From ZDTV.COM's CHAOS THEORY
http://zdtv.zdnet.com/zdtv/Site/StoryBody/0,1144,144-5,00.html

SHOULD YOU FEAR HACKERS? by Ira Winkler
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Ira Winkler has stolen billions of dollars from corporations and banks--
then given it back. He's a hacker for hire, an expert in industrial
espionage who's paid to probe corporate networks, identify holes, and find
security flaws, as well as investigate crimes committed against companies
and banks.

["One Trick Pony" is often used to describe Mr. Winkler.
Seemingly, his one claim to fame was successfully penetrating ONE
bank.]

He's also an expert in finding cheap, practical solutions to your safety,
digital crime, and general computing problems.

Winkler, author of the book Corporate Espionage (Prima Publishing), first
realized the vulnerability of large computer systems while working with the
National Security Agency in the 1980s. Since then, first in the NSA and
National Computer Security Association, now in private enterprise, he has
worked to protect network and communications systems. Along the way,
Winkler has also worked with the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency, as
well as performing information warfare studies for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

[Ask Mr. Winkler why he is no longer with the NCSA/ICSA.]

With his extensive experience and knowledge, Ira Winkler is amply qualified
to answer just about any question. He also writes "Spy Files," a weekly
column that demystifies the digital underground.
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Supposedly, hackers can think about a computer, take it over, and destroy
it. They are the source of all the world's ills, and nobody is safe from
their whims. They could crash the world economy if they wanted to. These
teenaged geniuses cannot be stopped...

At least that is what movies and the media seem to tell us. Thankfully, the
reality is quite different.

Let me say up front that individuals have very little to worry about from
hackers.

First, I think there is a misunderstanding about hackers themselves. Back
in the early days of computing, the term hacker was originally coined to
refer to people who were interested in computers. I guess hacker sounded
better than computer nerd.

These early hackers worked (or hacked) through many problems that they
faced because of poor documentation. For the most part, these hackers
weren't breaking into computer networks, they were using the computers that
they had legal access to. The movie War Games, about a teenage hacker
breaking into the Pentagon's computer network, changed all that.

After War Games, more and more teenagers started using their computers to
access systems without permission. For the most part, their actions were
not malicious; primarily, they just wanted to learn about computers.

Unfortunately, in the late 1980s, the media bastardized hacker-- and began
using the term to describe people that break into computer systems without
permission. The original hackers started using the term cracker to refer to
these cyberspace vandals. And, as the Internet grew, computers became
cheaper, and more how-to computer books were published, the ranks of these
crackers grew and soon outnumbered the hackers. Currently, crackers make up
a clear majority of what the public perceives as the hacker community.

True hackers do not present any direct threat to anyone. They experiment on
their own systems, and several who are very good find problems with
software that is widely used by the public; this can actually make those
products better. Some hackers, however, post the problem information on the
Internet, and then the crackers start using it to break into systems.

These crackers are not geniuses. I have often said that I could train a
monkey to break into a computer in a few hours. After all, the information
to do so is widely available on the Internet. It is easy to break into
computers, the hard part is protecting them.

[He can teach anyone how to break in, yet uses his claim to
fame of hacking the bank to try to help distinguish his talent.]

The good news is that the average user with only a PC that connects to an
Internet Service Provider has little to worry about from crackers.
Generally, if you tell your computer not to answer the telephone, besides
through your fax program, nobody can connect to your computer. People
cannot directly target you. Even when you are connected to the Internet via
your ISP, your identity to the world is for the most part random and
untraceable (basically you are the random modem at the ISP that you dialed
into).

With that said, you are vulnerable to some random attacks that you could
stumble into.

If you browse a malicious website and are running a vulnerable version of
Java or Active-X, the website can damage your computer or steal your
information. If you have a password that is easily guessed-- and most are--
a hacker may try random password guessing and log into your ISP as you. If
you access your ISP from another account, such as a work or school account,
over the Internet, hackers can capture your password as you log in. And, if
a hacker can log onto your ISP with your password, they can access your
personal account and pretend to be you, read your files, compromise your
ISP as a whole, or destroy all of your information.

There really is nothing that you can do about those attacks, but they are
extremely rare. There is really very little to worry about.

["Nothing that you can do.."?! This is far from true.]