HACKING GLOSSARY ALIAS You’ll need an alias—a false identity—to conceal a genuine one in the physical or digital worlds. BACKDOOR Secret entry points to a system or piece of software. Backdoors are either built into code, for governments and companies to access, or planted maliciously by hackers. BLACKHAT Blackhats are malicious hackers, out to infiltrate computer systems. They're in it for personal gain, looking for sensitive information, or to damage something. An intelligence service, perhaps. A bank. Or maybe you. BITCOIN For a totally discreet purchase, you might consider using Bitcoin: A digital currency BOTNET If someone wants to bring down something big or decrypt a particularly important file, they might need an army—an army of hacked and compromised computers. That’s a botnet. The hacker will point the botnet at the target and overload it until it crashes, or reveals its secret. CIPHER A cipher scrambles your message into nonsense by substituting (and adding to) the letters in it. For someone to read it, they’ll either need the key or to be skilled at cryptanalysis. CRYPTANALYSIS The art of deciphering coded messages without being told the key. CRYPTOLOGIST You are a mathematical master of making and breaking codes. DECRYPTION Break a code, with or without a key. DISTRIBUTED DENIAL OF SERVICE (DDOS) A favorite way for hacktivists to topple an online target. Feed it too much. Cram it with so muchtraffic—know n as junk packets—that the server gives in and the computer or website cra shes. That’s a DDoS attack. 195