessible via that Internet site.
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