{"id":44199,"date":"2013-06-11T13:26:52","date_gmt":"2013-06-11T13:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=44199"},"modified":"2013-06-11T13:26:52","modified_gmt":"2013-06-11T13:26:52","slug":"the-evolution-of-hacking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/","title":{"rendered":"The Evolution of Hacking"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<h3>The Evolution of Hacking<\/h3>\n<p>By Stu Sjouwerman, for KnowBe4.com Security Awareness Training<\/p>\n<p>It helps to understand more about the history of hacking, when you need to defend yourself against cyber criminals. So here is your Executive Summary:<\/p>\n<p>Early hacking started when guys like Kevin Mitnick became \u2018digital delinquents\u2019 and broke into the phone company networks. That was to a large degree to see how far they could get with social engineering, and it got them way further than expected. Actual financial damage to hundreds of thousands of businesses started only in the nineties, but has moved at rocket speed these last 20 years.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Generation ONE<\/strong><br \/>\nThose were the teenagers in dark, damp cellars writing viruses to gain notoriety, and to show the world they were able to do it. Relatively harmless, no more than a pain in the neck to a large extent. We call them sneaker-net viruses as it usually took a person to walk over from one PC to another with a floppy disk to transfer the virus.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Generation TWO<\/strong><br \/>\nThese early day \u2018sneaker-net\u2019 viruses were followed by a much more malicious type of super-fast spreading worms (we are talking a few minutes) like Sasser and NetSky that started to cause multi-million dollar losses. These were still more or less created to get notoriety, and teenagers showing off their \u201celite skills\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.knowbe4.com\/resources\/five-generations-of-cybercrime\/\" target=\"_blank\">Article continued here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This excerpt appears with permission from knowbe4.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/techtalk.pcpitstop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/evolutionh.jpg\" alt=\"evolutionh\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-44204\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Generations of cyber criminals have evolved from a group looking to &#8216;test limits&#8217; to active participants in an underground economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":66012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4352],"tags":[444,4499],"class_list":["post-44199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-knowbe4-com","tag-computer-security","tag-hacking"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Evolution of Hacking<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Evolution of Hacking - Generations of cyber criminals have evolved from a group looking to &#039;test limits&#039; to active participants in an underground economy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Evolution of Hacking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Evolution of Hacking - Generations of cyber criminals have evolved from a group looking to &#039;test limits&#039; to active participants in an underground economy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PC Matic Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-06-11T13:26:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pcmatic-fallback.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"knowbe4.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pcmatic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"knowbe4.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/the-evolution-of-hacking\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/the-evolution-of-hacking\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"knowbe4.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/02162494533603435e72f7f0cfc7dfd0\"},\"headline\":\"The Evolution of Hacking\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-06-11T13:26:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/the-evolution-of-hacking\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":238,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/the-evolution-of-hacking\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/pcmatic-fallback.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Computer Security\",\"hacking\"],\"articleSection\":[\"knowbe4.com\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/the-evolution-of-hacking\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/the-evolution-of-hacking\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/the-evolution-of-hacking\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Evolution of Hacking\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/the-evolution-of-hacking\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/the-evolution-of-hacking\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/pcmatic-fallback.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-06-11T13:26:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Evolution of Hacking - Generations of cyber criminals have evolved from a group looking to 'test limits' to active participants in an underground economy.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/the-evolution-of-hacking\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/the-evolution-of-hacking\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/the-evolution-of-hacking\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/pcmatic-fallback.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/pcmatic-fallback.png\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/the-evolution-of-hacking\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Evolution of Hacking\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"PC Matic Blog\",\"description\":\"Tech Tips and Tricks\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png\",\"width\":1535,\"height\":483,\"caption\":\"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/pcmaticusa\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/pcmatic\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/c\\\/PCMaticVideo\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/02162494533603435e72f7f0cfc7dfd0\",\"name\":\"knowbe4.com\",\"description\":\"KnowBe4 delivers next-generation security awareness training and testing, security consulting \\\/ penetration testing and innovative security software products addressing the needs of business owners, IT, HR, and end-users.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/knowbe4.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pcmatic.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/knowbe4-com\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Evolution of Hacking","description":"The Evolution of Hacking - Generations of cyber criminals have evolved from a group looking to 'test limits' to active participants in an underground economy.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Evolution of Hacking","og_description":"The Evolution of Hacking - Generations of cyber criminals have evolved from a group looking to 'test limits' to active participants in an underground economy.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/","og_site_name":"PC Matic Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic","article_published_time":"2013-06-11T13:26:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pcmatic-fallback.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"knowbe4.com","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@pcmatic","twitter_site":"@pcmatic","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"knowbe4.com","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/"},"author":{"name":"knowbe4.com","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/02162494533603435e72f7f0cfc7dfd0"},"headline":"The Evolution of Hacking","datePublished":"2013-06-11T13:26:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/"},"wordCount":238,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pcmatic-fallback.png","keywords":["Computer Security","hacking"],"articleSection":["knowbe4.com"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/","name":"The Evolution of Hacking","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pcmatic-fallback.png","datePublished":"2013-06-11T13:26:52+00:00","description":"The Evolution of Hacking - Generations of cyber criminals have evolved from a group looking to 'test limits' to active participants in an underground economy.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pcmatic-fallback.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/pcmatic-fallback.png","width":1920,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/the-evolution-of-hacking\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Evolution of Hacking"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/","name":"PC Matic Blog","description":"Tech Tips and Tricks","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA.","url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/techtalk.pcmatic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/PC-MaticLogo-e1472689639222.png","width":1535,"height":483,"caption":"PC Matic - Top Antivirus Company in the USA."},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pcmatic","https:\/\/x.com\/pcmatic","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pcmaticusa\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/pcmatic","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/PCMaticVideo"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/02162494533603435e72f7f0cfc7dfd0","name":"knowbe4.com","description":"KnowBe4 delivers next-generation security awareness training and testing, security consulting \/ penetration testing and innovative security software products addressing the needs of business owners, IT, HR, and end-users.","sameAs":["http:\/\/knowbe4.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/author\/knowbe4-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}