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I was smart about the internet.
I use complex passwords. I check URLs before I click. I even put a piece of tape over my webcam because, well, you never know. I thought I had a handle on what "hacking" meant.
Then I listened to Jeff Crume.
Jeff is a Cybersecurity Architect and an Adjunct Professor at NC State University. He doesn't just know the history of hacking; he lived through the eras where the internet was essentially the Wild West. After absorbing his insights on the history and future of cybersecurity, I realized something terrifying.
"Most of us are protecting ourselves from the wrong things."
We worry about some hooded genius in a basement guessing our password. But the reality of hacking is far stranger, far more human, and far more dangerous than Hollywood ever showed us.
Here is what I learned, and how it completely changed the way I look at my phone.
Hacking Didn't Start with Computers
This was the first shock.
When you hear the word "hacker," you picture a guy in a hoodie typing furiously at a command prompt. But the term didn't originate in a server room.
It started at MIT in the 1960s. And it started with model trains.
The original "hackers" were members of the Tech Model Railroad Club. They used the term to describe someone who could use technology in an unconventional, creative way to solve a problem. It wasn't about stealing data or breaking laws. It was about pushing a system to its absolute limit to see what would happen.
Somewhere along the line, specifically in the 70s and 80s, the definition shifted. It morphed from "creative problem solver" to "unauthorized access."
Why this matters to you: We need to stop viewing hacking solely as a criminal act. White Hat hackers (the good guys) use that same creative spirit to find holes in the systems we trust before the Black Hats (the bad guys) do.
"The internet stays standing only because there are people paid to break it creatively."
A Cereal Box Whistle Took Down the Phone System
If you think hacking requires a supercomputer, you are wrong. Sometimes, it just needs a toy from a box of Cap'n Crunch.
In the 1970s, before the internet connected everything, hackers were "Phreakers." They targeted the phone lines. Back then, the massive telephone network operated on specific audio frequencies. If you could mimic the sound, you could control the network.
It turned out that the free plastic whistle inside Cap'n Crunch cereal boxes emitted a tone at exactly 2,600 Hertz.
That was the magic frequency.
People like Kevin Mitnick and other early pioneers realized they could blow this whistle into a payphone and trick the system into giving them free long-distance calls. They could route calls around the world, essentially becoming the operators of a global network, all with a piece of plastic meant for children.
The Lesson:
"Security through obscurity is a myth. If a system exists, someone will find the 'whistle' that breaks it."
The Most Dangerous Virus Didn't Steal Data, It Broke Physics
We usually worry about hackers stealing our credit card numbers. That sucks, but it's recoverable.
Jeff brought up Stuxnet, and it chilled me to the bone.
Stuxnet wasn't designed to steal money. It was a digital weapon intended to destroy physical machinery. It targeted nuclear centrifuges in Iran. It was a piece of code that made the centrifuges spin too fast, then too slow, over and over again until they physically tore themselves apart.
Meanwhile, the monitoring screens showed the operators that everything was normal.
This was the moment the game changed.
"Hacking moved from the digital realm into the physical world."
Why you should care: Your car is a computer. Your pacemaker is a computer. Computers manage your power grid. The threat isn't just about privacy anymore; it is about physical safety.
Stop Trusting Your VPN Blindly
I have been guilty of this. I turn on my VPN and feel invisible. I feel like I am walking through the digital world wearing an invisibility cloak.
Jeff Crume shattered this illusion immediately.
When you use the internet normally, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) sees everything you do. They know the sites you visit. When you use a VPN, you hide that data from your ISP.
But you are just sending that data to the VPN provider instead.
"You haven't achieved total anonymity; you have simply shifted your trust."
You are betting that the VPN company is more ethical than your ISP. Some are. Many are not. If a VPN provider gets hacked or is a bad actor, they have all your secrets.
The Takeaway:
- Do not use free VPNs. If you aren't paying for the product, you are the product.
- Research the provider. Make sure they have a verified "no-logs" policy.
The "Passkey" Revolution Is Here
Jeff was asked if password managers are safe. His answer was brutally honest: "No."
Nothing is 100% safe. If your master password is weak, your password manager is just a convenient bucket of keys for a hacker to steal.
But he offered a solution that I am adopting immediately: Passkeys.
We are finally moving away from passwords entirely. The FIDO (Fast Identity Online) Alliance has developed a standard where your "password" is actually a cryptographic key stored on your device. You unlock it with your face or fingerprint.
- There is nothing for you to remember.
- There is nothing for a hacker to phish.
- There is no code to type into a fake website.
If a website offers Passkey support (Google, Apple, and Amazon already do), enable it. It is the single most significant upgrade you can make to your security today.
You Are the Glitch
Here is the hardest pill to swallow.
You can have the best firewall. You can use a YubiKey. You can have a 50-character password.
But if someone calls you, pretends to be your bank, and sounds convincing enough, you will probably give them what they want.
This is Social Engineering. Kevin Mitnick, the most famous hacker in history, didn't always break into systems using code. He broke into them by conning people. He relied on the fact that humans are generally helpful and trusting.
Now, we have "Quishing" (QR code phishing), "Smishing" (SMS phishing), and deep-fake AI voices that can mimic your boss or your family members.
"The technology isn't the weak link. We are."
Final Thoughts: The CIA Triad
Jeff Crume wrapped up his session by explaining the holy trinity of cybersecurity. It's called the CIA Triad, and I now use it as a mental model for my own digital life.
- Confidentiality: Only authorized personnel can access the data.
- Integrity: The data hasn't been changed or tampered with.
- Availability: The data is there when you need it.
Every security measure you take should support one of these three pillars.
Hacking isn't going away. The tools are getting smarter, and the "whistles" are getting more digital. But by understanding where we came from, from model trains to nuclear centrifuges, we can stop being paranoid about the wrong things and start being smart about the right ones.
Thanks for reading! If you found this helpful, please clap and leave a comment on which part you like the most. Also, follow me on Medium.