http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/3333.htm
August 17, 2003 -- Every five seconds, a hacker somewhere is breaking into a computer. In fact, the moment you connect to the Web, someone is probably already trying to hack you.
The average home computer is invaded 10 to 20 times a day and, once attacked, it can take less than 15 seconds, sometimes as few as five, before that hacker has complete control of your computer - and all the information stored inside.
Viruses like the "blaster" worm, which made headlines last week for crashing computers around the world that ran Microsoft software, are just the tip of the iceberg.
Sometimes hackers want to do nothing more than pull a startling prank by installing a virus that will make a CD-ROM drive move on its own. But more often they work in secret, worming into your computer, stealing credit card information, Social Security numbers and back tax returns.
That information can be sold and used to steal your identity.
Anyone can go to Web site and download a hacking program. With one click, the program can scan millions of computers looking for those that are running programs that have holes in them - a mathematical error or glitch in the computer program or code.
Once the hacker program finds an opening, it installs itself and sends a message back that it has found a computer to access. It's an impersonal process until the program begins accessing the vulnerable computer's data and sends it back to the hacker - potentially with the owner's personal details.
That's what happened with the "blaster" worm last week that threatened to bring down Microsoft's network.
Besides just stealing any information on your hard drive, one hacker can also gain complete control of your computer, using it to hack other computers, or even just store his programs.
And he can be launching his attack from a home computer, from a university library or from an Internet café.
In December, 24-year- old Juju Jiang from Queens hit computers in 13 Kinko's throughout Manhattan, installing a keylogger program that allowed him to watch, from another location, as people typed in passwords, bank account information and credit card numbers. He has pleaded guilty.
Like most criminals, hackers are usually in the game to make money. Using high-speed programs they scan for e-mail addresses that they sell to spammers who can then send spam from a victim's e-mail account. They get paid to launch "denial of service" attacks by other spammers that can bring down entire computer networks. And they sell Social Security numbers, and more commonly credit card numbers, for as little as $1.
Anyone can download a program off a Web site, and with a few key strokes, hack into thousands of home computers on their own.
And once the hacker's inside your computer, it's almost impossible to get rid of him.
"If you've detected a hacker, it's already too late," said Lance Spitzner, founder of The Honeynet Project, a group that seeks to "trap" hackers during their attacks. "You should tear up the computer and start all over."
Most people don't bother protecting their computers, thinking they don't have any information hackers care about. But they can still suffer.
"You might notice an unusually slow performance," said Bill McCarty, a professor of Internet tech at Azusa Pacific University in California.
As with any kind of criminal, hackers use many ways to break into computers. But they are more stealthy, more elusive, and know how not to get caught.
In New York state, hacking is a felony, and depending on how much damage a hacker does, he can be punished with up to 15 years in prison.
"Hackers want to be bad, because they want the notoriety," said David Perry, of the anti-virus software firm Trend Micro. "But not bad enough so that the FBI will haul them away in chains."