The Hacker Ethos

The Hacker Ethos is a condensed, easy-to-read guidebook on the subject of Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing, the legal procedure for testing computer security by simulating real cyber attacks.

Written by an expert in Computer Science and Information Security with ten years of experience in his field at the time of writing, The Hacker Ethos was specifically designed to be put in the hands of the beginner-level hacker, IT professional, and hopeful IT security researcher.

This book covers the fundamental concepts of computer science and introduces the core knowledge that is required by all security professionals in the IT industry. The primary goal of the book is to instill what is known as the "Hacker Ethic" into the reader, a philosophy based on the ideal of free information, knowledge, and speech. Its very foundation is the principle of what it means to be a true hacker, an expert in computers at the most primal level, ready to explore new concepts and techniques without ever losing the hunger for knowledge.

The reader is encouraged to understand that Hacking is not easy, not is it a singular concept. It encompasses a vast library, covering every field of technology that includes programming, exploitation, web security and design, application security, viruses and malware, networking, wireless technology, telecommunication, phone technology, cellular technology, robotics, and everything that can be classified under the school of computing. Hackers are jacks of all trades, masters of none, but always striving to become so.

Contained in this book are the topics of hacker ethics, and details the unwritten law of the Hacker Underground. It casts a bright spotlight on the Hacker Mythos, the subculture of hacking, and dispels the mystique of the Deep Web. It teaches the core techniques of hacking, and what is known as the Hacker Methodology, the list of techniques used my professional security testers and cyber-criminals alike to attack their targets.

It teaches critical research techniques, heavily emphasizing self-study, and provides dozens of free resources on the various subjects and schools of hacking, including: programming, web hacking, service and application exploitation, malware development, password cracking, Denial-of-Service, Wireless and physical network penetration, cryptography.

Lastly, the book provides a massive toolkit of professional and privately used hacking tools, all completely free, and teaches the reader how to acquire new tools for themselves.

This book has been hailed by readers as "the best and easiest beginner's guide to hacking of the millennium," meticulously having collected and organized every necessary tool, technique, and tutorial that beginners of the IT Security field absolutely must know.

Its primary lesson is "teach you how to teach yourself," an invaluable skill that drives the field of technology and security more than any other. That a hacker who cannot learn on his own will never last.

This book requires strong dedication and an insatiable desire to learn. Make no mistake, its contents will not be simple by any means, as much as it strives to make them easy to understand. There is no "hacking tools that does it all" and there is no magic trick to learning everything.

Should you choose to continue, be prepared to adopt the true meaning of The Hacker Ethos, our creed:

Information is meant to be free for everyone.
Privacy is a right, hard earned; not a commodity, cheaply bought.
Censorship is a tyranny delivered by silence.
The Internet embodies freedom. Immerse yourself in it.
Never stop learning; never stop teaching.
Don't learn to hack; hack to learn.
"We Are All Alike"

Good luck on your Journey,
- True Demon