His computer began to hum and search for computers that were online and in that I.P. range. Slava, who is known to his fellow hackers as Dr. Linux, waited for about a minute for his computer to list nearly a dozen computers and their I.P. addresses. He clicked energetically with his mouse and hit different function keys to zero in on one computer. Slava pulled up the computer's contents on his screen. The documents were written in German for a college course and included a file that contained a paper analyzing far-right political groups in Germany.
Most people have no idea that once online, they are wide open to intrusion from others out there.
He tried to gain access to another computer on his list, but that one was protected behind a firewall. Slava is one of a growing number of computer hackers in Russia. Most of them are afraid to speak to reporters because they know their activities are illegal. Slava agreed to be interviewed but not to have his full name disclosed. In 1999, Russian hackers took credit for a number of high-profile attacks that disrupted Web sites operated by NATO and the United States government.