Short Answer Questions (short answers should generally be at least three to four sentences in length. However, it is important to be as concise as possible when responding.) or you may choose to Upload a Two-Minute Audio or Video recording to answer the following questions.
Listen to “Episode #25: Alberto of the DarkNet Diaries podcast which can be found at https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/25/
Based on the podcast, answer the following questions.
- What motivated Alberto to become a hacker?
What motivated Alberto to become a hacker was the fact that he was curious about vulnerabilities and how secure the websites he was visiting were. When Alberto was visiting websites, he would find vulnerabilities in the websites and report them, and he would do that sometimes.
- What were some of the major hacks or cybercrimes that Alberto was involved in?
Alberto was involved in several high-profile hacking activities, including breaking into large networks and stealing data. Alberto often targeted financial institutions, exploiting vulnerabilities in their systems. He also hacked a major medical provider through an extortion email that was sent.
- What were some of the biggest risks and rewards of being a hacker, according to Alberto?
The biggest reward of being a hacker is that companies will want to hire you to test the security of websites and see how to fix vulnerabilities. The risks of being a hacker are possibly getting in trouble with the law, and going to prison/ Another risk is that if you get in trouble for hacking, the authorities could involve your family, just like what happened to Alberto with his girlfriend.
- How did Alberto eventually get caught and what were the legal consequences he faced?
Alberto was caught because he hacked the medical provider’s website years ago, and the police said his IP was linked to the extortion email sent to the medical provider, so Alberto confessed to sending the extortion email. What also causes Alberto to get caught is when the police go to his apartment, and they see the Bitcoin and hacking items. When they saw the Bitcoin, it was suspicious for the police because the hacker who hacked the medical provider told them to pay 15 bitcoins, so the police saw Bitcoin items in Alberto’s apartment, which made him suspicious. Alberto’s legal consequences were extortion and fraudulent access to the medical provider’s website.
- What lessons can we learn from Alberto’s story about the dangers of cybercrime and the importance of cybersecurity?
The lesson we can learn from Alberto’s story is that it is important to make sure that your systems are secure against potential hackers. Alberto’s story also shows the importance of having a strong password because admin isn’t a strong enough password, especially for a medical provider’s website. When it comes to cybercrime, authorities need to be better trained when it comes to combatting cybercrime and the justice systemneedsd to understand hacking better and not being so biased when it comes to looking at the evidence in Alberto’s case.