Phoenix Network Forums

Alot of hackers just hack for fun, they have nothing better to do with their lives.

Ebony5 wrote:Alot of hackers just hack for fun, they have nothing better to do with their lives.

So you say everything you do should be serious? I wouldn't call 'having fun' an waste of your time. Everyone is in need to have fun once in awhile, just different people tend to have different things tohave fun

Well first you have to keep in mind that there is a difference between hackers (legal) and crackers (illegal).I advocate hacking i think it teaches you to think logically but at the same time out of the box, its also something everyone wants to learn but there are many who say that and then do not have the patcience to read books,forums, etc. to learn.I do only legal hacking (wiht permission by the machines owner) and i frown upon crackers becuase all they do is harm society with no constructive end.

I do not want to learn hacking as it will not benefit me in any way. That must mean your statement is flawed.

And before someone comes along, hacking (or hacking games for that matter) is not the only way that will teach me logical thinking or out of the box thinking.

well i think that if you are into computers and you have a mind for puzzles.. you should atleast try hacking... obviously not for malicious purposes.. if you want to learn because you want to go and screw with people... well thats just retarded. but if you seek the knowledge in it... it is a well paying career. companies need people to find thier loop holes and patch them. seriouly tho... if you would like to learn.. I would recomend going to hackthissite.org.. its very knowledgable and it actually gives you a test server to actually break into.. on top of it being free [but they would appreciate a donation] they also have tutorials.. knowledge is power and with great power comes great responsibility..be wise in your choices.. dont hack for the wrong reasons... if your gonna hack.. might as well get paid for it...

tough that i don't code, and i don't consider myself as a hacker, for me dthe definition of a hacker is someone, who explores the possiilities, and trys to improve things, wich also needs to exploit/crack pc/programs, but only to find the weaks, cause you need to know where you have to do something, before you can start to improve something

hacking only for these purpose, with or without the knowledge of third party is not imoral in my eyes, as long as there is no harm done, like stealing data, or stuff like that

I use knowledge to gain more knowledge, well thats hacking for me.

Hacker for me is that one with knowledge, no matter if the same will use for bad or good. Hacking for me, is someone that modify/develop codes to add newer functions to a computer and that is great. MP3, Linux are some examples of hacking activities... Before MP3 music on computer was not really popular...

without so much as a read of this thread, only the topic i have to reply from the top of my head,

i hack for the sole purpose of promoting the free trade of infomation, this is the only means we have to better ourselves in this worl. to progressivly grow from the knowledge of each other. if i write some stupid little program and put a 50$ pricetag on it, whos to say anyone will take a second look, yet if i do the same and distribute it under a free liscense, i might spark the interest of some kid and there for have a hand in creating the next generation of 'hackers'.

my morals are just.
even if my means are not.

Crackers thrive where ignorance exists.
Someone will eventually find the flaws and vulnerabilities which exist in peoples code and logic, the choice companies and people have to make is who finds it first. The White Hats or the Black Hats.

But I think the most serious problem is insider threats. I've worked at companies where employees openly share passwords.
Two years ago, a webmaster of a graphic design company encrypted all there current projects and held them for ransom after he was made redundant.

Another issue more domestic is social engineering. This is widely seen in phishing attacks.

So is hacking moral? Yes, it's productive. It's malicious intent which causes the damage

Without hackers there would be no internet. Without hackers there would be no computers. The term hacker was origianally used to describe one who enjoyed and was skilled at computer programming. It was the media who gave it a negative meaning.
There is a differance between hackers and crackers and even virii writers. It is all about intent.
I am a hacker and I don't spend my days trying to access a remote system for the sake of owning a box or bragging writes. Have I ever gain unauthorized access to another system, yes. When I do however, I drop the sysadmin an email outlining the exploit used and how it can be fixed. This has made me many friends and even gotten me work.
To me hacking is not limited to only computers. Any time you try to learn how something works, be it a radio, cell phone whatever, you are hacking.
When I stop feverishly hunting for knowledge, I may as well be dead.

Don't believe everything you see on tv.

The original meaning of the word is irrelevant, to hack has the definition of breaking and entering a computer, hackers should get to grips with that.

btw, when I try to learn something, I tend to call it learning..

Samppa wrote:The original meaning of the word is irrelevant, to hack has the definition of breaking and entering a computer, hackers should get to grips with that.

btw, when I try to learn something, I tend to call it learning..

That would be cracking. I usually try not to hack networks without permission or unless it's my own... but eh, I'm not a saint

I hack for fun, to gain knowledge on certain things and find bugs in my programs. I'm working on a 1500 source file Java program at this time, and hackers sure did help me out fix the lot of bugs. In fact, without hacking, I wouldn't be where I am now.

Do I need to repeat myself?

The original meaning of the word is irrelevant --



I don't believe I've ever said finding bugs out of material you are willing to publish is wrong.

Samppa wrote:The original meaning of the word is irrelevant

Except that hacker is still used with that meaning, particularly among us hackers. Also we also have several other words for people who do illegal things on the computer. 3 come to mind (criminal, script kiddie/skiddie, cracker). So your wasting a perfectly good work.

Hacker is probably a bad work in general. It gotten a fair amount elitism associated with it, and now every nerd an their dog wants to be a hacker without knowing what it means. Unfortunatly there isn't a replacement word around that the hacker community can associate itself with.