Hacker Wannabe - If you're a hacker please come in

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rantsh I salute you for doing what I did not have the guts to do!

I have read through quite a few tutorials/RFCs and other references at this point and while I have learned a great deal I am still a bit lost. I have been going to college for a Computer Science degree and I am now in my second year. I do basic to intermediate Java programming and I know HTML.   I have done little with C and C++. PHP frankly confuses me as I have not done much work with it or found a good reference. I have done bath files and limited DOS. I do simple troubleshooting for friends and family. I can read source code and with a little time and effort figure out what,how, and why. I personally think that the simple questions "Why?" and "How?" are the greatest questions ever devised by man. I love learning more and I think that I learn best by doing. I will start on a project and have a plan for what I want it to do and love it when I encounter something that I don't understand or know how to accomplish cause then I start on the journey of figuring out how to do it and inevitably learn something in the process.

I thought I would let you know a little about me and my background before I asked any questions as it would give you a better idea of what I seek.

 I love to learn and I love a good challenge, however I am finding it a bit difficult finding a good starting point to enter the wonderful and somewhat "mysterious" world of hacking. I have learned a good deal and found some good references by reading through the posts here and in a few other places but I have found that many of the sites that people praise and refer to no longer exist or have been moved. I have read the posts regarding hackr.Org and would love to find something like it with practice challenges to sharpen my teeth on but as of yet I have found none. I would love to find a site or reference that would offer some guidance to lead me from that limited background I have and teach me what I need to know to move forward as well as something that I can use to practice the skills I have learned. I am in no way asking for someone to hold my and show me the answers but instead point me in the right direction and give me a shove. As I mentioned before I love a good challenge and would love to find a exercise/challenge/goal to practice on without the risk of being arrested or committing any crimes. I want knowledge, not a criminal record or a path of destruction lying behind me.

Well if you have made it to this point in my post I thank you for listening to my ramblings and for any advise or guidance you can offer me.

                                                                                      -TDJ

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QUOTE (yungblood @ Sep 3 2005, 04:53 PM)

According to old school "hacking" rules, you've already broken one of the main ones... asking for help to get started

I am a hacker by the old definition. One who goes into systems for knowledge, not to destroy. In fact, I would never go into personal info if I found any. At the most, the only changes I would make to a system that I got into is leave a message saying that thier system was insecure, and stating how I got in.

Most people that call themselves hackers are not true hackers. Most just run programs that other people make without understanding what is truely going on behind the scenes. All they usually want to do is cause damage to sites.

If you want to learn how to become a real hacker, I can point you in the right direction, but it is up to you to do the work.

I've told you alot more than I should have. I have one other recommendation, only hack your own computers. When you hack computers you don't own, you run the risk of going to federal prison. And don't forget the 3 R's of hacking.

-YB

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QUOTE (calixt @ Sep 6 2005, 04:11 AM)

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