An Introduction to Hacking and Crimeware

INTRODUCTION

“Cyberwarfare” … “Cyberattacks” … “Cyber espionage” – one cannot turn on a television set or open a newspaper without seeing these disturbing headlines. And indeed, the problem is serious. The news about “Stuxnet,”¹ “Night Dragon,”² and “Aurora”³ attacks got the world worried about the vulnerability of global defense and industrial and financial infrastructures. The disruption of these systems could halt not just these institutions, but ultimately impede our entire networked civilization.

There is a perception that these attacks are carried out by sophisticated, often rogue, state-sponsored forces. While some of this perception is indeed based on reality, such as China’s organized 9 to 5 hacking⁴ or the sophisticated nature of the ...