Hacking a safer world for computers

Computer hackers are not always immoral, as a team of computer whizz kids at Sydney University is proving. Their hacker skills are helping to develop a system which may prevent computer fraud or misuse.

A hacker is a computer fan who uses a personal computer to break into other computer systems. Hackers have been known to amuse themselves by breaking into a computer account by discovering the password of someone who is officially “logged on” to the computer system. They often do this by obtaining a correct password after a number of trial and error attempts.

The creator of the new hacker-prevention system is a lecturer in computer science at the university, Dr Jennifer Seberry.

She said the system relies on the computer learning the idiosyncracies of its users.

The first stage is complete and ready for patenting. It works on the principal that everybody has different habits when typing — a “type signature”.

The computer learns this type signature and will not allow access to the system unless the user’s password and type signature match.

Dr Seberry said the first stage multiplies the number of attempted break-ins needed to find a correct password by 10,000.

The next stage, according to computer science honours student, Mr Mike Newberry, will make the system 99.9 per cent hacker-proof.

Called User Unique Identification, the completed system will operate so that the user may be cut off from the system even after successfully gaining access via a password.

This will happen if the typing habits do not match those learnt by the computer from the user.

Dr Seberry said, for example, that a computer, during testing of the system, denied access to a student after she developed RSI, the complaint having altered her typing style.

Fifty of Dr Seberry’s computer science honours students have spent thousands of attempts to try to infiltrate the newly developed system, but their success rate was negligible.

The system should be on the market in a year’s time. Dr Seberry said Telecom has said it is willing to pay for the system, and NSW Police has shown an interest.

She said a study made by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology last year showed that 85 to 95 per cent of Australian corporations did not have security procedures.

“Hacking is a multi-million dollar problem. We do not know how often it occurs in Sydney, but on our campus alone. people break into the computer system several times a year.”

She said security was lax because people in Australia are not aware of the extent of the problem.

She said hackers often start by joy-riding but then it can become serious.