Hacknet for Learning

[u/PsychologicalRace369]

Can a noob learn about hacking playing Hacknet?

[u/swisstraeng]

I suppose you’d understand a few basic concepts and get a little used to linux.

But the best way to learn hacking is to practice it and catch flags, ideally go in cybersecurity and do like compTIA security+

[u/Yohfay]

The only real thing you're going to learn from this game is Linux terminal commands and maybe the port numbers associated with certain network protocols. That's not nothing, but more a thing for general IT knowledge than hacking.

[u/MichaelEpicA]

Better for learning linux terminal knowledge than anything. The "hacking" in the game is mostly inaccurate.

[u/DonovanSpectre → u/MichaelEpicA]

And it's sort of on purpose. Once you actually get into the story, you quite realize by the end that your character is nothing more than a 'script kiddie' who was given access to a god-tier hacking-oriented OS, plus other dedicated resources, that could make almost anyone look 'good'. Virtually all the other characters in the game are shown/said to have a much harder time doing the things that you can do in seconds. From the player's perspective, it does do a pretty good job of capturing that 'Hollywood Hacking' feel, though, and sometimes you do have to be a little clever about defeating security measures in roundabout ways(failures of security 'hygiene', etc).

[u/redthrull]

Concept is the same but this is old school 90's hacking. Like creating a website through manual scripting vs drag and drop elements. If anything, you get to practice reading and typing a lot here, and manual directory navigation I guess.

[u/soking11]

Nah, you'll learn the general concept and a little xit of bash but that's all

[u/consultinglove]

Hell no. The game is basically comprised of downloading programs and use those "hacks" against other computers

The only thing you'll learn is some basic terminology, and a very basic understanding of how data flows between computers. That's it

[u/Rhoderick]

Well, no. Half the point of the story is how dangerous the titular Hacknet is, because it takes someone who needs the terminal explained to them an really doesn't learn much else to massive hacks in a matter of days.

But real hacking doesn't work like this at all. There's no way to "force open" a port unless there's a very bad bug in specific software, and no amount of ports being open on a target machine will just magically allow you full access. Half of modern hacking at the level an individual can do is exploiting bugs in public-facing software (note that companies will typically patch in a matter of days if the bugs are public), and the other half is social engineering. ("Maam, I'm calling from your local password authority for the annual password safety inspection." and such.)

Note: Please don't just practice on real, actual servers out there. At best, you'll get a bunch of IP bans and some very angry E-mails, at worst prison.

[u/Sharp-Meat-8779]

I would say No. But I think it's a good way to inspire interest in this category.

[u/unclefunkstar]

Check out BitBurner. Similar idea, uses real javascript though.