If you are an absolute beginner in the field of hacking or don’t really know where to start off, this hacking 101 guide can help you kick start your hacker’s journey. Before taking up any hacking course or tutorial, it is necessary to understand what hacking or hacker really means.
As opposed to what most people think, hackers are not criminals who break into bank accounts or do all the nasty things on the computer and the Internet. In fact, these criminals who cause damage to cyberspace or third party systems are not hackers but are referred to as crackers
On the other hand, a hacker (sometimes referred to as an ethical hacker) is a person who has developed in-depth expertise or knowledge in the subject of information security. He or she is specialized in penetration testing or other testing methodologies to ensure a company’s information system is secure. Such people are hired and paid by companies to discover vulnerabilities in their system and fix the same before a cracker finds and exploits them.
Hacking 101: Start From the Basics
The best way to start learning is to begin with the basics of hacking. Later as your experience grows, gradually advance to the next higher levels so as to master the art of hacking
1. Learn About Computer Network and Protocols
If you already have an understanding of how computer network works and its basic protocols, you are good to go. If not, it is necessary to learn more about this topic as its understanding makes it easy to comprehend the concepts of network hacking.
2. Programming: Is it Necessary?
Once you master the basics of hacking and want to take it as your career or go more deeply, having a knowledge of programming becomes a must. If you are a computer science student, you may already be aware of some of the markup and programming languages such as HTML, C++, Java, PHP, Python etc.
Since there are hundreds of programming languages it would be impossible for any hacker to master all of them. However, as a hacker, you ought to have a working knowledge of at least a few basic languages like HTML, C++, or PHP. This would make it easier to interpret and handle any code that you may come across in the future of your hacking career.
3. Learn Both Windows and UNIX
If you are just like any other computer user who knows only one operating system which is Microsoft Windows, your options to hack and expand knowledge would remain highly limited. This is because most web servers and web applications run on Unix. More and more companies are now switching to Unix based operating systems as it is a freeware and also considering it more secure than Windows.
So, this is why most professional hackers always use Unix as their primary operating system. Even though it is still possible to do most things on Windows itself it still isn’t secure and complete as Unix. This makes it incomplete to use it for hacking and penetrating testing. So, if you are new to it, I recommend you start learning Unix before you try to hack anything of the Web.
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