Why has the art of cracking died?

Question

i've just noticed that any guides that are left are from mid-early 90's, have crackers smartened up or is this that next gen of crackers? especially with the close of hnc3k

if you dont know cracking is what most people call hacking

Answer 1

Specifically, Cracking hasn't died. A buddy of mine does that stuff professionally, He bought a car from just one job. Let's just say he works for "family" oriented individuals. Hes not exactly black hat per se, just a very very dark charcoal grey.

It's all very much on the QT since the fun folks declared any form of decryption techincally illegal (compliments of the DMCA) so talking about decryption at all is pretty much suspicious behavior.

Actually performing a free-lance decryption is invitation to a lawsuit if whatever you're decrypting isn't trivial (movies, songs etc) These are individually trivial but collectively both affected industries are being/have been affected non-positively.

The point being, there is also a genuine need after 9/11 for cracking/hacking etc - for the Feds.

Al Qaeda, China, Iran, Israel etc, definitely have their guys working overtime, and our best and brightest were either burnt out badly just after 9/11 or are basically waiting for the next 9/11 to slowly pony back up to the bar.

Answer 2

Hmm... alot of hacking questions today.
(Are the feds tryin' to dig up some pirates?)

I haven't seen hacking die down. If anything, it seems to be INCREASING, both in numbers, and in available items.

As for the 'tools-of-the-trade' themselves, well, I've seen guides for those as well. No shortage.

So, either you're a fed, or you're VERY naive. Trying to stop hackers is like playing "Whack-A-Mole": Knock one down, 3 more pop up.

Oh, they got Napster. Then Kazaa, Limewire, and Morpheus sprang up.

It's never going away. If the MPAA and RIAA want to survive, they would do better by not wasting resources on stopping piracy, but rather re-think their business plan for a much more tech-savvy world.

Answer 3

What in the world are you talking about?
Thank you for setting me straight! I just never heard that terminology before!...I guess I'm a little behind the times! lol!