Hi I am a long time gamer that would like to get into hacking. I want to become a white hat in search of information that is not always readily avaiable to people like myself. I am also interested in being able once capable of writing my own programs since one should not rely on those made by others intended for a different purpose. I am not looking to become a black hat(malicious, destructive, etc.) What I would do would simply be to gain intelligence, learn to navigate through networks easier, etc. I know that what i ask has been asked before though the parts of it are scattered and would take extremely long to find all of the answers to especially in a dialect which i understand. So here are my questions, if i could get simple answers to them (as i do not yet understand much that is required) i would be greatful.
So question one: Can i hack from a PC with WinXP(not linux or other opsys)
2. what is the extent of the programming which i must learn, what language must i know and what is the simplest source to learn this.
3. what is the simplest task to rehearse since trying is the best way to learn
4. i know i have mure but i will ask bit later.
Thank you for your patience through my half coherent post and thanks for the replies in advance. Ataris Dream

You want to write your own programs? Learn C++.

You want to be a *hat? Read: HackerProof, Maximum Security, Art of Deception; there are many others but those should give you a referance point.

You can "hack" with any operating system so long as you have access to a *nix shell; think of investing in a moderately cheap computer (P200+) for linux pourposes.

For note, white hats don't generally hack, they secure (or at least their not known for hacking in a general sensus)...

ok gizmo, i have a new comp i built. best of all components, i am running XP will this work and as i say in next part can i run linux off of it as well as XP. Since i lack the funds to buy another comp and i need XP for other purposes. And oops sorry i was under the impression that white hats while most of their hacking is to improve security and exterminate weaknesses they also hacked: in a peaceful undestructive way that was purely to find hidden knowledge. And that blackhat was a wreckless hacker. If there is a name for each time that is correct i would appreciate it if i could be told so that i do not make the same mistake in the future tks.

Im sorry i feel stupid as usual i was used to finding very scattered postings, i just looked at drak's sticky and very nice dude tks for the help though any additional help like yours gizmo is much appreciated and i just remembered another of my prime questions if linux is felt to be a must, is it possible to run multiple opsys's on my comp at the same time, i believe that it is. And i think that i have seen it at my friends house but i dont remember for sure again thanks to all and to gizmo thanks for the speed of that post

hey, thank you soo much for not asking "how do i hack" lol. i would have killed myslef. um to answer your questions, yes u can hack with windows. to tell you the truth you can do most of your hacking without a computer, "art of deception" is a good book for explaining that that. also you dont NEED to get a nother computer, just partition your hard drive and run a linux distro off that (if ur new to linux i suggest mandrake-cuz its free, or maby even invest in redhat. it is a nice one) u can find out how to partition harddives on line. cuz i am too lazy to explain it.
i think that just about overs most of your questions.

i have been using windwoz since i was first put in front of a computer.....i have alot of other associate's who run unix/linux boxes, but they run ftp servers mail servers an various websites...i personally see that is what unix/linux is for...since TCP/IP protocal started with that OS.

Linux is powerful an flexable. windowz can be a pain but it is the most widely used OS at this point! (wink wink IBM -n- Linux)there are ton's alternatives......

but in the end they lead you to one place...
ONLINE or "JACKED IN"

I prefer a seperate machine rather than dual booting as at times you'll be doing something when you want to check the progress of a scan, etc.

Lol, you've only used windows? I'm sorry... When I first got started Microsoft was bairley known...

alright i think that i will begin by getting those texts: TCP/IP illustrated, the NT Warcod, Hacking exposed, Hacker Proof, Maximum security, Art of Deception. Hopefully i will be able to understand these, lol. Then i think that i might partition and use mandrake or if redhat is cheap i will try that. As more questions arrise i will post those underthis or a seperate topic and i will check this chain every day for more help posted. to all of you who gave advice and who will give more thank you very much and peace Ataris Dream

lets just say i am not your Average Windowz User.

I have windows XP and RHL 9 installed on the same machine. Is it possible to access my files in XP while in Linux. I know it is possible to access Linux files fron windows.

It is probably more easily done than reading them from windows.

First you should enable fat and/or ntfs in your kernel or make sure it is already there.

Then mount your device (in this example hda, the first harddrive 4th partition) to the selected mount point in your system. example:

# mount /dev/hda4 /mnt/windows/

then you can read files from /mnt/windows/ like it was your ~ directory.

If you want to permanently have it mount at boot, you can edit /etc/fstab

***If your using NTFS you wont be able to write to your windows partition because NTFS write support is unstable. If you change the size of exiting files it can corrupt your entire NTFS system. But reading them works fine so mount it ro (read only)

Just to add some my two since....

There is a way to run 2 Operating Systems at Once. It is called VMWare. You can find it at http://www.vmware.com (not trying to advertise). This is a very handy program and I use it constantly.

Dioxide,

This is a dead post. I know you're new, but you should read the rules before you start posting.

The rest are here: http://www.undergroundnews.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php/topic/1/588.html

Maximum security.... I bought that book about a year and some change ago and still haven't finished it that is the longest goddamn book ever. Good luck to anyone who buys it who actully has a life.

I'm going to be purchasing a RHEL/CentOS bible shortly... Now there is a long book lol...