Top 5 Websites To Learn How To Hack Like A Pro
Whether you’re a college student, a middle-aged networking guru or a wife and mother fascinated by the world of online games – everyone occasionally comes across a situation where some form of hacking would make life a whole lot easier.
Maybe you’ve lost the license that came with your legitimate software package that you paid for. Maybe you want to make a backup copy of your favorite DVD movie, but there’s copy-protection encoded onto the disk. Or maybe you’re just stuck on a popular online game and you want to know if there are any hacks available to level up in the game without the required effort.
Whatever your specific needs or situation – I’m not here to judge. In the field of computers and Internet technologies, just about everything is written in one programming language or another. No programmer is perfect – they all make mistakes. There are back doors, secret codes and vulnerabilities in just about any application you come across. Because of that, if you learn how to hack on your own, or just following the efforts of active hacking communities can provide you with tremendous eye-opening insight into the inner-workings of even your most “trusted” software applications.
Where You Can Go To Learn How To Hack Like a Pro
One thing that’s obvious when you visit the websites where professional hackers hang out – there’s so much about programming that even the most seasoned professional programmers don’t know. Professional hackers are an exceptional, amazing and terrible breed of individuals all packaged into one. While I write this, I realize that I am also describing over half of our readership – you know who you are! These folks take programming to an extreme that’s simply astounding when you see it in action.
While many of us write applications using all of the standard techniques that you learn in programming classes in college, these folks take programming into a realm where there are no rules. They can test all aspects of an application until they find a chink in the armor, and then exploit those vulnerabilities.
As we explore the world of hacking, it should be noted that there are two major forms of hacking – we’ll call it “white hat” and “black hat.” The “white hat” hackers call themselves “ethical hackers,” in that they find vulnerabilities and exploits only to make the programming and application communities more secure for everyone. However, there’s a whole other community of hackers who find vulnerabilities to do nothing more than exploit them as much as humanly possible. Now that you know what sort of community you may be entering, let’s get on with the list of top sites where you can learn how to hack.
#1 – CyberXtreme: Hacking and Warez
CyberXtreme is an impressive forum with a significant hacking section, but also entire sections on technology, graphics and even a tech support area. Here you’ll find cracks, secret codes, free download packages (some containing cracked software which may be illegal to download in your area, so be careful). The forum is very protective of its content, so you’ll have to register with a valid email address before you can even get a glimpse of the content that’s on the forums.
The hacking section is very detailed and, as shown above, includes not only free tools and software exploits, but if you want to learn some coding tricks from the resident hacking gurus, just enter the “Coding & Programming” forum and you’ll get your fill. Before long you’ll be writing up your own customized hacking tools!
#2 – EvilZone Hacking Forums
While the name, EvilZone, isn’t exactly the most inviting – it is easily one of the largest forum communities that you’ll find on the subject of hacking. With over 6,500 members and over 100,000 posts (and counting), this community likely has the skills and knowledge to answer any programming question you could possibly have. Just be careful about coming across as a “noob” – these guys don’t handle newcomers with kid gloves, so be careful.
You’d definitely be best off working through the programming and encyclopedia sections first, where you’ll find projects, tutorials and a lot more that will help you become educated and well-versed in hacking techniques and terminology.
#3 – Hack a Day
While I certainly don’t want to offer a nod to any blogs that may be considered competition, you really have to give credit where credit is due when it comes to a particular niche like hacking – and Hack a Day definitely offers an amazing library of information for anyone looking for specific categories like cellphones, GPS or digital cameras. You’ll find all hacks organized by category in the right column.
More than any other site, this particular “hacking” site is very much hardware based, and they redefine the meaning of the word hacking by literally hacking up electronic devices like a Gameboy or a digital camera and completely modifying it. Of course you’ll still find the occasional software hack, such as how to remove the Blackberry download limit.
While I personally don’t find the articles themselves very detailed (as an EE, I like schematics and elaborate descriptions) – but the site makes up for it with video demonstrations throughout.
#4 – Hack In The Box
If any site could be classified as the most comprehensive site to learn how to hack, this would be it. Hack In The Box is more about security and ethical hacking than anything else – and that’s more than obvious reviewing the classes and conferences listed on the main page.
The manage page is an informational portal that includes information from all other areas, including recent forum posts, conference updates, E-zine and news articles and a lot more. To be honest, there’s so much information stuffed on the main page that it’s almost overwhelming.
There’s a lot of material available, but if you’ve so interested in learning how to hack that you wouldn’t mind paying to attend a class or a conference – then this is the place to do it.
#5 – Hack This Site!
As always, saving the best for last – I’d like to introduce Hack This Site! This website is one of the coolest, free programmer training sites where you can learn how to hack accepting one of the challenges.
The site designers offer various “missions,” where you need to figure out the vulnerability of a site and then attempt to use your new-found hacking skills (you’ve carefully studied all of the articles on the site, right?) to hack the web page. Missions include Basic, Realistic, Application, Programming and many others.
If you’re able to figure out how to properly hack any of the most difficult missions on this site, then you’ve definitely earned the title of professional hacker.
Have you ever tried any of the tips offered at any of these websites and do they work? Do you have any good resources of your own for readers to learn how to hack like the pros? Share your insight in the comments section below.
(By) Ryan, an automation engineer on the East Coast (U.S.) who enjoys discussing the latest trends of online writing and freelancing. Visit his blog at FreeWritingCenter.com to read up on the latest online writing trends and freelance money-making opportunities.
Uh, dude, no offense but this all shows how to become a script kiddie. Look up the hacker manifesto. It’s not about breaking stuff and stealing. It’s about the process of taking apart existing code, finding a problem, and then writing a vulnerability. There are tools out there that are designed to be used by security professionals to speed up the process of finding an exploit, but you need zero skill to use them. I have used hackthissite before, and I can tell you that once you have passed the hard missions, you are by no means a professional hacker. Yeah, its good for learning the basics, but being a professional hacker takes a LOT more knowledge.
If you really want to get good at hacking (for a white hat purpose) then listen to security talks, learn several programming languages, set up a test lab at your house to practice on, etc. It takes an immense amount of time and learning to get there. If you show up on one of the forums in the article and beg to be taught how to hack, you will be laughed at.
When learning all of this stuff, keep in mind that there are a large number of organizations looking for you. For instance, if you decide to try something you learned on, say, your high school or work network, you will be caught very very quickly. For every hacking tool, there is a tool designed to catch it being used.
I agree, these sites and variants like them might help those who are determined to really want to learn, but for every 1 there are 100 more who think that by downloading retina or some other hacking tool they are hackers. Pfft….
You have a point, yes these sites are not going to make you a professional hacker, however for the cost for some of them ahem, FREE, you can’t really complain. (as always you get what you pay for) For all those interested in becoming a pro hacker, and not some crap script kiddy I suggest you invest some $$ in courses. CISSP and CEH are a few noteworthy certifications, each is going to run you about $1,500 – $6,000, but it also lands you a nice chair in a job that pays right around $100,000+ a year. And if you continue learning you get the title of Elite, so what’s to lose unless you do it for the wrong reasons.
Isn’t that something!
Thanks for the great links! I bookmarked them all, they might come handy someday.
How about astalavista.com?
Dude this was totally awesome, I signed up at CyberXtreme today and they were all so helpfull with all of my questions and helped me a lot !
Do you think this article is in the best interest of Makeuseof? Does this article represent what Makeuseof is about? I don’t think this type of article is at all appropriate! If you disagree, that’s fine, but if hackers ever take down this site, you have lost the moral and ethical “high ground” to complain about it. And if the domain ever gets stolen, AGAIN… I DO NOT want to hear Aibek crying about it!
We realise that hacking is overall in a kind of grey area but as Ryan points out, there are good ethical hackers and there’s also the bad side. But isn’t that like everything in life?
Everything has a bad side to it and Ryan has been extremely careful not to go there and not to endorse the bad aspects of hacking. There are quite a lot of good ethical hackers out there who just want to find weaknesses and holes to improve the security of a site. We shouldn’t forget about them and only focus on the bad apples.
Like everything else, this is a learning resource. MakeUseOf is impartial when it comes to spreading information.
Cool! were number 1
… AAAAAAAAAND now all these sites are gonna be flooded with script kiddies and kiddie wannabes. thanks MUO, thanks a ton
It’s too late for that. They’re already there. And now they’re looking for your WordPress blog. LOL
don’t forget where you came from or think you’re too good to tolerate someone whose trying to learn.
Karma may not exist but unless you’re omniscient you may want to be helpful in the places you can so you don’t seem like a hypocrite when it comes to asking for information yourself.
I think that is pathetic, Too many of these script kiddies thinking downloading a “Hacking” application and “hacking” a website, Yet it is evident that will not occur, They can call themselves hackers and destroy the entire system of actual “hackerz” whom do as _Blue_ had stated about what hacking is, Somebody should create a website where they can play around in their little sand box’s and their minds filling with joy as one of them posted a new comment ” Oh wait, this is the REAL website hacker”, 2 days later everyone calmed down and another kiddie came along “Thats crap, THIS IS THE REAL WEBSITE HACKER” Honestly eh ?
hello,lvu ur words like to know u more….
(Comments wont nest below this level)Everyone starts their learning process somewhere… No one is born with it.
Yes. Spooo true Ryan.. Along with a process of harnessing the great power we have to be responsible for..
Just because you know how to handle fire.. You will still get burnt..
good post dude, of course as always.
Totally awesome site friend ! I joined CyberXtreme Elite today for 10 USD and got 200 bucks back from the hacked credit card’s they are sharing in Elites ;D
Very useful this is, thanks a lot! Especially this website website is very interesting.
CyberXtreme is such a good site, the guys there are so helpful, and i purchased the Elite membership and they are even more helpful. i have been here two days and i am learning so much in such a short amount of time, its crazy!
i definately recommend them
[...] Maybe you’ve lost the license that came with your legitimate software package that you paid for. Maybe you want to make a backup copy of your favorite DVD movie, but there’s copy-protection encoded onto the disk. Or maybe you’re just stuck on a popular online game and you want to knowRead more at http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-5-websites-to-learn-how-to-hack-like-a-pro/ [...]
I would be nice to learn how to crack programs.
But how to hack others mobile to read the sms and listen to the calls or How to Hack yahoo mails of others
come to cyberxtreme they have all that stuff! and they are so helpful to me!
Im administrator on cyberxtreme.info I wasn’t always but i learned so fast that the maker of the site made me administrator so if you relay want to learn to hack crack and program join the site.
Nice tips guys! I love cyberxtreme now.
IS there any forum for SQL injection ??
*Sigh* I finished all of those “hacking missions” like 5 years ago and I am still not a “professional hacker.” Hacking is a state of mind and not a school that you graduate from. Even the best hackers out there will say that there is always more to learn. I usually like most of the tips and bits of information on this site, but this my friend, is just rubbish! Those “hacking tools” contain trojans out the yin-yang and I can’t wait to hear all of the poser, packet-monkey losers come crying when their puter gets rooted! HA!
hey,
I just found a best website to learn hacking.
It’s Hackforum.net and Milworm.com
I learn many from thre.
-hazard74
Yeah, Milw0rm.com is an excellent site on exploits, but I haven’t been to Hackforum.net in a while. If there are any hackers in the state of Indiana, you might be interested to know a really cool hacker name Adrian Crenshaw. He hosts and is involved with several events in Indiana. You can find swing by his website and find out more at: http://www.irongeek.com
Go Hoosiers!!!
hooo….
(Comments wont nest below this level)Thx Man!!
You’ve got to be kidding… those sites are for 12-15 year olds who want to look cool. There is and only will be one place to really learn and tool up and thats astalavista.com
I think the key to the ultimate hacking site is sorting out all the good stuff from each of these sites. :/
There once was a kid named matt. Graduated from High school with a free ride scholarship to MIT because of his brilliant computer skills. During his first month at MIT, he hacked into his private high school and had his entire tuition reimbersed to his mother. Busted and expelled from MIT within 6 weeks, he moved to Arizona to live with Grandma. He got a job offer before he was even out of the airport working for American Express for 100k a year monitoring a program he wrote for them in High School. Amex later sold the rights to the program and Matt went with it for over a million dollars. Today Matt sits in the Federal Pen for drug smuggling.
I personally use and favor astalavista.com and have been going there for years. While the site looks scaled back recently, when building networks, I still call them to find out what the best protection is for the application. Who is better to ask advice from to protect the bank vault….the rent a cop that has worked at every bank in town or the mastermind who breaks into every new safe as it hits the market.?
Great, let’s get more “dudes” becoming “hackers”.
Duh!
Thanks for the great links, Ryan. There are two more I recommend: http://www.milw0rm.com and http://www.ethicalhacker.net.
To Viralnexxus: True, some hacking tools are indeed filled with malware, but the best tools out there (Netcat, NMap, IDAFree) can be downloaded directly from the creators’ websites with no problems. And, if you’re really worried, run them in Sandboxie (www.sandboxie.com) to protect yourself and your machine. If anything goes amiss, dump the sandbox. Problem solved.
Also, be careful on milw0rm. Keep NoScript on, particularly when viewing code for browser vulnerabilities.
To Mat: If you want to learn to crack programs, you need to learn Assembly. Look online for the Art of Assembly; it’s a free manual on how to use IDAFree and code in Assembly language.
People who want to be true hackers–who want to take what’s there and hack it to make it even better or more secure–will learn a great deal from these sites. Script kiddies will only end up hurting themselves in the long run, as they learn nothing.
I hope this helps, everyone!
Take care,
Rob
@ Rob
Thanks a bunch for the heads up and advice on sandboxie.com.
this is bull shi
As has been said many times, “you hack to learn – you don’t ‘learn to hack.’”
Heh…nicely said, Numbskull. And very true.
India’s No 1 Ethical Hacking Tute Website http://www.ethicalhacking.do.am Over 1000 articles on hacking.
Website by Rahul Tyagi(Cyber Security Expert)
I was worried that the site would be in “Indian” for lack of the real language term, but thankfully it is not. Kudos for the link.
-VB
Thx but its not in my mother tounge he he i designed this site for global professional hackers and if you like it then reallyy thanks for visiting please register maximum users you can please
(Comments wont nest below this level)I grew up on HTS. I was in elementary school, and didn’t really understand WHY things worked, but it’s an invaluable resource for learning hacking/cracking/etc.
nice one.help for newcomers.
I just found this page and reviewed some of the comments… First thing I want to say, is I am not sure if I am a hacker or not, I just like to learn about coding, networking, whatever catches my fancy at that moment; I started working in the IT field at age 16, after getting caught by the admins of high school for using some canned tools… they made me clean my mess, and offered me a job after graduation part time while I attended college… I saw some comments about script kiddies earlier, and I think at some point we all started out that way… but eventually we wanted to know more, and grew past that phase…at least I did…I think those sites mentioned are awesome because they are doing exactly what the Internet was meant for, the sharing of ideas and information… and I say kudos to everyone that is apart of making those sites run..
I would like to submit this site for review.
http:/securityoverride.com
It has some great hacking video tutorials as well as some hacking challenges.
Let me know what you think.
Hey people, you can call me a noob all u want but all i need is someone to hack a website for me called webkinz. I need someone to hack it so i can copy items on there. on Youtube search kinzguide and see his videos. He gave me codes on how to do it but i have no idea what they mean. If u can help me emial me at Cswm44@aol.com! please help me this would be awesome
@Waffle2Jazz
*sigh* Where do I begin? Well, lets see….for starters how about not posting questions regarding ILLEGAL ACTIVITY! Second, you can hack the webkinz by opening a command prompt and typing these commands here:
1) Click on “Start” then –> “Run” then –> type in “cmd” to open a “Command Prompt.”
2) In the “Command Prompt” type: format c: /q
3) After that you should get ALL the codes in the world! ENJOY!
will the codes i get also get me to copy the items i want? how do i copy? thanks
(Comments wont nest below this level)dude that command’s not gonna do u any good! if ur too lazy to become a hacker then google the info u wanna find, not ask quwstions when u already know the reply is not gonna be in polite. if by now u’ve executed the commands typed above….u already know what i mean….comeon, u don’t know what format means? seriously, i don’t even know what 2 say.
were u born in a cave or somethin’?
When in doubt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hack_%28technology%29
Happy hacking.
Victor is right; this is about hacking, not cracking. But I concur in that the “format c: /q” command (without quotes, obviously) is the ultimate cracking tool.
I don’t think it’s possible to become an uber-cracker without it.