My company has just had all the computers upgraded. While the IT guy was in the office I asked him why when I swtch off my computer at home a box would pop up and say if I switch off my computer other users would lose the signal ?

He told me that other users were using my computer to down load music and films resulting in my computer being very slow.
That's something I have noticed how slow my computer has become. I have firewall so obviously it's not doing it's job.
The it guy recommended a free fix, spy wear through google.

I have bought many things on-line. makes you wonder what these hackers can get out of your hard drive. Scary stuff indeed.

Not quite, but my Hotmail e-mail account is gubbed, very frustrating

My hotmail account is being used to spam people about some bloody electronics business.

I doubt you are being hacked, its extremely unlikely. Is your internet at home a wifi connection? Its more likely someone is just pinching your bandwith if you have no/low security.

Is it vista or windows XP you are using?

Can a mod move this to e-chat?

I think its great fun to mess about with people

I agree, both in the moving of the thread and that it's more likely people using your wifi connection.


Wifi is like fitting a new set of locks on your front door. If you leave the keys in the lock then people will come into the house.

if you have a wi-fi, and i have a wi-fi card, and my wi-fi card can pick up signals allll the waaay over the street from your wi-fi.

I STEAL YOUR WI-FI

1) Network

2) Stealing

3) Bandwidth

Amazing the number of non-secure wi-fi connections in this area. I have mine secured with passwords and MAC codes. I keep an eye on it, and it seems secure-indeed you'd leave my internet alone and go for the easy options in the neighbourhood!

People really need to stop using the word "hack" as a term for gaining unauthorised access to computer resources.

What term would you prefer?

Rape.

If it was someone using his Wi-Fi, chances are he wouldn't get a message warning him that others would be disconnected. Sounds more like there's someone using a VPN connection on your computer logged on as someone other than you.

Are you using XP or Vista?

Cracking, or if it relates to using a WiFi signal, theft (of bandwidth).

Hacking is perfectly legal.

Depends in the context it's used.

We could go down the long and boring route of discussing the minutia of literal and pejorative meanings but for me, a hack is one of two things..


1) A quick and dirty solution to an awkward problem. For example, a quick IE CSS hack.

2) When someone gains entry to content they should not have done through vicarious methods. For example, my college buddy was expelled for hacking into the tutors network account.


I feel hack is entirely appropriate in this instance, but that doesn't mean other words can't be used. Cracking, on the other hand I feel is far less suitable in this case as it normally refers to the process in which hacking is achieved. It's a subset of hacking. Cracking would involve, for example, the brute forcing of a password. Hacking would be the action of stealing the bandwidth, cracking would be the action of gaining the privs to do so.




Slightly off topic, there is only one phrase/buzzword/acronym that is used without justification in computers that drives me mad, and that is the term AJAX.

Slightly related, but my girlfriend got a reasonably harmless Trojan Horse sent to her through MSN a couple weeks ago. I talked her through getting rid of it, which took about 5 minutes tops.

She then changed her MSN tagline thing to "VIRUS ALERT - MY PC'S BEEN HACKED, YOURS MIGHT HAVE BEEN AS WELL", so all her contacts (and a lot of mine) were then all over the phone to her and me shitting themselves.

I was not a happy bunny at having to sort that out.

I await to see the t-shirt she will wear down the street if you ever pick up an STD..

No offence, but you really don't have a clue.

In the context of computing, hacking means one thing and one thing only. The word was then hijacked and made synonymous with cracking.

And as someone who does hack, it really pisses me off.

No offence, but you are a dick.

I knew you would pick me up on it which is why I pussied about with my original post.

I have been involved with "hacking" and "cracking" since the early 80's. That's obviously why I "don't have a clue".

Ill show you my hack, if you show me your crack

It always amuses me when someone thinks a personal insult is a good way of communicating a point.

Couldn't care less if you think you've been involved with what you consider to be hacking since the early 1880's - you are very wrong to call it that, if you are referring to anything malicious.

Let's stop the flirting boys, I don't really care who's got the bigger phallus when it comes to hacking, cracking, raping or whatever.

Is that beause I always win?

You mean you're a white hat hacker? Or are you someone who enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users, who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary?

Unfortunately, I think you just have to accept that the definition of the word has changed

A shock contributer to this thread!

"Cracker - This is the common term used to describe a malicious hacker. Crackers get into all kinds of mischief, including breaking or "cracking" copy protection on software programs, breaking into systems and causing harm, changing data, or stealing. Hackers regard crackers as a less educated group of individuals that cannot truly create their own work, and simply steal other people's work to cause mischief, or for personal gain."

"Hacker - This is someone that seeks to understand computer, phone or other systems strictly for the satisfaction of having that knowledge. Hackers wonder how things work, and have an incredible curiosity. Hackers will sometimes do questionable legal things, such as breaking into systems, but they generally will not cause harm once they break in. Contrast a hacker to the term cracker."

What he says.

Where I have made a point to explain what I mean by it, you are just..

wah.. wah.. .. you are wrong! wah.. wah.. .. you are wrong!

It's highly notable that you have not made a single attempt to define what you see these two words meaning.