hackers are people that are computer enthusiasts using computers in unorthodox and creative ways. Hackers are people that think outside the box. Hackers learn to manipulate code, hardware, and software.
Introduction
There are an infinite amount of people in the world. Everyone is different. There are no duplicates. The same can be said in the world of hackers. Not all hackers are the same, and a lot of hackers have different views on “Hacking”, but it is not the fact that we are all identical that makes us one entity; it is the big idea. See, what makes us hackers is the desire to learn, the urge to tweak any object we encounter, we want control, we don’t want to be controlled, we want to be anonymous, and we are intellectually years ahead of others; I would go on on this list if boredom didn’t exist. So, how do you know if you have the “Hacker Mindset”?
Read this document. It is titled “The Hacker Manifesto”.
Respect
One of my favorite things about the hacker community is how open it is to anyone. Quoted from the Hacker Manifesto “We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias” In your days of being a hacker you will make friends from more than one country, you will meet someone that is a different religion than you, and you will encounter numerous people with a different mindset than you; but it doesn’t matter. You, as well as them, will be accepted as long as you follow the basic guidelines.
But, you don’t come into the hacker community as the best. Do not expect to be treated as a god when it is your first day. It takes work to earn the respect of a great hacker (i.e. Dennis Ritchie, Ken Thompson, Kevin Mitnick, or Phiber Optik). There are three main categories of hackers, and they are:
Script-Kiddies: These are the people who use other people’s tools and documents/resources available online. Script-kiddies usually have no idea what is going on ‘behind the scenes”, they just run their programs because they know that they work. These hackers usually have minimal skill level, but take up a large portion of the hacker community.
Intermediate Hackers: These are the halfway hackers. Intermediate hackers know quite a bit more than script-kiddies, and are decent enough to get by by themselves. They know about computers and networks, and use well-known exploits. A lot of halfway hackers want to be masters, and with the appropriate amount of work and dedication, they can be.
Elite Hackers: These are the skilled hacking experts. Elite hackers code many of the programs the the script-kiddies use, and develop exploits that intermediate hackers use. They can hack into almost any system, and cover their tracks, and sometimes, even make it look like someone else did it. They are often very secretive and only share their information with “subordinates” when they are deemed worthy. Elite hackers are very few in numbers, which is good for security companies.
There are many things that you have to learn to reach that glorious “Elite Hacker” status. Every hacker must make their own path, but in this tutorial I will attempt to help you achieve this goal to my greatest ability.
So, what can you do to up your status a little bit? Well there are plenty of things:
- Write useful software
- Help debug other peoples programs
- Publish useful information
- Server other hackers
One word that I used more than once on that list was “useful”. That is what will earn you some status in the hacker culture; being useful. Don’t just be there, be there and do something.
What to Learn
There are so many things that you need to learn in order to be a successful hacker, it is almost overwhelming. But I will try to sum this up for you:
- Security (PC & Network)
- Website Hacking (SQLi/XSS/etc.)
- The Jargon (Slang)
- Social Engineering (Human Hacking)
- Encryption
- WiFi Hacking
- Linux/Unix
- Programming (Any language)
There are things that can and should be added to that list, and it is by no means in order. This is not a tutorial on how to do each and every one of the things on this list, but it is here to point you in the right direction.
If I were to tell you where to start-- assuming that you have very little experience-- I would tell you to learn html. This is not meant to be your main programming language (unless you get unbelievably good at it), but it is a great starting point. Html will help you understand a lot of the problems that you will encounter online, and if there is ever a point where you would like to make a website, it would help you there too.
If I were to tell you where to go from there, I would tell you to learn a minimal amount of batch coding. This field is very much meant for beginners, and most hackers start out just trying to learn more about it (which then develops in to much more useful skills). Batch is just Command Prompt and Notepad. Watch some tutorials on YouTube, or look at the Batch ,Shell, Dos and Command Line Interpreters section (
http://www.hackforums.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=49). Learning this won’t make you an Elite Hacker, but it will get you used to two things:
- Basic Programming
- Basic Command Line
Programming will help you all around, but the command line is mostly for Linux. If you don’t already know, Linux is an operating system. Linux is evolved from the Unix Operating system, which was developed in 1969-- That’s 12 years before windows! Linux was released in 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux actually stands for “Linux is not Unix”. Now, if you are still reading after that boring history lesson, then that means you are showing a great virtue that every hacker needs.... Patience. I would advise you to head on down to
http://www.ubuntu.com/download and pick up your own version of Linux. NOTE: Linux will run side by side with windows, you can have two operating systems on one machine.
Social Engineering is another thing that is vital for you to become a successful hacker. Social Engineering is the art of human hacking, and is often abbreviated at SE. It will do countless things for you in your career. See, flaws in a computer network get patched, but human flaws will never diminish. Kevin Mitnick was said to be one of the greatest social engineers ever. Kevin could convince anyone that he was someone else-- whether it be on the phone, or emailing, he was perfect at getting his way. The great thing about social engineering is that you can use it in everyday life, wherever you go. Out of all the skills that you could learn to be a great hacker, this may be one of the most important.
Style
Hackers can’t always be at the computer, and although there is no real substitute for hacking, there are plenty of things that you can do to that can do to feel somewhat connected to the art of hacking.
Learn to write well: Hackers aren’t like the media makes it seem where you only are allowed to talk in numbers. Most great hackers have near-perfect grammar and spelling. It will also help people understand you better (this is especially useful if English isn’t your main language. And I know by experience that it will earn you some more respect as well.
Watch Star Trek: It’s just a great movie. There are all of the T.V. episodes too, but the movie was awesome.
Mystery books are a good thing: A lot of hackers will tell you to read sci-fi, but mystery books make you think. Thinking is good.
Nerd? Don’t worry about it: As mentioned earlier, real hackers don’t care if you are a nerd. We exist without a bias, and most people follow that golden rule. Anyone who doesn’t isn’t a real hacker.
Meditate: It may seem weird if you have never done it before, but meditation will make you a ridiculously better person. If I was to recommend you a guide for mediation, it would be
http://www.amazon.com/Minute-Meditation-...689&sr=8-1 Have an ear for music: Learn to appreciate more than one style of music. Most hackers prefer either rap, or techno (dubstep) and some develop a love for both. The ability to enjoy any music though, is a great trait.
Be a genius: I always strive to be a genius, no matter how much of a stretch it may be. It keeps your mind active, and it will make you, obviously, smarter. Being a genius will make it infinitely easier to learn about hacking, and it will make you much more aware of everything going on around you.
If there is one thing that you shouldn’t do however, is use silly/immature screen names. How respected do you think you will be if your name is “I_Rape_Yung_P00dles”? You won’t ever be taken seriously like that, and it makes you look like a waste of time. Another thing that you should avoid doing is flaming. I am not saying that you should be a brownnoser to everyone that you meet, but avoiding conflicts, and decent amount of respect for the people who deserve it will make you a well liked hacker.
Further Resources
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html This is the document that I read that got me started hacking. It is a great starting point.
http://www.google.com/ This website is very secret, and not many people know about it. It will answer any question that you will have on your journey.
http://whatishacking.org/ Is a small site with the purpose of showing the world hacking isn’t bad. It has a couple of the same resources listed here.
http://www.mithral.com/~beberg/manifesto.html The hacker manifesto. This was listed in the document as well.
http://www.social-engineer.org/ Social Engineering hub
http://www.amazon.com/Social-Engineering...0470639539 A great Social Engineering book
Credits
This guide was made entirely by
Eminent. If you see this posted by anyone else, please notify me. If any of the links are ever faulty, please post in this thread, and I will fix it as soon as possible. If you have any requests for a guide then contact me and there is a great chance that I will do that for you, if not, then I will reference you to a guide that I know is better than one that I could write. Anyone who needs help further than this then I will gladly assist you (Note: I will not help you if you have not read this thread. I will not help you if you have not tried everything in this thread first).