INTRUDER MOTIVATIONS

INTRUDER MOTIVATIONS

Several motivations might prompt someone to intrude on another’s network. Although no text can list all the reasons why someone would decide to steal or corrupt data, some common themes become evident when looking at the motivations of previous intruders. To refine the discussion of intruder motivations, it is first necessary to define some terms. An intruder refers to someone who attempts to gain access to a network or computer system without authorization. Intruders can be further classified as follows.

Phreaker	Phreakers are individuals who have extensive knowledge of telephone networks and switching equipment. Their goal is to gain free access to telephone net work so that they can make local and long distance calls.
Cracker	Crackers use an advanced knowledge of networking and the internet to compromise network security without proper authorization, crackers are usually thought of as having a malicious intent.
Hacker	Hackers investigate the integrity or security of a network or operating system, usually relying on advanced programming techniques. Ethical hacker (white hats) is a term that refers to security consultants or those with good intentions; companies often hire ethical hackers to test currents defenses (and thus perhaps expose weaknesses). Hackers with mixed priorities between good and bad objectives are called grey hats, and hackers with malicious intent are referred to as black hats.
Script kiddies	Script kiddies are novice hacker who relies heavily on publicly available scripts to test the security of a network and scan for vulnerabilities and weaknesses. The dividing line between phreakers, crackers, hackers and script kiddies is that phreakers, crackers, and hackers tend to be more skilled and normally develop their own tool sets; script kiddies, on the other hand, tend to be less skilled and use publicly available scripts. The motivation for someone to attempt to access, alter, or disrupt a network differs for each intruder.