How much damage can a hacker really cause?

[Deleted]

Watch Die Hard 4.0 and see what they can do.

[Ssith]

depends on what they hack into and gain access to. somewhat recently, there were some nuclear centrifuges in iran that got attacked by a worm and melted down.

[obdigore]

depends on what they hack into and gain access to. somewhat recently, there were some nuclear centrifuges in iran that got attacked by a worm and melted down.

Yes, by the US government, and that 'worm' was far beyond anything seen in the wild currently.

[Deleted]

So if Anonymous really wanted to cause damage they would not DDos, they would hack. So what is stopping them?

What is stopping them is that nowadays the older guys are chilling after they got caught trying to help someone in Nigera or whereever it was, these were the guys that was really good but now it seems like theres a bunch of 15year olds that only knows how to DDoS.
If you remember Lulsec they did much more damage cause they did more than just DDoS, they actually hacked people.

---------- Post added 2012-10-08 at 07:31 AM ----------

Most of them are not actually skilled hackers. They're a bunch of script kiddies that learned how to run a DDoS tool.

Not to say there aren't a few floating around that DO know they're doing, but the vast majority don't.

This is exactly what i am talking about.

[Djuntas]

These anynomouse hackers are pathetic. Like any sane person dosent like free speech on the internet aswell, and other things they stand for? What they accomplish is nothing, only makes them seem like retards.

"HERP DERP LETS PISS OFF PEOPLE TO GET OUR OPNION HEARD HIHI"

[Venant]

There have supposedly been incidents in which US drones were hacked, it makes you wonder to what extent weapon systems are vulnerable to attack. Could a group like Anonymous, in theory, bring down every airplane in a region by hacking their altimeter readings? Will they eventually get to a point where instead of threatening ddos attacks they can threaten mass murder? The more interconnected everything becomes, the more likely it is that this can happen.

[Woebegone]

There have supposedly been incidents in which US drones were hacked, it makes you wonder to what extent weapon systems are vulnerable to attack. Could a group like Anonymous, in theory, bring down every airplane in a region by hacking their altimeter readings? Will they eventually get to a point where instead of threatening ddos attacks they can threaten mass murder? The more interconnected everything becomes, the more likely it is that this can happen.

All I remember reading was that the drones were affected by a virus:
http://arstechnica.com/business/2011...s-drone-fleet/

... which is not quite the same as hacking, even if hacking is often preceded by a virus. So far the concern seems to be about information ending up in the wrong hands, rather than someone taking actual control. It does sound a bit worrysome that they couldn't figure out how to remove the virus.

[holyforce]

They could do damage, if they figured out how to get into closed circuit systems. which if I'm not mistaken most security minded people, IE nuclear silos, ect are closed circuit, meaning they cannot be accessed through any other means then the system its self and where it is located. For example; Say I wanted to breach cia records, I'd more then likely have to goto the cia, in person, and plug into their systems(somehow), and try to break what ever unholy security they have in that closed circuit system.

[FuxieDK]

Anonymus is nothing more than what, 10 years ago, was known as Script Kiddies..
Basically, they are (mentally) 12 year old kids, who execute a series of commands, engineered by others, to cause minor problems..

Real hacking is rare and far apart, and noone with hands-on experience with hacking would call Anynomous hackers.

[Aceda]

This thread is a joke, right? The title was okay, and I'm readingthe bodies with squinted eyes trying to understand how some people actually worry about this. Buzz words get everyone riled up for no reason. It sounds like a damn Fox News article in here.

DDoS sends packets of information to a specific domain to jam up a server the same way rush hour traffic works. That's the extent of their "hacking" powers.

[Deleted]

Doubt they'll do much, wrote a long paragraph - they'll get two scraps of pointless information and close servers over and over to attempt to get a point across.

[N-7]

If they hack the possibilities are limitless while on the other hand if they "hack" they wouldn't be able to do much really. An interesting Cracked article http://www.cracked.com/article_20050...ker-movie.html .

[psoodkel235]

DDoS != hacking

[mmx2]

Apparently there are servers that control all electronic transactions of money. From ATM traffic to sales in stocks to money between banks. I know most of those are in the US. If a hacker would get into that network and do a /format C: (not that it would be that simple but you get it right?) it would basically screw the financial system harder then the 2008 crisis.

It would be back up within the hour. A minor inconvenience assuming everything is backed up and has fail overs which is overly very likely.

DDoS crap is just low level script kiddie BS, it's not really hacking.

The truly scary black hat hacker wouldn't be detected and would get in there and look for ways to subtly redirect funds to himself or direct them to weird random places just to cause chaos all the while being completely undetected. A hacker is able to do far more damage by being invisible and stealing info for resell then any hacker could by doing some juvenile pranks. Causing a ruckus just makes your victim tighten security.