Internet Hackers

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Hackers

Last year, two Cloverdale teenagers pleaded guilty to federal charges. What did they do that the FBI raided their homes and seized their computers? They hacked into Pentagon computer systems. These two teenagers, Makaveli and TooShort, were also suspected of breaking into computers at universities, government agencies and military bases. This example and many others show the increase of hackers and their crimes over the years. In another story that is similar to the story about Makaveli and Too Short, from a BBC News story, Hackers target Nasa and Pentagon, an international group of computer hackers broke into Pentagon computer systems and also said they had stolen key software from Nasa. The group consisted of eight Americans, five British and two Russians. They called themselves the "Masters of Downloading." They were considering selling the information to international terrorist groups or foreign governments. The number of hacker related crimes seems to be increasing year by year. Theft on the internet is costing companies billions, and the high-tech industry is struggling to stop it. According to Michael Meyer's Crimes of the "Net", last year roughly $2 billion worth of software was stolen over the internet last year. Also that year, the leader of an international piracy ring operating out of Spain, pleaded guilty to a brand of fraud destined to become commonplace. According to U.S. investigators, they stole 140,000 telephone credit-card numbers. Hackers used the numbers to make a total of $140 million worth of long-distance phone calls. Now, the question is who is really at loss here. The answer is simple. Companies like GTE, AT &T, Bell Atlantic and MCI. Because of these hackers, those companies lost a lot of money. What actions must be taken to stop these theives? According to the hackers, they call what they are doing sharing. Hackers are criminals that steal from others to better themselves. They are leeches, feeding off other peoples' personal items. People have to become aware of the risk they face with hackers. Software and phone cards isn't the end of the stealing hackers. Everything from computer parts to flowers and teddy bears are at risk to hackers. With the increasing technology, the abuse is almost endless.

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