Xiang Kun knew that, in the eyes of many people outside the industry, hackers were the most awesome programmers.
Generally, those with titles ending in "guest" are considered top-tier, such as hackers, red-hat hackers, white-hat hackers, and scalpers; those with titles ending in "master" are considered experts, such as engineers and architects; and those with titles ending in "member" are just average...
In reality, there's no inherent hierarchy between top programmers and top hackers; they simply specialize in different areas. One focuses on fulfilling and implementing needs, building systems; the other racks their brains to discover and exploit vulnerabilities, infiltrating systems. One studies building structures, the other studies security.
There is no clear boundary between the two; hackers are a subset of programmers, and programmers can become hackers at any time.
It's just that their interests and areas of expertise are different.
When Xiang Kun was in high school, he was once very fascinated by the cool hackers in movies and novels, fantasizing about hacking into computers all over the world, controlling everything from behind the screen, and being the mastermind behind it all. Occasionally, he would follow tutorials to hack into a few websites with poorly set passwords and poor maintenance, but he didn't actually do anything. He would basically just browse around, peek around, and leave a txt or jpg file to indicate that he had been there. He was just a very novice script kiddie.
Xiang Kun is now familiar with terms like SQL injection, cross-site scripting, buffer overflow, and heap spraying, and he understands the principles behind them. However, when it comes to attacking or intruding on specific targets, he can't do it immediately. This isn't just due to different thinking habits and different ways of understanding and applying vulnerabilities; it's also because he lacks a lot of other accumulated knowledge, such as having many backup botnets, reserved backdoors, social engineering databases of different levels, and specialized tools written by himself or others. These things cannot be acquired in a short time.
Of course, even top hackers, though powerful, are not omnipotent.
Just like someone wanting to break into your house, they usually won't just come and smash the door with a hammer. They'll either pretend to be a delivery person, a water meter reader, an electricity bill collector, a computer repairman, or a food delivery person... or they'll take advantage of your absence or when you're sleeping, exploiting inadequate security and building structure issues to sneak in through a window, use a master key to unlock the door, or even stealthily follow you home when you're returning from grocery shopping and come in with you.
Even if you don't open the door, they can impersonate you, collect packages for you at your doorstep, and even send packages and order takeout in your name.
Unless you blow up the road outside your house (cut off the internet), being constantly nagged about it is indeed quite annoying.
But all of this is predicated on them knowing your home address (IP).
On the internet, the most important information is your IP address, which represents your location, while your MAC address is your "name." Just like someone might find out which hotel you're staying at, they also need to know your name to find out which room you're in and catch you.
The world is so big. If you don't interact with people and don't leave any clues, specific people may not be able to find you because they don't know that you are the person they are looking for.
But Xiang Kun is now actively sending a "package" to someone who might harbor ill will towards him and has the ability to track him, so he must be careful and prepared.
The router in that coffee shop was like the security guard at the entrance of a residential complex who collects packages. Xiang Kun asked the guard to send a package for him in Xiao Ming's name. The guard found a postal worker (the internet service provider), handed the package to him, and the postal worker, as requested, handed the package to Xiang Kun had contacted. Errand runner A, as requested, handed the package to errand runner B (two stepping stones).
Deliveryman B handed the package to a courier alliance (TOR). The TOR repackaged the package and then handed it to deliveryman C. Deliveryman C only knew that the package was to be delivered to XX city, so after delivering it, he found deliveryman D nearby in XX city to take it over. Deliveryman D tore open a layer of the package and knew that the next destination was XX street, so he found deliveryman E nearby on XX street to take it over. Deliveryman E tore open another layer of the package and delivered it to the front desk of a certain company at XX number (Zhihu server).
When the company receptionist opened the final package, there was no sender's address on it. They had to return the package to the sender and hand it over to the courier, E.
Then, deliveryman E found deliveryman D, who then gave it to deliveryman C. After returning to the same place, deliveryman E handed it over to deliverymen B and A, who delivered it to the post office clerk. Finally, it arrived at the security guard's room, where Xiang Kun picked it up in Xiao Ming's name.
So even if the company receptionist (Zhihu) is controlled by the "bad guys" and beats the delivery guy E to death, E can't reveal the sender's address because he doesn't know it at all; he only knows that D gave it to him.
Of course, this method is not entirely safe or untraceable.
For example, there might be informants within the errand runner alliance who are actually "bad guys," or the "bad guys" might become ruthless and, at a great cost and with enough manpower, capture and beat runner D, then capture runner C, and then, knowing about runners A and B, capture and beat them all, interrogating them one by one.
For example, a locator could be placed in the returned package. If Xiang Kun opens the package, the locator will start working.
For example, delivering a truckload of packages to Xiang Kun would require him to spend a lot of time unloading them, giving them time to investigate.
Even though they eventually learned from the postman that the package was ultimately sent to a certain residential area, and even found the security guard and learned that the person who sent the package was named Xiaoming.
But their first reaction would definitely be to search the entire neighborhood for this guy named Xiaoming.
Upon discovering this, Xiang Kun was spying nearby, immediately removed his mask, destroyed all his packages (virtual machines), and quickly retreated.
Xiang Kun had heard before that when the police were investigating a serious hacking attack, the Vice Minister of Public Security personally supervised the case. In the middle of the night, the telecom operators would cut off power in different areas to determine the location of the attack. Then, engineers would drive around with protocol analysis equipment, checking each server room one by one. Before dawn, the police would be waiting at the suspect's doorstep.
Although he judged that the other party was most likely not related to the official authorities, Xiang Kun always had the habit of thinking about the most powerful potential adversaries, and he prepared a contingency plan in case the other party could find his access IP.
Just as I was thinking about whether there was anything I hadn't considered, "August's Kasumi" replied to my private message.
"You're a vampire too? How can you prove it?"
Xiang Kun had already anticipated this problem and replied, "It's easier to endure hunger during the day than at night. If there's no blood to drink when hungry at night, it's easy to become agitated."
When he considered his answer, he thought about how to prove his vampire identity without revealing it, and to disclose as little information about himself as possible.
Just as he didn't mention that he was bald, molting, or losing his teeth, nor did he mention becoming stronger or having better eyesight, he wasn't sure if other "vampires" had undergone the same changes as him; at least the "Giant Owl" hadn't lost its feathers or gone bald. If he did say that, it would likely let the other person know that he was bald, which would be an obvious characteristic.
"August's Kasumi" replied:
Are you afraid of garlic?
"I'm not afraid, but I can't eat anything except water. I'll vomit anything I eat. I'm not afraid of crosses or Buddha statues."
"Wow! You really are a vampire! I've finally found one of my own kind, I'm so happy!"
Xiang Kun stared indifferently at the screen, a cold smile playing on his lips: Keep pretending.
Then she replied, "Yeah, I'm so excited too! I've finally met someone like me!"
August's Kasumi: "Let's chat on QQ. I'm worried about the security of private messages on Zhihu; the administrator might see our chat! What's your QQ number? I'll add you!"
Pipi Kaka Qiuqiu (Xiang Kun's newly registered ID): "What's your QQ number? I'll add you."
August's Kasumi: "424423****"
Xiang Kun simply memorized the QQ number without even searching for it, let alone opening QQ. After a while, he replied, "Oh dear, I forgot my QQ password. I can't figure it out no matter what I try. Oh well, I'll just say it in Zhihu message on Zhihu. They probably won't have time to snoop on our chat."
He certainly knew the other party's purpose in using QQ to chat. On Zhihu, private messages are sent on Zhihu's servers, where the other party has limited permissions. However, when using QQ, it's easy to find a P2P connection and obtain the other party's IP address. It's like sending a package without going through the company receptionist; the package is directly handed to the other party, and the delivery guy E would be caught and beaten up.
Of course, with Xiang Kun's elaborate disguise, it wasn't so easy for him to find out his real IP address when he used Tor to open QQ and chatted with him. However, Xiang Kun didn't prepare a new QQ account in the meantime, nor was he too lazy to change his methods.
After a while, August's Kasumi replied, "How about we add each other on WeChat? What's your WeChat? Don't tell me you can't remember your WeChat password again?"
Pipi Kaka Qiuqiu: "What's your WeChat?"
August's Kasumi: "Hey! Let me ask first, okay!"
Pipi Kaka Qiuqiu: "Alright, I think we should just keep talking like this for now. How did you become a vampire? When did you find out?"
August's Kasumi: "How can you have no gentlemanly manners at all? / Pitiful emoji."
Pipi Kaka Qiuqiu: "I'm not a gentleman, and I'm not even sure if you're one of us."
August's Kasumi: "I'm not sure why you sent me a private message? My answer explained it very clearly, right?"
Pipi Kaka Qiuqiu: "So how exactly did you become a vampire, and when did you become one?"
August's Kasumi: "There are many things I don't want to say in private messages. Either add me on QQ, add me on WeChat, or call me directly."
Pipi Kaka Qiuqiu: "What are your WeChat and phone number?"
August's Kasumi: "You're way too suspicious. You even created an alternate account before sending me a private message? You keep asking me for information but won't tell me about yourself. If you want to know when and how I became a vampire, you need to tell me your own story first, right? /Angry emoji."
Pipi Kaka Qiuqiu: "You tell me first, then I'll tell you."
After a while, August's Kasumi sent a sighing emoji and then replied:
"Okay, I became a vampire a month ago. I'm not really sure how I became one; I just woke up one morning and suddenly I was like this. And you, who was your first food?"
Xiang Kun raised an eyebrow. This reply revealed too much information, perhaps even more than the other party realized.
Thank you all for your subscriptions and monthly votes! Thank you to the new leader, the smiling gentleman! If you have a new leader, you will definitely add more updates, but I am a little exhausted today. Remember, I will try to finish it tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Generally, there are two chapters per day, and additional updates will be counted separately. Thank you to book friends, Book Friends 16 0629021024550, book friend 160629021024550, book friend 160629021024550, book friend 160629021024550, book friend 160629021024550, Book Friends 160629021024550, Jiumeng Kongcheng, Cang Yunliang, Cang Yunliang, Yuan Wuyue, Book Friends 20171225231222517, Smiling Gentleman, People Called Book Friends, jucyliiiiiii, Li Ping Li 303 , Lao Huang on the second floor, book friend 160115141843709, HeyShunGui, HeyShunGui, Shi YanV587, don't sleep on the mat in summer, Yan Wuying, book friend 20170714140336914 reward.