If you came into your office and found the above mess…

You would know that you had been "Hacked" and broken into. But when they enter your computer you often don't know that they have been there. The hacker community is global in its reach, and yet fragmented into cyber-gangs where loyalties run deep–as long as members don’t ask stupid questions and are willing to learn and do the work for themselves.

There are hundreds of different hacker web sites and online gathering places where anyone interested in hacking, cracking and virus writing can go to get their education and training. Hackers use these sites to share secrets. Programs that allow hackers to break into another computer are shared freely.

OH, You Don't Believe me? ...Go to Google and type in the following search words: "hack your computer, I want to be a hacker, I want to steal your identity, or anything similar that you can think of." You will be shocked at the results that Mr. Google gives back to you. What did you find? See how easy and open it is? That is how 'baby-hackers' get started.

The Dangers Of Inside Hacker Attacks…

A special note needs to be made about hacking that occurs inside an organization. Inside attacks are the result of hacking by someone who already has access to the network. In recent years, up to 70% of companies surveyed reported unauthorized access or computer security breaches by insiders. Employees obtain confidential information by using their own access privileges or by something as simple as finding passwords on sticky notes. Insiders don’t have to worry about working from the outside in. From behind the company’s firewall and other peripheral security programs, they have access to anything they want in a company using the right hacker tools. Small businesses located in an office building may share computer networks and broadband Internet access. The building they lease from may offer shared high speed Internet as a perk for business tenants. Anyone on a shared network, from any of the businesses, has easy access to anyone else on the network. Again, from inside, a seemingly secure situation is highly vulnerable without proper protection. Disgruntled employees, or even ex-employees with IDs and passwords can present even further risks. Hard feelings may influence them to take their attack a step beyond just stealing or changing information. Inside hackers can cause serious damage to company systems, even deleting critical business information.

The Anatomy of a Hack Attack...

1. Finding a Target–The first thing a hacker does is find an unprotected computer to attack. Imagine a burglar with the ability to check all the businesses and homes in a city in just a few minutes. It would not take long to find an unprotected victim. Hackers have a multitude of different tools and scanners to check out hundreds of thousands of computers in a single night, looking for and finding potential targets.
2. In essence, they are just looking for computers that are connected to the Internet and will respond to their calls. The problem for hackers isn’t finding a target, it’s selecting which one they want to invade.
3. Breaking & Entering–Once a target has been selected, that is when the real fun begins for a hacker. The hacker toolbox is opened and the security holes and vulnerabilities are found and exploited. Within minutes, the hacker can crack passwords and find several ways to gain control of the victim’s computer. The most common exploits and security holes come from not having a good firewall and from failing to patch and fix the security holes found consistently in programs and operating systems. If a hacker is missing the right tool to break into the computer, he simply goes to the Internet and asks other hackers from around the world how to pick the lock and get in.
4. The part of hacking that is most cherished by all hackers is the challenge of finding a weakness or a hole in some computer they have targeted, and sneaking right through without being noticed. Doing the Job–Now that a hacker is inside the computer, the adventure changes to exploring the contents of the computer and setting up shop. Hackers create their own little space or corner on the computer with administrative rights where they set up their spying software, and where they carry out their missions. This is when a Malicious Hacker will copy personal information, look for credit card transactions, watch every keystroke, send viruses to people in the address book, and plant Trojan horses to be activated at the hacker’s will to launch an attack on enemy hackers or other nameless, faceless people. Hackers don’t like doing too much dirty work from their own computer.
5. They use other people’s PC’s to break into in order to maintain their individual anonymity. Hackers also use slave or "Zombie" computers to browse risky or dangerous sites where they think they might pick up viruses or other nasty things. Hackers vandalize or deface websites from slave computers to avoid detection. Many hackers have thousands–or even hundreds or thousands of slave or “zombie” computers they can access at any time for their own purposes.
6. Some hackers invade your computer as “peeping tom’s-Just Like the Above Graphic” to study everything about you and watch your every move. For the most part, they don’t have bad intentions, just lots of curiosity and adrenalin. NOTE: In the year 2005, there was a noticeable cross-over of white-hats turning into black-hats and starting their Cybercrime Career. Still other hackers will look for anything important. They will steal credit card numbers, bank account information, and passwords to online banking and bill payments.
7. "Black Hat Hackers"...will go through email and contact information from address books, explore your photographs, and investigate any applications, programs or computer games they want to copy for themselves. Covering Their Tracks–...After a hacker has done what they want in their victim’s computer, they will spend time carefully covering their tracks. Hackers delete their tracks and erase any temporary files they set up. You will likely never know a hacker has been in your computer. Frequently, when a hacker has turned a computer into one of their slave machines, they will “heal” the computer and make it as hack-proof as possible. They will patch all the security holes they find, including the one they came in through. This is done to protect their slave machine from other hackers who will find, or have already found, the victim’s computer.
8. In any case, smart hackers are very good at covering their tracks and leaving themselves a back door to be able to return any time they wish. Without the right "Professional Grade" security software, you will probably never know that a hacker has used your computer. You might not even know that unauthorized users are logged on until you wonder why your Internet connection is so slow. In the meantime, hackers are enjoying a free ride on your dime. Slave Computers: A computer that has been taken over by a hacker and can be controlled remotely; also known as a “Zombie” computer, as referred to in above discussion.

"So, Keep In Mind Before You Leave This Page - Or This Website, that"...

• A Hacked Computer is Like a Gun-in-Your-Face by some Young Thug on a Dark, Black, Lonely Street or Parking Garage!
• Your Computer ["Without Adequate Professional Protection"] May Be Hacked 4-5 Times, THIS WEEK!
• Hackers Have Shifted Their Sights To "Y-O-U-R” Insecure Desktop... Both, Microsoft and The Federal Trade Commission Warn Internet Users of the Danger of Zombie Computers and That They Are Responsible For Their Own Individual Computer Security...
• Your Computer Could be Spewing ["As You Read This Line"] Spam and Stealing, And Even Though You Are Not Aware of This Illegal Activity, YOU could be accused, indicted, and sentenced for the wrong doings of others; this has already happened in the news a number of times over the last 3-5 years.
• Professional Hackers are more interested in developing an Army known as "Bot Computers" than in attacking a large company or institution; they want the path of least resistance and that is your computer and the computer of the small businessman, because they are "Low Hanging Fruit"