OMG n00b H4XXOR!

Hello everyone.

This post is a rather serious one compared to the relatively light-hearted nature of my previous posts. This is because it deals with Internet Security, which is of no laughing business to anyone, whether you would be an e-business owner, gamer, or a casual internet user.

Now everyone knows about Hackers, Viruses and Trojans. Hackers use a variety of different methods such as Spyware and Trojans to obtain valuable information from your system or to disable it. They may steal your credit card information to access your bank account or take down your official website if you are running a business. Elite hackers from certain countries have even been accused of using cyberspace as means to harm and disrupt another business or even another country. Imagine a hacker getting control of a goverment's electronic and online infrastructure and other assets.

Nope, computer hacking does not involve hacking down a tree.

Unfortunately, online gaming is not free from their own share of hackers. Depending on the game, the hacker may use different type of hacks and exploits in order to further their goals. Usually, this involves cheating the game system into giving them ungodly powers usually not allowed in normal gameplay. For example, they may give themselves unlimited health or give themselves the ability to see through walls, thus giving them an advantage over normal players. They may even be able to change certain aspects of the game world in more serious attempts. Other hacks trick the game into believing that the hacker is a administrator of the game server, thus giving them power normally reserved for admins, such as the power to change boot players out of the system or to change the server passwords. When this happens, the server is more or less loss to the original owner forever. More serious hackers may try to take over your online persona and thus gain access to whatever digital items that your persona may have.

While most game hackers may seem like an insignificant threat to the more serious threats of credit card information theft, I still feel that this is a matter not to be ignored. After all, a game hacker is only one small step away from more serious attacks such as hacking into a business intranet. In addition, since there are many games which require real money to make purchases of digital goods, such theft of virtual goods would mean real world money being loss as well. Same goes for account theft for games which have a pay-to-play payment system. I think all hackers should be dealt with regardless of what area they specialize in. You never know if the game hacker you are screaming "OMG n00b H4XXOR!" would end up stealing something more serious like your credit card number.