Hacking and Hollywood

[bgast1]

I just saw the latest version of Wargames. Saw the original too, but hardly remember it. Anyway in this and other movies you have geeks doing all kinds of miraculous things with computers (at least to me anyway), like hacking passwords and getting into databases which are supposed to be secure etc.

I'm not asking about the morality of such actions, but are these sorts of thing really doable? If so, do they these kids have to have all kinds of special gadgets to do these things.

It would seem to me that much of it is just Hollywood, because if it was really doable, I think a lot of people would try it. But then again perhaps people are trying it and getting caught before they go to far. I sure don't know.

How much do we have to worry about security with a Linux box. ie identity theft etc. Is it possible to hide you IP address?

[Mateo]

those things are doable, but not at the speed in which movies make it out to be. hacking government databases is nearly impossible and would require a team of genius programmers working months if not years, by which time the security would be changed and strengthened.

[tamoneya]

i agree with the above poster. Often in movies if you look closely at the hackers screens they will be running a ping or something. While it is a useful tool it is by no means hacking but to the general public no one can tell the difference.

[bgast1]

I agree. To me hacking is more about solving problems and building things. To be honest I would love to learn Linux and all about computers inside out forwards and backwards. I just don't really know where to start. I could safely say that I can use Ubuntu, but I don't have the first clue about really solving real problems ie. getting my Xfi Extreme Gamer Sound Card to work, or whether I really even need to because my on board sound works fine. But it just bugs me that windows can do something that I can't easily do in Linux.

I was just wondering mostly about just how much computers can do. Unfortunately a lot of Hollywood is about how much havoc someone can wreak and to me that is not what hacking is all about. I was just wondering if a lot of it is just pure fantasy.

[NovaAesa]

You generally don't see hacking in hollywood movies (at least hacking in the true sense of the word). It's normally cracking that they have in the movies. Hacking is what I do when I download the source for something and mess around with it to make it better.

[Vitamin-Carrot]

Gotta love urbandictionary.com

1. hacking
104 up, 26 downlove ithate it

Hacking is the gaining of access(wanted or unwanted) to a computer and viewing, copying, or creating data(leaving a trace) without the intention of destroying data or maliciously harming the computer.

This represents the Good Guys most of the time for they are the ones who search for these exploits to prevent crackers use a method called cracking(opposite of hacking).

Hacking and hackers are commonly mistaken to be the bad guys most of the time. Crackers are the ones who screw things over as far as creating virus, cracks, spyware, and destroying data.

[Lord Xeb]

it is the other way around. Crackers "crack" things to fin the weaknesses so they can be patched or fixed. Hackers "hack" their way into things to try and break them or cause harm. Or just to mess with people.

[jgrabham]

read, and you will learn all -

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html#what_is

Also, I've found that in 'geek circles' that 'hacker' is always just someone who meddles with code, 'cracking' is doing somewhat shifty things, including things which may sometimes be acceptable (depending on who you ask) such as removing CSS etc from DVDs.

[conundrumx]

The term "hacker" is overly used, to say the least. The purest and original meaning of the word in modern computing culture is fixing things, or tinkering. (It comes from the Tech Model Railroad Club at MIT in the late 50's, where a 'hack' was a neat fix for a problem.)

Present day, hacker means many things, and there are many types. In the security world there are black hats (malicious), gray hates (personal gain, mostly), and white hates (altruistic). The media will call anyone with a computer a hacker, and should be swiftly disregarded. In general, being called a "hacker" means you're quite skilled at whatever it is you do.

Now then, on the topic of hacking in Hollywood. As was said above, it's generally a simple command with verbose output toggled on (I seem to recall Trinity shutting down the power station in the second Matrix being fsck or something). It is of course possible for systems of any kind to be compromised, but the time and ease in which it is done is always exaggerated.

*deep breath* What a rant.

[cmay]

I just saw the latest version of Wargames.
i only saw the original.i am trying to find on dvd for my collection.
is there a remake out now ?.

[conundrumx]

There's what looks like a completely inexcusable defiling of Wargames in the form of a straight to DVD sequel(?).

[bgast1]

i only saw the original.i am trying to find on dvd for my collection.
is there a remake out now ?.

It's called Wargames - The Dead Code. It's not a remake. It's an entirely new movie. I enjoyed it, but was quite skeptical of the computer heroics that took place in the movie. Hence my question.

[cmay]

It's called Wargames - The Dead Code. It's not a remake. It's an entirely new movie. I enjoyed it, but was quite skeptical of the computer heroics that took place in the movie. Hence my question.
i never seen that. maybe i will not think to much of it having seen the original. but i am also a bit skeptic my selve when it comes to the hollywood hackers of the movies:)