Hacking Secret: What Hackers don’t Want You to Know (2015)

CHAPTER 2: WHAT ARE HACKERS LOOKING FOR?

MONEY

So what are hackers looking for? Most of them are looking for money. They might get it in a variety of different ways but this is usually what’s going to improve their interest. After all, the most successful hackers are the ones that make a career out of it and if you’re going to have a career you need to be sure that you’re making money from it right? Hackers are trying to make a living too and unfortunately, their methods of doing it are entirely illegal (and they’re good at it).

When a hacker delves into your accounts they are able to get your personal information. This means they can directly transfer your money from your accounts to their own accounts or they can take over your identity. If they take over your identity they are able to open their own accounts in your name and this helps them to fraudulently get credit, jobs and anything else they want. Then they can actually smear your name because if they default on those cards or accounts it comes back to your name and social security number.

If they are just after your money it means they will generally leave your identity alone and will only transfer money out of your account and into their own. Now this is still awful and it will hurt you a great deal, but at the same time you’ll be able to get your money back easier than you will be able to clear your name and get your identity back. But hackers don’t care about the troubles you’re going through. What they want to do is improve their own situation. Completely at the expense of yours.

SKILLS

The other reason that hackers will break into your accounts is so they can gain more skill. Now any hacker that is looking for your money is also going to be trying to advance their skills because they will start with someone low skill and build up to something a lot more advanced. For example, they might start by hacking into your computer to look at your normal files and then advance to hacking into your bank account to get your money. It doesn’t start that way, much the same as the M.I.T. students never started out with the intention of hacking into personal information.

Even hackers that are just getting into things or are using it as a hobby are looking to advance their skills. They want to get better even if they have no intention of ever taking your money. They just want to be able to say that they can do it. After all, everyone wants to be better at something than everyone else. Plus it starts to get boring if you’re always doing the exact same thing. If you start lifting five pound weights won’t they eventually get boring? You won’t be advancing or changing anything. That’s why hackers continue to hack into stronger accounts as well. They want something interesting.