What is hacking?
Hacking is when someone tries to gain access to a computer or data without the owner's permission. There are several ways to do this…
- Malware
- Brute force attacks
- Guessing passwords
- Social engineering
- Data interception
The Computer Misuse Act (1990)
The law which makes it illegal to access a system without the owner’s permission. It also makes it illegal to use a computer system to commit other types of crime. If convicted, a hacker can go to prison for up to 10 years.
Brute force attack
A simple way to try to work out someone's pass-code is to try every single combination until the hacker eventually gets the right one. This can take a very long time, but a hacker might program a computer to do it, which would be much faster than a human attempt!
A hacker would probably start with information they already know about you. So if your phone pass code is your date of birth, you should definitely change it!
Choosing a good pass code
Good passwords should be:
- Long
- A mix of upper-case, lower-case, number, and symbol characters
- Not be something personal to us (e.g. our pet’s name or our favourite football team)
- Random characters, not full words
These precautions mean it takes much longer to try a brute force attack.
