How To Become A Hacker[14]

a:

no. every time i've been asked this question so far, it's been from some poor sap running microsoft windows. it is not possible to effectively secure windows systems against crack attacks; the code and architecture simply have too many flaws, which makes securing windows like trying to bail out a boat with a sieve. the only reliable prevention starts with switching to linux or some other operating system that is designed to at least be capable of security.

i'm having problems with my windows software. will you help me?

yes. go to a dos prompt and type "format c:". any problems you are experiencing will cease within a few minutes.

where can i find some real hackers to talk with?

the best way is to find a unix or linux user's group local to you and go to their meetings (you can find links to several lists of user groups on the ldp site at ibiblio).

(i used to say here that you wouldn't find any real hackers on irc, but i'm given to understand this is changing. apparently some real hacker communities, attached to things like gimp and perl, have irc channels now.)

can you recommend useful books about hacking-related subjects?

i maintain a linux reading list howto that you may find helpful. the loginataka may also be interesting.

for an introduction to python, see the introductory materials on the python site.

do i need to be good at math to become a hacker?

no. hacking uses very little formal mathematics or arithmetic. in particular, you won't usually need trigonometry, calculus or analysis (there are exceptions to this in a handful of specific application areas like computer graphics). knowing some formal logic and boolean algebra is good. some grounding in finite mathematics (including finite-set theory, combinatorics, and graph theory) can be helpful.

much more importantly: you need to be able to think logically and follow chains of exact reasoning, the way mathematicians do. while the content of most mathematics won't help you, you will need the discipline and intelligence to handle mathematics. if you lack the intelligence, there is little hope for you as a hacker; if you lack the discipline, you'd better grow it.

i think a good way to find out if you have what it takes is to pick up a copy of raymond smullyan's book what is the name of this book?. smullyan's playful logical conundrums are very much in the hacker spirit. being able to solve them is a good sign; enjoying solving them is an even better one.

what language should i learn first?

xhtml (the latest dialect of html) if you don't already know it. there are a lot of glossy, hype-intensive bad html books out there, and distressingly few good ones. the one i like best is html: the definitive guide.

but html is not a full programming language. when you're ready to start programming, i would recommend starting with python. you will hear a lot of people recommending perl, and perl is still more popular than python, but it's harder to learn and (in my opinion) less well designed.