URGENT HACKER (AUTOMICHACKERSCREW@GMAIL.COM)

WHERE TO GET AN URGENT HACKER

Where to Start

You will find that everyone's background and skills are a little different so there is no best place to start (see ).I recommend reading through this page to get the big picture and see which area interests you the most and just jump in. No matter what you start with it will eventually lead to all the other areas.

Where to Get Equipment to Play With

You do not have to break the law to get systems to play with. It is possible to get lots of equipment to play with at little to no cost.Tell everyone you know that you will take any old electronics they no longer want. You can also pickup systems on trash day. Sift through the equipment and keep the useful stuff, the rest for parts, and then what is left. are particularly useful when building and based systems.There is a charge of $10.00 to $15.00 each to recycle TVs and monitors with s. I have found that people are a little more willing to call you if you tell them upfront that you will use the equipment for training, find it a new home (like a ), or responsibly recycle anything you do not use. This relieves them of the burden of recycling but you might have to pay to recycle the TV's and CRTs; thankfully, they are becoming less common. The treasure trove of free useful equipment I have gotten over the years more than offset the small cost of recycling the occasional TV or CRT.Atlanta Electronic Recycling Centers

Companies replace , , , and every three to five years. It is common to the cost of the equipment on their taxes. If they then sell or donate the equipment to a charity they can end up paying additional taxes because they received a value greater than the depreciated value. The taxes can be more than what it would cost to pay a recycler to take the equipment.This is an opportunity. It does not cost them anything to give you the equipment. Everyone you know works for a company. Talk to your friends and find the person in the company you need to talk to about getting their older equipment.

Find Like-minded People to Exchange Ideas With

The best way to go through a is to follow someone. I highly recommend finding local like-minded people with which to trade ideas. I am located in Atlanta Georgia so I will list examples from here. I will also provide some links to help find similar resources where you live. If there are not any, then start a group. Hacking is all about (to borrow from the ). You also have the Internet, and online groups are a good way to get involved with others.Pick the groups you associate with carefully. Hanging out with the wrong crowd can get you arrested just by association. If you want to work in information security your reputation must be above reproach because they will give you access to their most sensitive information and systems. A single arrest can end a promising career.You will hear stories of criminals that were caught and later got jobs in information security. This is the exception. What you do not hear are the stories of permanently damaged lives, which are far more common.Atlanta Hacker, Maker, and Security Groups

Dealing With Frustration

The skills and technology I am listing here are interconnected. As an example, how do you know what networking option to select in if you do not know how networking works? How do you experiment and learn how networking works without being able to simulate it with VirtualBox?You are going to get stuck and frustrated. Will you quit in frustration or use it as fuel to drive you to improvise, adapt, and overcome?I have chased solutions that took me years to solve. My secret? I did not quit in frustration. If there is one thing that makes or breaks a hacker, it is what they do when they get frustrated. This is when it helps to have other people to talk to (see ).

What Computer Should You Use

The first thing you will need is a computer that can run or . but generally you will need Apple hardware, which is expensive and not readily available from free sources. I will not be covering or hacking although all the principals I am covering here apply to them as well.You are going to be running so your computer will need enough resources to run the host operating system and two or more guests at the same time.I recommend 4 of and 256GB of at a minimum. The more the better. It is not necessary to have a multi-core computer but it will be far more responsive if it is.You can use a but note that you will not be able to host virtual guests. If you have a 64bit processor you can run both 32bit and 64bit guests. In addition, some 32bit processors will not be able to provide the proper .All is not lost If you can not afford a computer (see ). It does not matter where you start learning, there is no best place to start so if all else fails you can get a Zero for $5 or for $10 you can get a Raspberry Pi Zero/W that has built-in WiFi. Talk to other hackers, they often have equipment laying around they are not using any more and will gladly give it to you knowing it will go to a good home and that it will be one more thing not cluttering up their home lab (see "