[Tutorial] The Art of Hacking [Introduction]

[The High Roller]

 

 

What Is The Hacker?

 

While most people think of hackers as of people who are deprived from any kind of social life and all they do is cram codes executed on black cascading windows. In reality a hacker is something way more different. Usually, he thinks of how he could bypass something and use it in a way that is not naturally expected or predicted. Hackers tend to be people that think in a rational way and in most cases “out of the box”. What’s more, their success over developers is hidden mainly in that concept – because they think of alternatives that from a programmer’s point of view won’t actually work.

Another aspect of the art of hacking that is often mistaken is the difference between the hacker and the cracker. As mentioned above the hacker manages to make his way to a certain level of a security system, either for a particular reason or simply for self-satisfaction. To hack means to penetrate while the term “crack” would refer to a person or rather a computer specialist that, for example, succeeds in deciphering an algorithm or an encrypted sequence of data.

 

Hacker’s Concept And Attitude

 

The hacker is often a person who behaves differently from the others and in most cases stays neutral to everything happening around him. He/She thinks of himself/herself as a person who is beyond others because they do not possess his/her knowledge but never shows it or boasts about it. They respect people of their culture or sphere of educating (computer specialists, famous hackers or simply their IT teacher). Often a lot of the famous hackers we know are lacking communication skills or are just anti-social and prefer to close in themselves. This is referred to as the Asperger’s syndrome from which they gain extremely extensive way of thinking and develop their professional computer skills. Nowadays most “hackers” (in inverted commas because they are not real hackers) tend to post vulnerabilities of random websites or better yet ask for approval or praise if they share such. Back in those days, when hacking was still in its foundation, hackers would think of the Internet as of a place where you are free to do whatever you want. They respect the freedom of choice and totally oppose dictatorship.

Most hackers tend to join different groups or societies where they can help each other or share rare exploits or 0days. However, such mutual trust is often dangerous as if one member gets caught by the officials; he might decide to sell out his friendship with the others in order to receive a less severe punishment or to escape prison as a whole.

 

Skills Required For a Hacker

 

A typical hacker would be well aware of a lot of things connected with computers and the right way of using them. Some of the basics for a hacker are:[/align]

• Able to code in at least two or three programming languages
  

[align=center]Depending on what kind of hacker you are going to be you need to learn specific programming languages.

 

1) For website hackers mark-up languages such as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), XML (eXtensive Markup Language) and others are more than obligatory. Also essential are programming languages like: PHP, SQL, Java and JavaScript.

 

2) For desktop based hackers that use to develop malware, viruses, RATs and other malicious software: C, C#, C++ and of course the Batch compiling.[/align]

 

• Have rational thinking and good logic. That has more to do with nature. Although, however, one might develop his way of thinking through long years of practice.
  
• Be aware of every public exploit that occurs
  
• Keep track of every new exploit and go through it thoroughly. A good place to do this is joining the underground forums for hackers or just visits exploit-db.com.
  
• Depend on or trust nobody
  
• Even your most fellow partners can let you down. In order to carry on, you need not get caught.
  
• Able to understand the structure of systems
  
• Last but not least, probably the most essential part – ability to analyze codes and determine the way the system works.
  

 

Benefits and Style

 

Hackers are not to be mistaken with all the evil guys that sit behind the computer and think of a way to destroy somebody else’s work. Depending on their point of view and understanding of what is good or not they are divided into several groups:

 

White Hat Hackers

 

Those are the helpers and “good” guys that would naturally give you advise or inform you for any inaccuracies or bugs in your system. They do not blackmail or threaten other people – if they spot a vulnerability they would even find out a way of fixing it and then get in touch with you.

 

Black Hat Hackers

 

You might guess who those guys are. Yes, these are the ones that would do anything to make you feel embarrassed and be ashamed of yourself for not being able to secure your project. They are the absolute opposition of the white hats and often some of the best hackers are part of them.

 

Red Hat Hackers

 

The red hat hacker is almost identical to the black hat hacker. It is just another term of referring to them.

 

Gray Hat Hackers

 

Those are the neutral ones. They are neither white nor black hats, but can act as both. If it suits them, they will report the vulnerability to you – if it doesn’t they’ll exploit it and boast about themselves. Usually such hackers are the most common type.

 

Script-kiddies

 

Script-kiddies or skids are the lowest rank in the hacker hierarchy. Those are usually the wannabe hackers which basically have no knowledge or very little. They often spam around so as to attract attention or to receive a hacking tool.

 

Among the benefits that most hackers favor is the money. That’s the reason why some people spend entire weeks in front of the computer in order to make their living. Another top benefit that is being made use of is the reputation you have amongst the others.

Calling you a hacker, your echo grows bigger and bigger every day. You are well connected and often referred to as a person with a lot of knowledge who is being respected and well treated. But hacking is not necessarily to be taken as a duty or part of a goal one aims to achieve – it can simply be started as a hobby alongside programming.