How to Become a HackerComputer Hacking Beginners GuideThe term "hacker" today has garnered a negative connotation. You've heard about hackers breakinginto computer systems and looking at or even stealing some very sensitive and very privateinformation. Millions of computer users worldwide have felt the effects of hacking activity. Thatincludes virus attacks, spyware, and other forms of malware that slow down, break into, or evencripple your computer system.However, not all hackers are dubious and unscrupulous souls who have nothing better to do in life. Infact, the term "hacker" originally had a very positive and beneficial meaning to it. Traditionally, ahacker is someone who likes to tinker with computers and other forms of electronics. They enjoyfiguring out how current systems work and find ways to improve them.In other words, he used to be the guy who had to figure out how to make computers faster and better.Nowadays, a hacker is just someone who steals electronic information for their own self-interest.Nevertheless, there are still good hackers (white hat hackers) and bad hackers (black hat hackers).It basically takes a hacker to catch a hacker and the good news is that a lot of them are on your side ofthe playing field. The premise of this book is to help you learn the basics of ethical hacking (the stuffthat white hat hackers do). But in order to know what to look out for, you will have to catch a glimpseof what black hat hackers do.The bottom line here is that hacking is no more than a set of computer skills that can be used for eithergood or bad. How one uses those skills will clearly define whether one is a white hat or a black hathacker. The skills and tools are always neutral; only when they are used for malicious purposes dothey take a turn for the worse.What are the Objectives of Ethical Hacking?If hacking per se today is bent on stealing valuable information, ethical hacking on the other hand isused to identify possible weak points in your computer system or network and making them securebefore the bad guys (aka the black hat hackers) use them against you. It's the objective of white hathackers or ethical hackers to do security checks and keep everything secure.That is also the reason why some professional white hat hackers are called penetration testingspecialists. One rule of thumb to help distinguish penetration testing versus malicious hacking is thatwhite hat hackers have the permission of the system's owner to try and break their security.In the process, if the penetration testing is successful, the owner of the system will end up with a moresecure computer system or network system. After all the penetration testing is completed, the ethicalhacker, the one who's doing the legal hacking, will recommend security solutions and may even helpimplement them.It is the goal of ethical hackers to hack into a system (the one where they were permitted and hired tohack, specifically by the system's owner) but they should do so in a non-destructive way. This meansthat even though they did hack into the system, they should not tamper with the system's operations.Part of their goal is to discover as much vulnerability as they can. They should also be able toenumerate them and report back to the owner of the system that they hacked. It is also their job toprove each piece of vulnerability they discover. This may entail a demonstration or any other kind ofevidence that they can present.Ethical hackers often report to the owner of the system or at least to the part of a company'smanagement that is responsible for system security. They work hand in hand with the company to keepthe integrity of their computer systems and data. Their final goal is to have the results of their effortsimplemented and make the system better secured.