ALTHOUGH the Commercial Crime Bureau will not discuss in detail the methods used to catch hacker Raymond Chen, there are several common techniques used by experts and to identify hacking on a computer system.
In the Chen case, the hacking took place on UNIX systems connected to the Internet. As the most common operating system on the Internet, devotion to UNIX as the operating system of choice is nearly a religion among Internet addicts, and especially for hackers.
While it offers security features which outclass those in the typical DOS installation on a PC or in a typical Novell network, UNIX still has several holes which make it possible for hackers to gain unauthorised root-level access to computers on the Internet.
With root-level access, hackers have a free run of all files and all user accounts on a system and can even use this access to enter 'insider channels' on the IRC where hackers share tips, secrets and stolen passwords.
In addition, with this type of access it is even possible to effectively close the connection between two machines on the Internet as well as kick people out of their IRC sessions or even shut down their connection to the Net.
According to Aaron Cheung, managing director of local Internet service provider HongKongLink, there are several popular methods used by Internet hackers.
