Hacker Gary McKinnon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hacker Gary McKinnon - Essay Example For instance, an adequate firewall of effective security program could have prevented the hacker from his attempt. He was able to hack the NASA and the Department of Defense computers so easily because he was so conscious about his presence in these networks. For instance, the security measures were lower than expected by him. One cannot imagine blank passwords in computers with high ranking status. But within US Military and NASA computers, there were a number of computers with blank passwords. Besides, there were ‘Administer’ status computers with no password. In short, the lower than expected defensive measures attracted Gary McKinnon to be a regular presence within the US Military and NASA computer network. The following security measures could have been done to stop the hacker. First of all, installation of regularly updated Firewall or other security programs can keep hackers away from accessing computer networks. Gary McKinnon’s regular presence within the US Military and NASA computer network proves the ineffective security system which is unable to detect and prevent hackers. So, the installation of effective Firewall and other security programs is most important. Entering the computer network, the hacker was able to access almost all the data without any restriction. Richard Gissel points out that Gary McKinnon the notorious hacker was able to have the privileges of a administrator within the computer network (Gissel, 171). This fact proves the ineffectiveness of security measures within the network. Besides, the regular updating and changing the passwords could have prevented the hacker from re-entering the network with ease. The hacker made use of early morning and late night to hack the network. This proves that security verification in early morning and late night is not so effective to restrict the