What the Hack?

So you've heard of hacking. Of course you have. It's 2025, and hacking is a big topic, be it in video games, life hacks, cyber attacks, "hacky solutions", etc. But I bet you don't actually understand what hacking is. It's way bigger then you think.

Hacking, a very misunderstood term. Even the merriam-webster dictionary has a way more limited definition then what it is in reality, though it does reflect the general public's definition of hacking.

Hacking - Verb - to gain illegal access to (a computer network, system, etc.)

This is certainly an example of what hacking can be used for, but this definition is very narrow and does not encompass hacking as we in the community use it.

So what is hacking?

The definition of hacking is actually very simple. Hacking is just using something in a way the creators of it didn't expect to achieve your goal. Creative problem solving would be a synonym.

Let's take a basic example: the common table fork.

A normal user would take a fork and think, "I use this to eat food." A hacker would look closely at the fork and examine its properties. Maybe a hacker can use the shape of the prongs to shape clay, or notice the fork is make of a conductive metal and can be used to complete a circuit.

Red Neck engineering can also be a good example of hacking believe it or not!

I like to say that Hacking is the modern implementation of the phrase "Knowledge is power."

How does that relate to what I know about hacking though?

Great question! When you're attacking computer systems, that's all your doing! You're taking what you know about the components of a computer system and using that knowledge to do things that the administrator of that system may not actually intend you to do.

A fun example is the classic James server remote code execution vulnerability. James server is an opensource Email server for Linux. It works by creating a new folder for each user to store their emails in. But what it didn't do was make sure the email addresses being created didn't contain certain characters that would allow users to specifically choose a folder on the system. For example you could choose an email address of ../../../../../../../../etc/bash_completion.d which would put any emails that user received in the bash_completion.d folder... which is auto executed at startup. So you can just send a bash script as an email and the next time the computer reboots it will execute that script.

As you can see with this example, hacking isn't an arcane art where you type really fast and say "I'm in!". Its simply understanding the systems you're attacking, and using that understanding to do things that you're not supposed to be able to do.

Ok but hackers are bad right?

Nope! well sometimes... but mostly nope!

From the hackers manifesto (1986),

This is our world now... the world of the electron and the switch, the beauty of the baud. We make use of a service already existing without paying for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn't run by profiteering gluttons, and you call us criminals. We explore... and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge... and you call us criminals. We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias... and you call us criminals. You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and lie to us and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet we're the criminals.

Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like.

My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me for.

Most hackers are just people who are always curious. People who aren't satisfied with seeing something. People who see that cool thing and NEED to know how it works. A hacker is simply a person with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Someone who is constantly learning. Who has no box to think in at all. Most hackers just want to learn and poke and prod and figure things out. Hackers love doing things people say they can't do. Hackers make the world go round.

hacking vs cybercrime

As seen in the dictionary definition of hacking, most people think its illegal to hack. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Hacking is not illegal, cybercrime is illegal. Not all hacking is cybercrime, and not all cybercrime is hacking. Hacking systems you have permission to hack is perfectly fine. This can be in the context of a penetration test, bug bounty, or hacking systems you own in order to learn more or build something new. Cybercrime is any illegal action using cyber systems. For example gaining access to networks and systems that you don't have permission to is hacking and cybercrime, but hosting illegal online content such as CSAM is also cybercrime, but doesn't involve hacking at all.

Hacker culture

Hacker culture is a beautiful thing. Its a group of outcasts, people who never really fit in to the "popular" group getting together to be weird and learn more together. It's a culture of learning. Its a culture of wanting to do cool things, wanting to make the world a better place for everyone, one system at a time. Hacker culture advances technology faster then any other factor.

A good movie representation of hacker culture in all its cringy glory is the 1995 cult classic "Hackers". I will never claim that this is a good movie, but it is one of my favorites. It's goofy, the "hacking" in it is so bad, but it nails the hacker culture perfectly!

The Hacker Mindset

Hackers all share a mindset. I would almost classify it as a mental illness to be perfectly honest. Its a NEED to know more. I NEED to know how that thing works and what I can make it do. I won't be able to relax until I do.

For example, you see those kiosks in stores and malls. Well let's walk up to it and take a look. Oh there's a search box, we'll tap on that and the default android keyboard appears... so this runs android, neat. Are the button's accessible, nope. Ok, this is a search though, searches are mostly just front-ends for databases, generally speaking the way it works is what ever you type is used to build a sql query command, can we use that? It's expecting a string based search, strings need to be enclosed in ' characters for SQL queries, so maybe if we add a ' to the search it will fail and give us an error message! Oh I also notice that what you searched for are displayed at the top of the results page. So our input is used to build the HTML of the page... can we insert our own HTML tags to adjust that... lets make our search a head line by adding <h1>foooooooooooo</h1> does that change how it looks? Neat... can we add javascript tags? let's search <script>alert("foo")</script> does an alert window pop up?

Closing thoughts

I hope you learned something. I hope you have a better understanding of what we as hackers are actually like. We're nerds. We're geeks. We love to turn knowledge into power. We are everywhere. Nothing and no one can stop the hacker movement.

I will leave you with the entire text of the hacker manifesto written by The Mentor in 1986.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The following was written shortly after my arrest...

                       \/\The Conscience of a Hacker/\/

                                      by

                               +++The Mentor+++

                          Written on January 8, 1986
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

        Another one got caught today, it's all over the papers.  "Teenager
Arrested in Computer Crime Scandal", "Hacker Arrested after Bank Tampering"...
        Damn kids.  They're all alike.

        But did you, in your three-piece psychology and 1950's technobrain,
ever take a look behind the eyes of the hacker?  Did you ever wonder what
made him tick, what forces shaped him, what may have molded him?
        I am a hacker, enter my world...
        Mine is a world that begins with school... I'm smarter than most of
the other kids, this crap they teach us bores me...
        Damn underachiever.  They're all alike.

        I'm in junior high or high school.  I've listened to teachers explain
for the fifteenth time how to reduce a fraction.  I understand it.  "No, Ms.
Smith, I didn't show my work.  I did it in my head..."
        Damn kid.  Probably copied it.  They're all alike.

        I made a discovery today.  I found a computer.  Wait a second, this is
cool.  It does what I want it to.  If it makes a mistake, it's because I
screwed it up.  Not because it doesn't like me...
                Or feels threatened by me...
                Or thinks I'm a smart ass...
                Or doesn't like teaching and shouldn't be here...
        Damn kid.  All he does is play games.  They're all alike.

        And then it happened... a door opened to a world... rushing through
the phone line like heroin through an addict's veins, an electronic pulse is
sent out, a refuge from the day-to-day incompetencies is sought... a board is
found.
        "This is it... this is where I belong..."
        I know everyone here... even if I've never met them, never talked to
them, may never hear from them again... I know you all...
        Damn kid.  Tying up the phone line again.  They're all alike...

        You bet your ass we're all alike... we've been spoon-fed baby food at
school when we hungered for steak... the bits of meat that you did let slip
through were pre-chewed and tasteless.  We've been dominated by sadists, or
ignored by the apathetic.  The few that had something to teach found us will-
ing pupils, but those few are like drops of water in the desert.

        This is our world now... the world of the electron and the switch, the
beauty of the baud.  We make use of a service already existing without paying
for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn't run by profiteering gluttons, and
you call us criminals.  We explore... and you call us criminals.  We seek
after knowledge... and you call us criminals.  We exist without skin color,
without nationality, without religious bias... and you call us criminals.
You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and lie to us
and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet we're the criminals.

        Yes, I am a criminal.  My crime is that of curiosity.  My crime is
that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like.
My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me
for.

        I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto.  You may stop this individual,
but you can't stop us all... after all, we're all alike.

                               +++The Mentor+++
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As always, stay curious, and go hack something.