Why hackers don't need to be smart

Online, in print, on TV, and on the radio, report after report claims that malicious hacking is "more sophisticated than ever before." The media seemingly wants the world to believe it's besought by impossible-to-stop uberhackers with supersophisticated tools and skills.

The reality is far different: Malicious hackers are using pretty much the same old tools and exploiting the same old weaknesses. However, companies and end-users aren't doing what they need to defend themselves. Anyone who promotes today's attackers and their tools as near-invincible is doing a serious public disservice.

Attackers' strategies and techniques have not changed since computers were invented: malware, buffer overflows, social engineering, password-cracking, and so on. With very few exceptions (such as dynamic botnets), nothing has changed -- except for the fact that the intruders are doing more with the access they get.