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Hacking has become a rising phenomenon in the modern world of technology where confidential, personal and corporate information, data and records stored in computers, cellphones or social sites can be stolen or accessed without the permission of owner or administrator.

Julian Assange, an Australian hacker, is probably the most well-known today after his exploits saw the revelation of US secret diplomatic cables a few years ago.

Most hackers are known to seek and exploit weakness in a computer system or social website for profit, challenge or fun but Benson Sanyanga, a local information technology geek, has a different tale to tell.
His is a positive use of hacking which can be useful to a lot of people.

He can be another Assange-in-the-making but he says there are positives that can be drawn from hacking in terms of investigations and security proofing.

And he believes he has the answer to the scourge of compact disc piracy and, city fathers may want to hear this, kombi parking problems in the city.

Sanyanga labelled local record companies and artistes as mad men chasing the wind for trying to win the war against piracy operating without the requisite know-how and technology to protect their information and content.

He said: “Local recording companies and musicians can protect their music or content also using Trojans (a computer programme or “worm”) which destroys the computer of anyone who tries to copy or steal their music or content.

“This will curb film and music piracy to zero if not minimum levels.
Sanyanga has designed what he has coined as an intelligent digital number plate system which involves the use of radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs).

According to Sanyanga, these devices can enable efficient traffic enforcement as compared to traffic disks.

“Using RFIDs instead of rack disks city authorities can easily be informed that a certain commuter omnibus is parking in the wrong rank or restricted areas.

“The police can also easily identify a vehicle, its speed and registration details 300 metres away.
Sanyanga advocated that there was need for Government to set up a state-of-the-art information security institution to protect confidential State information from other nations that spying on other countries.

“In Zimbabwe most systems are not secure at all because the anti-viruses that many people use are either free or out of date.
“Government should set up a world-class security institute that will enable us to develop our own security system that is unique and foolproof from hacking.

“Most hackers come from India and most of the hacked software is from India. So if others are doing it why can’t we do it as Zimbabweans.

He said there was need for Government to introduce locally developed programming in primary, secondary and tertiary and commercial institutions.

“Government should put more emphasis on information security for the future generations to protect our nation from cyber warfare.
“What would happen if one day we were to wake up and find out that all the bank accounts have been wiped clean including the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

“There is need for us to develop our own system because we need our own digital soldiers and digital policemen to protect our digital Zimbabwe.

He drops a bombshell.

Popular social networking applications are just not safe.

“Someone can easily hack into your WhatsApp by taking your SD card and installing it in his/her phone and verify by another number and then restore the message back-up that had automatically saved on one’s memory card.

“With android one can simply copy the application data and then install the data into another android phone.

He said a hacker can easily hack into someone’s account by sending someone an email with a hidden Trojan which would start stealing information sending it to the hacker.

Sanyanga said he used to use his special computer skills to hack into some of his ex-girlfriends’ Facebook and email accounts for the sake of “true love”.

He said: “I was able to hack into the Facebook and email accounts of some of my past girlfriends using my knowledge of computers to find if my girlfriends were faithful or not.

“I was, however, unlucky as I would always come across some intimate love messages meant for someone else.

“It was a painful experience for me but it in a way it made me realise that everyone has that element to cheat in them. Sometimes I would taunt some of my previous girlfriends by informing them the explicit contents of some of the love messages they were sending to their secret lovers.”

Not even the phone SIM card is immune from hacking. “The SIM card contains what is known as Mobile Subscriber Identity a hacker can simply copy the number to a blank SIM card thereby creating two SIM cards with the same number,” he explained.

Sanyanga said someone can hack a password-protected PC using softwares such as con-boot to access data, information and records leaving the system intact as before without any trace of trespassing.

Sanyanga brags he can easily crack many security systems.

“I have diverse knowledge of hacking and operating systems such as Windows, Mac and the popular android are very easy to crack,” he told The Herald.

“One simply has to use Trojans or worms to hack into these systems, for instance a popular Trojan known as Sniperspy acts as kicker logger to steal or access information from industrial corporations.

“Before mobile internet was introduced I also hacked a few wireless access points for the so-called “secure systems” in the Central Business District.

Sanyanga said Trojans are created using a Trojan gun and are given specific operating systems before they were installed by remote control.

These can also be used to protect information from theft.

He believes that all the softwares developed by other countries can be easily hacked by the developers who will have gain access to information yet we do not have information about them.

Twenty-seven-year old Sanyanga, who grew up in Domboshava and went to Visitation Makumbi High, has a human resources qualification but no formal computer or IT training.

He explains that living in the “computer age” allowed him to know the ins and outs of IT.
For him technology has become an obsession as he cannot do without his laptop. Benson says due to his love of modern technology he is in the process of making more advanced and reliable gadgets that will be beneficial to many.

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