

Hackers Penetrate Nasdaq Computers  - petethomas
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704709304576124502351634690.html

======
dkarl
_Another person familiar with the case said the incidents were, for a computer
network, the equivalent of someone sneaking into a house and walking around
but—apparently, so far—not taking or tampering with anything._

That's a really scary way of putting it, because if they're inside the house
they can already take anything they want. I hope it's more like they jumped a
fence and walked around the house peering through the windows.

------
spoiledtechie
I wonder if any country would have something to gain from a Market shutdown?
Most major countries/continents now have one of their own stock exchanges, but
what country can gain from this one going down? I could only assume China, but
they are so reliant on the US dollar, they truly wouldn't want to see if fall.
Maybe rogue hackers, but then again, most likely if they are a group, they are
looking for something in the future.

~~~
dalore
A lot of them would be linked in ways you couldn't imagine. If they brought
one stock market down, it would generally bring all stock markets down.

Especially if someone brought down NASDAQ, then confidence in all stock
markets would be eroded, bringing them all down.

------
leon_
They are not hackers. They are crackers.

Real hackers hang out on HN!

/edit: what's with the downvotes? wasn't it stated multiple times that the
people who break into computer systems are not to be called "hackers" but
"crackers"?

~~~
jasonkester
_wasn't it stated multiple times that the people who break into computer
systems are not to be called "hackers" but "crackers"?_

Yes, here. But not in the Wall Street Journal. To everybody in the world bar a
few hundred of us here, they are using the correct terminology. It's probably
best to let it go.

~~~
marcinw
Many would also argue that the majority of people that hang out here are not
"hackers" but instead "developers that (mostly) know how to get shit done."

In their eyes, hacking is exploiting a weakness in a system to do something
the system was not originally intended or designed to do.

But in the end, nobody cares.

~~~
leon_
> Many would also argue that the majority of people that hang out here are not
> "hackers" but instead "developers that (mostly) know how to get shit done."

yeah, but why is it called hacker news then?

