World War II is going on. Japan attacked US naval base ‘Pearl Harbor’. In response, the US dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But even with such a strong response, the hearts of the Americans were not satisfied. They started looking for the mastermind behind the Pearl Harbor attack. But how to find him? For this, it is necessary to listen to the words of Japan. It means deciphering the secret language that Japan uses to communicate with its allies. The Americans undertook a cryptanalysis project to crack Japan’s secret signals. The code name of this project was ‘Magic’. Two years later the US Navy intercepted the mastermind behind the Pearl Harbor attack. His name is Isoroku Yamamoto. The United States found this mastermind and killed him.
Nowadays, when one hears about secret code recovery, the first word that comes to mind is ‘hacking’. Hacking is also a process of extracting secret signals. However, hacking basically refers to illegally accessing a computer or the Internet. Besides, ATMs, banks, wireless networks, WiFi networks, mobile phones, land phones, and even any electronic device can be hacked. Hackers are particularly skilled at finding weak points in a computer or Internet security system. To understand what is the weak point of the Internet, you need to know a little more about the Internet.
A few days ago, by hacking Bangladesh Bank’s account, the hackers lost about 808 crore rupees belonging to the Federal Reserve System of the United States.
Simply put, the Internet is a network of many computers around the world. The term ‘computer network’ means computers connected to each other. These computers are called web servers. All the files, texts, images, videos etc. that we see on the website using the browser are stored in the hard disk of these computers. When our computer or smart phone is connected to that network, we can see the information on all the web servers in the world. But can see all the information? For example, if someone wants to see your Facebook account messages? Answer, no. No one can see them except you. Web servers have specific ports or doors for viewing or exchanging information. One such door is the door to enter the Facebook account. Account password is required to view your messages on Facebook. A web server has many ports for viewing different files or data. These ports are created using computer programming languages. Hackers use programming languages to enter these networks by entering a variety of commands into the computer’s security system. Once logged in, they can view various confidential information stored on that server. The money in the bank can be withdrawn at will or the security of the network can be broken.
Even if a hacker crosses all the levels and transacts money from the bank, he is not safe, because all the transaction information is stored in the bank’s computer database.
A few days ago, by hacking Bangladesh Bank’s account, the hackers lost about 808 crore rupees belonging to the Federal Reserve System of the United States. According to the published news, cyber experts are of the opinion that hackers enter Bangladesh Bank’s own network system by using one of the ports first. It then advises the Federal Reserve’s computer system through SWIFT to transfer money to the funds of its choice using the Bangladesh Bank’s network (when a bank transacts with another bank, it transacts with the help of a special system called the SWIFT system).
A bank’s security system generally has three levels. If someone wants to withdraw money from the bank illegally, he has to overcome these three levels of hurdles. The first level checks the IP address of the entrant. How money is transacted from any IP is stored in the bank’s database. If the IP does not match the database, the bank’s computer will automatically block access. Hackers usually want to use a fake IP address to hide their identity. As soon as a fake IP is detected, the bank’s security system blocks him from entering.
With time we have also become dependent on technology. Almost everything from bank transactions to NASA spacecraft is now controlled by computers and servers.
But if one somehow penetrates beyond the first layer, he will face obstacles even in the second layer. In this layer, the computer checks whether the data length of the request or application received for withdrawing money is correct or not. If a customer sends a withdrawal request by logging into his own bank account, there will be a specific data length for him. But if someone sends a request using any other port, that datalength will not match the datalength of the client. As a result, the bank’s computer will understand that this is not my customer. The computer will then automatically discard the request. But skilled hackers know the data length using different techniques. As a result they can cross this level as well.
After passing the second level, the third level must also be passed. Here basically the work of breaking cryptography or secret signals has to be done. Crossing this level is relatively difficult. However, skilled hackers can overcome this level as well. Even if a hacker crosses all the levels and transfers money from the bank, he is not safe. Because all transaction information is stored in the bank’s computer database. Exactly how much money has been withdrawn from any IP at any given time is stored in a log file. The bank administrator can see all the information to identify the illegal transaction at any time. But there are some hackers who are very skilled in these tasks. They log into the bank’s administrative account and find the log file. Then it is deleted from the bank’s server.
With time we have also become dependent on technology. Almost everything from bank transactions to NASA spacecraft is now controlled by computers and servers. And whenever a computer or electronic device is connected to a network, there is a risk of being hacked. As a result, the threat of cyber attacks in the future world is high. The military alliance ‘NATO’ thinks that cyber war may increase drastically in the coming days as well as normal war between the two countries. Several such incidents have already occurred.
The first incident occurred on April 27, 2007. Russia is embroiled in a dispute with Estonia over the removal of a mausoleum during the Soviet Union. Russia started cyber attack in 2007 based on that incident. Estonia’s banks, government websites, media, police, and even the national emergency telephone were shut down. NATO’s head of cyber defense Ian West told the BBC that millions of hackers try to break into NATO’s computer systems every day.
In addition to the improvement of computer security system, it is possible to avoid these attacks if you are careful in using technology.
