black hat – Scriptingthewhy.com

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teenagers seated viewing their cellphones — Eric: Z-Daddy put up another script.
Sean: I know, I’m reading it… and stop calling him that. That’s weird bro.
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Here’s a question for you. Can you recall what you were doing back in your younger days? Like around the age of 15 or maybe even younger, 12. I would assume that for most people, you were either being grounded by your parents (or parent, I understand for some people a single-parent ran household may have been a reality) for something stupid you did or not being grounded and running around outside with your friends.

The point was, you were too busy either with your parents or with your friends to even have the thought of being seated in front of a computer. And in some cases, this shows signs that you grew up with a healthy childhood. But on the other hand, if you were, or tend to be anti-social, then forming together all the hallmark traits of becoming a hacker could have been something on the menu for you. You don’t know what a hacker is? Let me script it for you.

young man pulling up hoodie — It’s hacking time.
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Hacking Many Hats

Before we start this, I want to be clear, hackers do not sit in front of a computer in the dark typing really fast with a hoodie on trying to crack code…the brightness from the screen tends to hurt our eyes after a while. There are a lot of meanings for the term “hacker”, but the actual definition doesn’t match the sexiness of Hollywood’s definition.

A hacker is someone who uses their skills to gain access to systems and networks without authorization. And before you ask, no, there isn’t an age limit to becoming a hacker. Hackers often fall into one or two of the three categories, you have “Black Hat” – the cybercriminal who is looking to illegally access a system with malicious intent, “White Hat” – the “good guy” who identifies weaknesses in an architecture of an organization which they then inform and advise, and last is “Gray Hat” – which is the combination of both white hat and black hat. Needlessly to say, they operate to what suits their best interest at the given time.

There are other types of a hacker, “Green Hat” – newborn hackers, “Blue Hat” – are white hats who are employed to improve security systems and conduct pen-testing, and the last is “Red Hat” – which are vigilante hackers, these are the individuals that hack in the name of justice.

old man holding up a fan of cash — Businessman…the old school hackers before the internet.
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Big Wins with You Losses

Hackers tend to go after big-name financial institutions because of the chance to win big and get a nice payday. However, the risk of doing so results in possibly being caught, fined, and put in prison. So what is a better alternative to avoid that? That’s right, you guessed it, they target the little guy, putting your sweet cornhole on the menu.

While your money may be the most important thing to you, your information like social security, address, and entire name, pretty much everything that says who you are online and in life is way more valuable to a hacker.

The collecting of your personal information is called “information aggregation” and once complete or they feel enough is acquired could result in you getting charged for things you didn’t sign up for, like a loan, a timeshare, or getting a speeding ticket in the mail for a car you don’t own. Basically, your data goes up for sale on the dark web to the highest bidder. And here you were thinking no one had an interest in you, well not you per se since it’s the data they want but still don’t discredit yourself. You go you.

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teen looking up at the sky. — The sky is the limit on how many accounts I can hack.
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Hacking When We were Young

Remember when I mentioned that anyone could be a hacker? I was kidding but then again, I wasn’t. You see hackers can come in many shapes, sizes, and flavors. Flavors are the level of skills that they possess to get the job done. Most hackers are often referred to as “Script Kiddies” (No, there’s no relation to them and this site, you’re safe), they’re low-level and mainly purchase malicious code also known as scripts to use to perform malicious attacks.

But then you have your hackers who really know what they’re doing. Such as the likes of Kevin Mitnick- the world’s most famous computer hacker. He hacked into North American Defense Command, Digital Equipment Corporation’s network system. He was arrested and later upon release, decided to hack Pacific Bell’s voicemail system as a flex to show that he could.

Albert Gonzalez started around the age of 12 and was later arrested for debit card fraud in relation to stealing card information. He stole more than 180 million payment card accounts across different companies. And Jonathan James or maybe formally known by his fictitious name “C0mrade”, was deemed one of the best hackers in history.

This was attributed to him gaining access to private network systems with the flex being “this was done just for the fun of it”. Again, recall what you were doing back when you were 15, at the age of 15, he hacked into NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), the Department of Defense (DoD), and South Bell to steal software.

This is insane because his hacking into NASA led to them being shut down for 21 days and cost about $41,000. Getting things fixed was cheaper back in the day, am I right?

young man with a look of worry — I just had to click on a file saying, “Baddies: one-click nude-pic”.
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So, you’re probably worried about trying to protect yourself from getting hacked and having all your juicy information all over the internet. Well, I have good news, it’s too late. Well, not entirely, maintaining best practice use of devices and being mindful of your interactions on the internet could save you a lot of financial pain in the long run.

Never leave your device alone in an area whether you trust your surroundings or not, practice using complex passwords – involving letters, numbers, and characters, which makes it harder and takes more time to crack. Do not use any part of your name or the name of anyone you may know for Bluetooth and or Wi-Fi devices as this could give hackers possible information to utilize and further their pursuit.

Always use multi-factor (MFA) or two-factor authentication (2FA) when dealing with online accounts and any other login site as this helps with ensuring that it is you accessing them. Always make use of anti-virus/anti-malware as this will hinder hackers’ attempts to install unwanted programs/files onto your machine. And always make sure your operating system, the OS, is up to date.

Most of how to protect yourself is using common sense, like you wouldn’t just leave your front door unlocked while you’re away on vacation or just have some random person walk in your house to Netflix and chill, don’t leave your device unattended, and don’t let people you don’t know on your device or network. I mean I know hackers can get clever and lucky but most of the time it’s made easy for them.

gentleman in suit face palming his head. — I have a degree in computer science but what I really needed was common sense.
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Made it this far and found this to be entertaining? Then a big thanks to you and please show your support by cracking a like, sharing this with whomever, scripting a comment, or plug-in to follow.

Would like to give sincere thanks to current followers and subscribers, your support and actions mean a lot and has a play in the creation of each script.

Do you have a feeling that may have missed something about hackers? Script a comment below.

Consider following on social media!

Quick note: if you’re viewing this via email, come to the site for better viewing. Enjoy!

Tim: Hey Briggs, did you read the latest script?
Briggs: You know I did bro.
Tim: Z-Daddy is like my gun, he’s always on point.
Briggs: Bro, stop calling him that and that was mad cringe.
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There was a time, a long time ago, when we as humans weren’t divided and we lived together in perfect harmony. In case you were wondering how long ago that time was, I’m referring to the stone age when we were in caves, communicating through grunts and often pointing off into the distance to what may be a potential threat.

But as our civilization grew, so did our divide, and this also happened within the world of technology. There has been a long-standing argument over which PC (Personal Computer) is superior and to what aspect. Many claim that Windows users are the most vulnerable to viruses, malware, and susceptible to other forms of attacks and Apple is the alpha, omega, and like a self-proclaimed independent woman of modern society, they don’t need any virus protection keeping them down.

Mac users, you might want to keep reading because your PC isn’t off the menu.

Shaw: Mac can get hacked? But Steve Jobs at fruit.
Z-Daddy: Shawn, that has nothing to do with this topic.
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A Bitten Apple

For many years, Apple has gone under the radar for being targeted for viruses and malware. Viruses have been reported to hit Apple products but not as hard or as often as with Windows and Android.

But there is a new addition to the growing list of viruses aiming to put MacOS higher up on the attacking menu. MacStealer is classed as malware that can collect your passwords, cookies, and other credentials from the web browser. Web browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome are commonly on the menu. MacStealer also has the capability to extract information from the KeyChain database.

KeyChain, in case you’re unfamiliar, is a macOS app that stores your passwords and account information, so in a sense making it easier for you to login into your accounts with less recalling. Always keep in mind that if it makes it easier for you it also makes it easier for the attacker depending on your given level of privilege on your PC.

A small inconvenience can go a long way.

Here at Uptycs, we find viruses and stuff.
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Malware Among Mac

Analyst researchers at a company called Uptycs discovered this malware. Uptycs, which is a cloud-based analytics solution for anomaly detection. You may be asking yourself what all these words mean. These are all fancy words for, “We look for anything that may be suspicious on your network” or “sus”, for those who have played Among Us.

They had found the malware being advertised on a forum site on the dark web. For those who don’t know, the dark web is not what Hollywood makes it out to be, and you may have experienced it to some degree. The dark web is the use of special browsers like Tor Onion and VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) for peer-to-peer connections to access content that otherwise wouldn’t be accessible.

Always keep in mind, just you being there isn’t illegal, however, the activities in which you participate if discovered could have consequences. MacStealer, was not only being sold as Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) – meaning the author created it and it’s being sold for public use via agreement on pay, but its price tag was $100.

The fact that threat actors keep a budget in mind when it comes to paying for malicious services on the dark web leaves me dumbfounded. Even cyber criminals feel the effects of inflation.

Z-Daddy, please tell I don’t have to switch back to Windows OS.
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Ideal Co-Worker

So, at this junction, you probably want to know how this malware functions. MacStealer, when distributed, appears as an unassigned DMG (Apple Disk Image file) with a weed icon on the folder.

This is done with the intent to trick the victim into running the file on their computer. After clicking, the victim is prompted with a fake prompt to enter their credentials to “log in”. Once this action is completed, the machine is comprised, and information aggregation can begin.

Once all of the data is collected, it’s stored in a ZIP file and is sent back to controlled servers and stored to be collected later for the hacker. At the same time, MacStealer sends out a notification signifying the task is complete.

Yes, I know, this is more efficient than your co-workers, and no, you can’t make a virus to replace them. I’ve already tried.

Oh my co-workers just got lucky. I was so going to replace them with a virus.
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Zero Victim Security

This is being told with some good news… finally. No one (that I am aware of) has been hit with this malware yet. Uptycs analyst spotted it and put out an alert in time.

It’s still in the developing stages, so features from the author are looking to be added to it but for now, it’s nothing too sophisticated where you wouldn’t be able to spot it. Still, prevention has to be mentioned because not everyone may be computer savvy.

For some people owning an Apple product is like eating at a fancy restaurant, some people just bought it for the name. I don’t know how many people have put weed icons on their folders but if you find a file or folder with a weed icon and you didn’t put it there, delete it. Only enter your passwords and other log-in information at secure websites.

Never, and if you’re doing it, stop, store your passwords or any information in your web browser. It seems like a good option but it’s the one of few areas threat actors count on for your goodies. If you have too many accounts and passwords to remember, a solution could be using a simple text editor like Microsoft Office Word, saving, and storing your credentials on a flash drive, and unplugging it from the computer for good measure.

Never download files or click on any links sent from unknown sources and double-check with people whom you may know the link was from. There aren’t as many vulnerabilities in MacOS as in Windows, but a moment in evaluating a given situation could see both operating systems with better security.

Any one of these macs could have been comprised, don’t let it be yours.
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Made it this far and found this to be entertaining? Then a big thanks to you and please show your support by cracking a like, scripting a comment, or plug-in to follow.

Would like to give sincere thanks to current followers and subscribers, your support and actions mean a lot and has a play in the creation of each script.

Do you think there is something I may have missed or have another way to prevent this? Script a comment below.