With millions of Americans’ personal information becoming compromised by recent high-profile data breaches, many people are wondering just how anonymous hackers target and infiltrate these supposedly secure systems. Here is a step-by-step explanation of how your data can be stolen:

Step 1 : Hacker undergoes 18 to 25 years of bullying, social neglect, and bruised ego to gain sufficient chip on shoulder



: Hacker undergoes 18 to 25 years of bullying, social neglect, and bruised ego to gain sufficient chip on shoulder Step 2 : A target is selected that has personally wronged the hacker, like 700,000 customers of a major retail corporation



: A target is selected that has personally wronged the hacker, like 700,000 customers of a major retail corporation Step 3 : Initial access gained by locating vulnerabilities in the system and exploiting those backdoors via rootkit, a process that can only be fully explained with the utmost condescension



: Initial access gained by locating vulnerabilities in the system and exploiting those backdoors via rootkit, a process that can only be fully explained with the utmost condescension Step 4 : Hacker sheepishly backtracks after realizing he ran script to enumerate VMware configurations like an idiot instead of the getcountermeasure.rb to detect third-party firewall processes



: Hacker sheepishly backtracks after realizing he ran script to enumerate VMware configurations like an idiot instead of the getcountermeasure.rb to detect third-party firewall processes Step 5 : Once database is breached, frustrated culprit attempts to sort through incredibly disorganized mess office manager has made of the files



: Once database is breached, frustrated culprit attempts to sort through incredibly disorganized mess office manager has made of the files Step 6 : Face hauntingly illuminated by glow of computer monitor smirks before saying,“Toasted”



: Face hauntingly illuminated by glow of computer monitor smirks before saying,“Toasted” Step 7 : The triumphant hacker celebrates a successful attack by delightedly rolling around in pile of Social Security numbers



: The triumphant hacker celebrates a successful attack by delightedly rolling around in pile of Social Security numbers Step 8 : China blamed



: China blamed Step 9: Hacker lies low for few months, begins six-figure job at data security firm

