
 How to be a hacker - amadeuspzs
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/27/how-to-be-a-hacker
======
grannyg00se
I thought this was going to be about bash, vi, SICP, cryptanalysis, emacs,
asm, or maybe something about 3d printers, or fpgas, or soldering fine point
smd ICs onto home stenciled PCBs.

This isn't about being a hacker at all. It's about doing some entry level
penetration testing with a software suite designed for that purpose.

~~~
yogo
That was also my initial takeaway. To me hacking is about understanding how it
all works. Using a tool isn't a problem but the guy that wrote the tool is a
hacker, and you're only a hacker if you understand what it is you're doing
well enough that you can solve unfamiliar problems that the tool doesn't
already cover. Otherwise you are going to get stumped, which translates into
getting caught.

To look at it another way: installing wordpress with some plugins doesn't make
you a web developer.

Edit: I took this article's bait but I realized afterwards that this was all
to ride off the recent Target fiasco.

~~~
smonff
Hacking meaning is complex. For me it means something ingenious, a way of
creating or using a tool in a round about way. It's not even necessarily about
computers. But it involves most of the time _creative uses of technology_. I
mean, an passionate girl or boy can be a hacker, you don't even need a
computer: electronic, craft, artists, vintage device, bicycles, motorbikes,
food, biology, DNA, politics, sextoys, any activity field can be hacked.

If you use the penetration kit out of the box like you are supposed to do, I
don't see any hacking here (even if it allows you to penetrate in a
prestigious "open system").

In the opposite, if you hack a bit and can prove that you can open a car door
with a computer and a network penetration tool, it start to be interesting.

Hacking is a huge field. Restrain it to computer networks rides is not fair,
even if historically, it has been much more used by networks and telecoms
people.

I think hackers are also people who create inestimable wealth. People who
create a compiler, that will make possible for others to create languages,
that will allow others to create tools, etc. are very strange. Why do they do
that? Not because their boss ask them for.

A programming language is useless as far as you hadn't create something with
it. Creation and hacking are very similar things.

~~~
yogo
I agree, it shouldn't be limited to computers.

------
vezzy-fnord
"How to be a script kiddie" is more apt of a title.

This is embarrassing to actual infosec specialists and penetration testers.

------
sdfjkl
You're not a hacker until a hacker calls you a hacker.
([http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/hacker-
howto.html#hacker_alread...](http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/hacker-
howto.html#hacker_already))

~~~
artolus
Then who was the first hacker?

~~~
ne0phyte
Doesn't matter. If there is no hacker you can call yourself a hacker without
any other hacker complaining :D

------
RankingMember
'Eye of the beholder, as always. To my grandmom, I'm an elite weapons-grade
hacker because I hit Ctrl-B to bold something in MSWord rather than clicking
the button for it.

~~~
atmosx
Totally. For all my real life friends I am beyond comparison when it comes to
computers. Reading people's comments around here or on SO makes me think I
know nothing...

~~~
sockrateeze
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

------
dobbsbob
Step 1: go on IRC

Step 2: change nick by adding 0x in front of your regular nym

Congrats you're a hacker

~~~
X-Istence
Interestingly enough that won't work. IRC nicknames are not allowed to start
with a number. My alternative nickname from X-Istence is 0x58, and on IRC I go
by x58...

------
yawz
Oh my God! The secret is out. We're no longer safe!

------
sejje
It's trivially easy to be a hacker, but luckily it's also trivially easy to
defeat would-be hackers by keeping your computer up-to-date...

Right.

------
faffi
Yes, using nmap, metasploit and meterpreter totally makes you a hacker.

~~~
jesalas
Not even Norton can protect you from those tools. I think you need to re-
evaluate what you think you know about hacking.

~~~
atmosx
Hmmm norton can not, but PF & SNORT can ;)

Seriously 'security' and 'Microsoft' do not play well in the same sentence.

------
alan_cx
People, take note... This article was written for Guardian readers, not the
elite HN hacking corps.

~~~
sbuk
Since there are a number of links to Guardian articles posted here daily, I'd
argue that the 'elite HN hacking corps' and Guardian readers are the same
thing.

------
throwwit
Unfortunately, a poorly thought through article. This article seems to only
promote FUD regarding information security. I hope the overall goal of
creating robust systems is not lost by calling out certain tools. Security
through obscurity is not security.

------
jonas_b
Serious question: how insecure is Mac OS X to this kind of stuff?

~~~
coolsunglasses
How up-to-date with patches is that Mac OS X?

Safari doesn't have a great track record.

------
angersock
I'm going to put up 7 firewalls and buy a dog.

~~~
maerF0x0
unplug the computer, stick it in a vault and hire armed guards.

~~~
dllthomas
... and hope no one bribes the guards.

------
Gwen_Bell
Real hackers know Git. If you don't know Git, you don't know Shit. Am I right
fellow hackers???

~~~
UNIXgod
Only if your name is Mel:

[http://foldoc.org/The+Story+of+Mel,+a+Real+Programmer](http://foldoc.org/The+Story+of+Mel,+a+Real+Programmer)

[http://www.wps.com/J/LGP-21/mel-the-
programmer.html](http://www.wps.com/J/LGP-21/mel-the-programmer.html)

The man didn't even use patch or diff! Now _git_ off my lawn kid!

