Webster's New World Hacker Dictionary
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
01_047526 ffirs.qxp 7/21/06 3:43 PM Page i TM HACKER DICTIONARY Bernadette Schell and Clemens Martin 01_047526 ffirs.qxp 7/21/06 3:43 PM Page i TM HACKER DICTIONARY Bernadette Schell and Clemens Martin 01_047526 ffirs.qxp 7/21/06 3:43 PM Page ii Webster’s New World® Hacker Dictionary Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 10475 Crosspoint Boulevard Indianapolis, IN 46256 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2006 by Bernadette Schell and Clemens Martin Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN-13: 978-0-470-04752-1 ISBN-10: 0-470-04752-6 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1O/QZ/QY/QW/IN No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, elec- tronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or pro- motional materials.The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation.This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom.The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (800) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schell, Bernadette H. (Bernadette Hlubik), 1952– Webster’s new world hacker dictionary / Bernadette Schell and Clemens Martin. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-0-470-04752-1 (pbk.) ISBN-10: 0-470-04752-6 (pbk.) 1. Computer security—Dictionaries. 2. Computer hackers—Dictionaries. 3. Cyberterrorism—Dictionaries. I. Martin, Clemens. II.Title. QA76.9.A25S333 2006 005.8003—dc22 2006013969 Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley logo,Webster’s New World, the Webster’s New World logo,We Define Your World, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission.All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.Wiley Publishing, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. 01_047526 ffirs.qxp 7/21/06 3:43 PM Page iii About the Authors Bernadette H. Schell is dean of the Faculty of Business and Information Technology at Ontario’s only laptop university,the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Schell is the 2000 recipient of the University Research Excellence Award from Laurentian University, where she was previously director of the School of Commerce and Administration in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Schell has written numerous journal articles on industrial psychology and cybercrime topics. She has written four books with Quorum Books in Westport, Connecticut, on such topics as organizational and personal stress, corporate leader stress and emotional dysfunction, stalking, and computer hackers. She has also published two books on cybercrime and the impact of the Internet on society with ABC-CLIO in Santa Barbara, California. Clemens Martin is the previous director of IT programs at the Faculty of Business and Information Technology at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, where he is jointly appointed to the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science. Before joining this university,Dr. Martin was partner and managing director of an information technology consulting company and Internet Service Provider, based in Neuss, Germany. He was responsible for various security and consulting projects, including the implementation of Java-based health care cards for Taiwanese citizens. Dr. Martin currently holds a Bell University Labs (BUL) research grant in IT Security. He is the coauthor with Dr. Schell of the cybercrime book published by ABC-CLIO in Santa Barbara, California. iii 01_047526 ffirs.qxp 7/21/06 3:43 PM Page iv Credits Executive Editor Project Coordinator Carol Long Kristie Rees Development Editor Graphics and Production Specialists Kenyon Brown Denny Hager LeAndra Hosier Technical Editor Barry Offringa Andres Andreu Amanda Spagnuolo Copy Editor Erin Zeltner Susan Christophersen Quality Control Technician Editorial Manager Amanda Briggs Mary Beth Wakefield Book Designers Production Manager LeAndra Hosier Tim Tate Kathie Rickard Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Proofreader Richard Swadley Sossity R. Smith Vice President and Executive Publisher Joseph B.Wikert iv 02_047526 ftoc.qxp 7/21/06 3:43 PM Page v Table of Contents Preface . vi Acknowledgments. vii Introduction . viii Hacker Dictionary A–Z . 1 Appendix A: How Do Hackers Break into Computers? by Carolyn Meinel . 365 Appendix B: Resource Guide . 373 03_047526 fpref.qxp 7/21/06 3:43 PM Page vi Preface This book attempts to take a novel approach to the presentation and understanding of a controversial topic in modern-day society: hacking versus cracking. The perception of this bi-modal activity is as controversial as the process itself—with many in society confusing the positive attributes of hackers with the criminal activities of crackers.This dictionary tries to balance the two sides of the equation: the White Hat or the positive side of hacking with the Black Hat or the negative side of cracking. This dictionary is written for general readers, students who want to learn about hackers and crack- ers, and business leaders who want to become more knowledgeable about the IT security field to keep their enterprises financially stable and to be proactive against intrusive cyber-attackers. For those wanting to learn beyond our entries (which have been grouped into general terms, legal terms, legal cases, and person), we have provided further readings under each entry and at the end of the dictionary.The entries have been compiled by two experts in the field of information technology security and hacker profiling. Hundreds of entries have been included to provide explanations and descriptions of key information technology security concepts, organizations, case studies, laws, theo- ries, and tools. These entries describe hacktivist, creative hacker, and criminal cracker activities associated with a wide range of cyber exploits. Although we acknowledge that we cannot include every item of significance to the topics of hack- ing and cracking in a one-volume reference book on this intriguing topic, we have attempted to be as comprehensive as possible, given space limitations.Though we have focused on the past 35 years in particular, we note that the foundations of hacking and cracking existed at the commencement of computer innovations in the earlier parts of the previous century. Readers will note that much of the anxiety surrounding a cyber Apocalypse in the present began prior to the terrorist events involving the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and continue to be exacerbated by terrorist events in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.The result of our efforts to understand such anxiety is a volume that covers hacking, cracking, world events, and political and legal movements from the 1960s, in particular, to the present. Entries are presented in alphabetical order, with subjects listed under the most common or popular name. For example, there is an entry for phreaker Edward Cummings under his better-known moniker, Bernie S. Moreover, we should point out that some crackers were minors when they were charged and convicted of cracking crimes, and are therefore known to the world only by their monikers. One of the most famous of these in recent years was a teenaged Canadian by the name of Mafiaboy. Many narratives in this dictionary explain not only the entry term itself but also its significance in the hacking or cracking field. Because information is constantly changing in the Information Technology (IT) field, as are the exploits used by crackers for taking advantage of “the weakest links in the system,” we acknowledge that readers who want to stay abreast of the latest findings in IT security must contin- ually read about new computer viruses, worms, and blended threats, as well as their developers’ motivations.Although we have attempted to present up-to-date entries in this volume, we admit that the news events associated with hacking and cracking—as well as terrorism and cyberterrorism—are as rapidly changing as the weather.