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[Scoops Novel]

Oh boy. Current defense mechanisms, experiences, attempts, all welcome. In particular, i'd like to know more about the culture and future of hacking.

[Helgoland]

Are there any quantum encoding algorithms out there that would reduce the effectiveness of quantum brute-forcing?

[GlyphGryph]

The future of hacking can be found in places like these:
http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/

[misko27]

Now to ask, is here anywhere I can get freeware password brute-forcers for totally legitamate reasons?

[GlyphGryph]

Yes, plenty of places. The newest advances in breaking password encryption allow very rapid results, but also require your computer to have 30 or 40 high end graphics cards. The bigger question is, where did you get a whole bunch of passwords you need to brute force decrypt?

Personally, I was impressed by the virus-hack a recent Drone Olympics competitor wrote: http://boingboing.net/2012/12/09/flying-malware-the-virus-copt.html

[Fenrir]

Now to ask, is here anywhere I can get freeware password brute-forcers for totally legitamate reasons?

http://www.oxid.it/cain.html

If you want to try rainbow tables: http://freerainbowtables.com

As GG implied, bute-forcing any reasonably-sized password takes an unfeasible amount of processor time. You should use a different approach. Protip: human beings never receive security patches.

[Hubris Incalculable]

Things that bug me about how the word "Hacker" is used:

1) Hacking is not cracking:

   Hacker
      A person who delights in having an intimate understanding of the
      internal workings of a system, computers and computer networks in
      particular.  The term is often misused in a pejorative context,
      where "cracker" would be the correct term. ^a

   Cracker
      A cracker is an individual who attempts to access computer systems
      without authorization.  These individuals are often malicious, as
      opposed to hackers, and have many means at their disposal for
      breaking into a system. ^b

2) Neither DDOSing ^c nor taking advantage of physical access to an already logged-in computer ^d fall under either of these definitions

^a Comparable to taking apart a car to see how it works
^b Comparable to hotwiring a car
^c Comparable to crowding around a car (edit: or maybe a bus) to stop it from moving
^d Comparable to stealing a car whose owner has foolishly left it with the keys in the ignition and the engine on

*The Internet User's Glossary, G. Malkin, 1993

[Max White]

And then both are once again separate from the ever popular social engineering, which is knowing that some people leave a key under their door mat, so checking under every mat.

[Strife26]

I'd argue that English has drifted hacking's definition to be synonymous with cracker.


Anyone familiar with/ have an opinion on Jester? Interesting guy.

http://www.sans.org/reading_room/whitepapers/attacking/jester-dynamic-lesson-asymmetric-unmanaged-cyber-warfare_33889
Long story short, guy with a habit of taking down sites that he finds objectionable to US interests (namely Extremist Islam, and somewhat more controversially, Wikileaks), as well as being really picky about OPSEC.

[GlyphGryph]

I'd argue that English has drifted hacking's definition to be synonymous with cracker.

And you'd be wrong. The only people who see the definitions as synonymous are those who have little experience working with technology, in my experience. And the spread of events like Hackerspaces have been doing a lot to reduce the link even among the nontechnical recently.

Thinking they are the same thing is about as accurate as assuming that all scientists where labcoats, that anything with protruding wires is a bomb, that pot makes you hallucinate and LSD turns you violent, and that CSI can "zoom and enhance" to their hearts contents, or pretty much anything to do with music or software. Just because it's a common mistake doesn't make it "right", when it's only used in that way by people who almost always have no idea what they are talking about.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Anyone familiar with/ have an opinion on Jester? Interesting guy.

http://www.sans.org/reading_room/whitepapers/attacking/jester-dynamic-lesson-asymmetric-unmanaged-cyber-warfare_33889
Long story short, guy with a habit of taking down sites that he finds objectionable to US interests (namely Extremist Islam, and somewhat more controversially, Wikileaks), as well as being really picky about OPSEC.

"Jester" pretty obviously works for the government and is trying to provoke nationalist fervor amongst the hacker community, a move that is doomed to failure.

[Max White]

Do people with technical knowledge even feel patriotic? I was under the impression that the more dedicated you were to a subject, the less to a nation.

[GlyphGryph]

Do people with technical knowledge even feel patriotic? I was under the impression that the more dedicated you were to a subject, the less to a nation.

Haha, oh hells yes. There are some crazy-super-ultra-nationalist technical types.

[Max White]

Wow... That has to be a fun conversation to have!
I'm imagining some guy sitting in the dark in front of his monitor mashing the keyboard in a some what uncivilized manor with a confederate flag hanging behind him, as he sounds out 'DIE NORTH KOREA!!! DIE!!!!!!!!!'

[MetalSlimeHunt]

North Korea is not exactly the best target for cyberwarfare.