Confessions of a Hacker

“It’s like playing a puzzle game. A few years ago, I directed traffic on to my web blog to impress upon Google that GoogleAds was full of holes.”

Hackers lead a shadowy existence in the e-world. There are two kinds of us—ethical and unethical hackers.
Ethical hackers show how vulnerable a certain system or network is, while unethical ones hack using elaborate shields, making them difficult to detect. Of course, it’s a thin dividing line.

For me, it’s a challenge to break into unknown systems. It’s like playing a puzzle game. A few years ago, I successfully directed traffic on to my web blog to impress upon Google that their GoogleAds programme was full of holes. I kept receiving as much as $2,400 from Google for participating in their programme. They even sent me an iPod as a gift. I wrote to them several times about their security, but they never admitted to it or replied. They did plug those holes, but I found other ways to keep hacking into them for a lark, till I got bored.

There is a huge online community of ethical hackers whose services are free. In India, there are more than a few hundred computer experts who routinely hack into secure government websites to show how vulnerable they are. They are often called to tackle viruses or save pages from being defaced. These are mainly from external threats. A growing number of Chinese, Pakistani and Russian hackers are creating a major headache for Indian government websites. We also help government agencies during investigations.
Hacking is big business. There are companies which specialise in it. Even a day’s shutdown of an e-commerce portal, for example a travel portal, can divert traffic to other sites. Business rivals routinely hack into each others’ mail systems and even redirect mail. Now, with all kinds of tools available, including wireless ones, hacking has become child’s play. Many so-called blue-chip companies indulge in it, but none own up.

Hackers should not be confused with those morphing and uploading pictures on social networking sites. Anyone with a little knowledge of computer systems can do it. Specialists are those who can quietly hack into secure networks and pilfer data or play around with companies and banks, without anyone’s knowledge.

(This ethical hacker is a programming expert with a network security concern based in Bangalore) 

As told to Anil Budur Lulla

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