Ethics Of A True Hacker This is the first article I am writing and as such an occasion I decided to write about my favorite topic which is computer hacking. Now this is not to be confused with system cracking which of course is the act of mindlessly breaking into systems, spreading viruses, and doing things which hurt innocent people who just don't know anything about the world of sercurity. I guess being a native New Yorker I am born with the sence of susipicion and a want of sercurity. Well let me get to the point of this article. It is meant to show all those who call themselves hackers a thing of two. I will guess that only half the people who read this paper will actually amount to being a real hacker. Well without further delay here is a paper on what a hacker really is. eLLitE DoOdZ All you newbies who are entering the wonderful world of hacking, I bet you looked into hacking because you want to be one of those "ellite" hackers in the movies right. Let me tell you something right now you will most likely never be one of the James Bond evil geniuses who crack into sensitive military information. Now I don't say this to mean that you aren't intelligent enough,it is simply not possible. It is a rare occasion that someone actually can break into any system that has sensitive information and not be caught. I've heard of less than a half dozen times when this rare occasion occurs. Getting caught is all most inevitable. Even those who have years of experience in sercurity and programming would have a great task ahead of them for a mission like that. Now those so called "cool techno wiz kids" also have boasted about hacking peoples accounts at school right? Well heres a word to the wise, its probally not as good as it sounds. And even if they are I'll give you nine to five odds they used some lame program of the internet to complete it. If they were for real they wouldn't ever admitted they done it all over school. So my message is if you want to be some kind of "Super Hacker" rent a movie and make it "A blockbuster night" because your dreaming. Face it your a newbie and you have to learn the basics before you do anything to impress your freinds. If you can stand the wait you'll have the reap the rewards of hacking and how cool it can be. Progz In the last paragraph I just skimmed over programs. Now the reason I downplay programs is the simple fact unless you wrote the program its not hacking. Any idiot can run a program ( I hope!). If you start using programs that do everything for you than what are you learning. I once read somewhere on one of the hundreds of hacking sites I've visited that "Hacking is using your knowledge to gain more knowledge". Now I've spent hours thinking about that and I'll tell you right now that is the best definition I've ever heard. Now please do not misunderstand what I'm saying. There are select number of programs that are good to have on hand for automating certain tasks. Now if you wanted to find out about the open ports on a computer you have to options. You can run a port surfer or check by hand. Now I almost never use a port surfer because it can cause you problems with your isp as well as not give you all the critical information you need. If your pressed for time in a wargame with a freinds server or something well than go ahead and use that program. I'll be honest with you's I keep programs on hand. I have a unix password cracker, port surfer, and even a mailbomber (which I use with much discretion and if you have half a brain you will too). And even keep a disk with a few of those intresting programs that are nice to have. Be wary of programs they are a crutch which you will become permanently attached to if your not careful. Newbie tip section Now if you are a intermediate hacker or above you can skip this section. Read if you like though. This goes out in response to the constant stream of newbies out there who prowl the chat rooms and newsgroups looking for intelligent people and sucking every bit of patience out of them. I can not even count the amount of newbies who have contacted me with questions like "Please teach me to hack?"or the infamous "How do I hack?". If you have any pride or brains you will never say these words in a chat room, newsgroup, or any other medium of the sort. I can not begin to tell you how irritating it is to be asked dumb questions over and over and over again. Day after day, month after month. I know that being new to anything is hard but if you persist in doing things like that you will inevitablely learn the true meaning of a flame. But I know you're all wondering how do I find out how to hack then? You use a ****ing search engine! Look up things like "hacking" and "computer sercurity".If you want to chat with other hackers ask specific questions like "Anyone know some good URL's". I'll tell you right now for the time I've been into hacking I've foung the best hacking sites right from people in the chat rooms. Not to mention if you find a good site be sure to share with others. I'm sure it will be greatly appreciated. So what is real hacking anyway? Well I've told what hacking is not. Now lets talk about what it is. Hacking, as I said before, is using your knowledge to expand your knowledge. Now that means you should become familiar with the various operating systems on the internet which are UNIX and WINDOWS NT. Port surfing computers is another very honorable way of hacking. You wouldn't believe how many things can be learned by port surfing the various protocols you'll come across. Even if criminal hackers port surf to learn as much about a system as possible. This is because of the golden rule of breaking a sysytem. YOU CAN NOT BREAK INTO A SYSTEM THAT YOU DON"T UNDERSTAND. Now of course if you are guessing passwords you may get in. But what will you do once your inside. After you know how to use various systems the next step is programming which I recently started. Well thats enough for now. Remember what a hacker is at all times. Lastly look for the Guide to Mostly Harmless Hacking written by Carolyn Meinel. Written by The Mob Boss also known as Mafia_man777