How to Be a Good Hacker

Hacking is a difficult process and if you don't have experience in this field, you might end up being on the wrong side of the law. Also if you are not certified as a hacker and you don't have permission from the owner to hack their computer, then it is illegal to hack someone else computer.

Step 1 :Learn a programming language. Python is a much easier programming language to learn then C++. Learning server side languages such as PHP will help you immensely.

Step 2 :Use a *nix terminal for commands. Cygwin will help emulate this for Windows users. The tools in this article can be found for Windows based machines. You should also consider using Linux or BSD, which are both more flexible, more reliable, and more secure.

Step 3 :Try securing your machine first. Make sure you fully understood all common techniques, including the way to protect yourself.

Step 4 :Know your target. The process of gathering information about your target is known as 'enumeration'. You can use the ping utility to see if the target is 'alive, don't trust the results of the the ping utility as it uses the ICMP protocol and easily be shut down by system administrators.

Step 5 :Determine the operating system (OS). This is important because how can you gain access to a system if you don't know what the system is!. Try pOf, or nmap to run a port scan. This will show the ports that are open on the machine, the OS, and can even tell you what type of firewall or router they are using so you can plan a course of action.

Step 6 :Find some path or open port in the system. Common ports such as FTP (21) and HTTP (80) are often well protected, and possibly only vulnerable to exploits yet to be discovered. An open port 22 is usually evidence of an SSH service running on the target, which can sometimes be brute forced.

Step 7 :Crack the password or authentication process. There are several methods for cracking a password, including brute force. Using brute force on a password is an effort to try every possible password contained within a pre-defined dictionary of brute force software. You may try using Rainbow Tables for fastest password cracking.

Step 8 :Get super user (root) privileges if targeting a *nix machine, or administrator privileges if taking Windows systems. To see all the files on a computer you need super user privileges. For routers this is the "admin" account by default for Windows, this is the Administrator account, etc.

Step 9 :Use various tricks. Often to gain super user status you have use tactics such as creating a "buffer overflow" which is basically causing the memory to dump and allowing you to inject a code or perform a task at a higher level then you're normally authorized.

Step 10 :Create a backdoor. nce you gained full control over machine, it's best to make sure you can come back one day. This can be done by backdooring important system service, such as SSH server. Your backdoor may be removed upon next system upgrade, so only experienced hackers would backdoor the compiler itself, so using compiled software would be a way to come back.

Step 11 :Cover your tracks. Never ever let the administrator know that the system is compromised. Do not change the website, do not create more files than you really need. Act as fast as possible. If you patched a server like SSHD, make sure it has your secret password hard-coded.