A Guide To Hacking

People who are neophytes to Hacking are from the age group 14-18, ‘most’ of them. And many others approach this field with a different definition in mind. I can’t blame them, because they are exposed to this different meaning. If you think Hacking is “obtaining unauthorized access to a system, and steal sensitive information”, then you belong to this category.

So, what is actually hacking? It can be roughly defined as the technique to make a system to do what one wants. A computer hacker is necessarily a programmer, someone who has enough knowledge on most computer languages.
If you want a start, start with learning the basics of HTML (short for Hyper Text Markup Language). Follow this with the basics of the programming language called Python. Back this up with a second language, Java. Then you can move on to difficult and complex things like C and C++. You need to learn how to think about programming problems in a general way, independent of any one language. To be a real hacker, you need to get to the point where you can learn a new language in days by relating what’s in the manual to what you already know. This means you should learn several very different languages. Other languages that you can learn include LISP and Perl.

Don’t feel disheartened by looking at the volume you have to learn. At every point of time you will love what you are learning. As I told start with HTML and Python, and you will definitely feel the thump to learn more. If you are currently using Windows, then it’s time to think above this. Move on to Linux and Unix Operating System. Unix codes and directory structure knowledge is also necessary for hacking. Well start with DOS, that will be a good idea! Learn about various tools which windows provides. (Take care when you use them.) Use Regedit and Gpedit(for XP) to hack your own computer. Well Education begins at home! By hacking your computer, what I mean is to customize or tweak your own computer, so that it looks and feels different.

Move on. Learn what command prompt is and how it can be used. Step forward to telnet, nslookup, netstat commands and how they can be effectively used to do, and get what you want!

Let’s get serious. Take a break and read about how to become a hacker by Eric Steven Raymond. Here is the link.
http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html.

Here is another link that also seems to clear up presumptions about hackerdom. http://users.telenet.be/mydotcom/library/index.htm

It is not necessary you get to understand everything that has been explained by Eric. But, you shall surely understand what it all means soon. Now you might be feeling. Is learning programming and programming open source programs all what hacking is about? Well it is a part of it. Consider this realistic example taken from www.hackthissite.org. It is something like this. A girl creates a website, were she posts poems http://labrinth.wordpress.com/category/hackology/written by her about world peace. But some crackers have cracked into her website and changed the contents into something which the site does not intend to do. With her site off her hands it’s going awry. So you have to use your skills to get her site back to her and fix the security holes to prevent crackers from cracking it again.

Here are some how to guide to realistic examples given in hackthissite which I solved.

Labyrinth Hack-o-logy Category

Hackers on request or by self try different programming problems finding a solution, one that is best. Fixing security holes in websites and programs, identifying and protecting the internet from malicious programs etc. all become a part.

OK. Now let’s have a quick look.
1. HTML
2. Python
3. Java
4. C
5. C++
6. LISP
7. Perl
8. UNIX & LINUX (OS)
9. Telnet
10. Read a lot. Use powerful search tool like www.google.com and www.searchmash.com to arrive at what you need.
11. Sign up at www.hackthissite.org and www.corruptcode.org it shall be helpful.