How simple or difficult is it to "hack" into another person's computer

[Tuesday Afternoon]

and get all their information like account numbers and passwords? :shrug:

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. If you have physical access to it, and they don't have a password, it's a trivial thing.

If they're on a network with you, it's harder, but doable.

If you're talking about randomly cruising the Internet looking for openings to hack random computers, that's much more difficult, but there's a lot of stuff out there to make it easier - it all depends on how much security (hardware and software) they have and how smart they are in using it (passwords and other common sense things).

If you're talking trying to find a specific computer on the Internet, that's really hard, unless you know the IP address, then it's maybe a little easier, but still dependent on security and smartness of person you're trying to hack.

Trying to hack from a distance Joe Blow Idiot's computer, while being difficult, is still quite trivial in comparison to trying to hack NORAD, for instance.

It also depends on if you are trying to hack into their system electronically and then search around the hard way, or looking to send a virus or worm that record passwords and whatnot for you and email them to you.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. say, you left your laptop unattended (overnight) nearby someone who is computer savvy

and by that I mean they make their living working on and selling computers. They have a degree in the field of computer programming and have been in the business for 15+ years.

[Rabrrrrrr]

Do you have any security precautions on your laptop? Password to get into it, perhaps?

lacking a password to get into it, hacking it is a pretty simple measure.

Your passwords for websites, bankaccounts, anything else you do online are stored as hashes (that is, encrypted) on the computer, so they can't pull those down (unless they have the skill to reverse hash, which they might) - but they CAN get any of your login IDs, and perhaps some other stuff.

And if you aren't cautious about how you choose passwords, it might be easy for them to guess what your passwords might be, or use a program to hack them, once they have your login IDs.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. I am asking this for someone else. I think that there was no password

to get into it, only to get into the email account.

My mother left her laptop overnight with a person of questionable motives.

[Moondog]

5. I'd be assuming that

security has been breached. Change passwords ASAP; report credit cards as stolen and have new ones issued; as for bank accounts, I would contact the bank(s) and see what they recommend.

[petronius]

7. I would also run a couple of anti-spyware programs to make that no

keyloggers or other malware had been left behind...

[Moondog]

11. I agree with this too. n/t

[HopeHoops]

3. Over the net it is up to the security layers. A router usually provides a reasonable level.

Routers are generally set up with an IP address that isn't available for routing - 192.168.x.x (usually 192.168.1.1 by default) for example. It is assigned an address by the router on the other side of the link (DNS, Cable, etc.) and assigns internal addresses using DHCP, a "get one as needed" protocol.

Even without a firewall, that provides a fairly good level of security for a direct attack. Obviously, if the router is wireless you need to use WEP or another encryption technique to prevent unauthorized access, but the vast majority of that would be for the purpose of leeching off of your connection, not for hacking your machines. Making changes to the configuration of the router requires a physical port connection to the router so that isn't a concern for wireless snooping.

The biggest threat is actually yourself. If you grant access to a site to do something that may seem innocuous or install software without really checking out the validity, you can get screwed royally. One of my daughters installed a "cute mouse pointer" program. It did what it claimed to do, but it also installed a root kit and began flooding our network with traffic. I tracked it down using the router logs and all of the traffic was to sites that award money based on the number of "click-throughs". It was artificially creating those click-throughs and rendering our network close to useless. That machine has been off since then and is awaiting a complete reinstall.

[LynneSin]

6. Looking for a new career path in life?

:hide:

No idea, hackers make it look like they could do this in their sleep. Me, I can't even remember my damn passwords.

[Taverner]

8. Depends on the OS, and if they've hardened it or not

Firewalls are hard to hack into, as are WEP secured wireless networks. However, there is ALWAYS a back door.

Far easier to do some social engineering, and have them accept and install a binary you send them, that opens all kinds of doors on your system.

[Duer 157099]

9. If there's no logon password during startup, then it's technically not even hacking

it's just turning on a computer.

If it were mine, I'd go through the logs to see if the computer was accessed during the period in question. If it wasn't, then this could all be needless worrying.

[lukasahero]

10. For the win

I'm sorry for the OP's mom but yeah, technically, it's not hacking if you just have to turn the damn thing on...