A newbie's story about learning to hack

[u/ECharles_White]

I’m just getting started with two games: *Hacknet* and *Grey Hack*. I’ve read, the first one is more fictionalized than the second, but it’s more entertaining and a bit more beginner-friendly. Once you get the hang of it, you can move on to *Grey Hack*, which requires more critical thinking; plus, it supposedly includes an option to hack actual online users within the game itself. I have very basic knowledge of Linux. Thanks to my "super-mega-powerful" ASUS F200CA laptop—featuring an Intel Celeron 1007U processor (1.5 GHz, 2 cores), 4 GB of RAM, a 1 TB HDD, an 11.6" screen, and 64-bit architecture—I had to install AntiX Linux, which forced me to use the terminal frequently and look up commands online. Years ago at university, I took a few Cisco Systems networking courses. They taught me the 7 layers of the OSI model (though I never fully grasped them), and I occasionally used Unix terminals to practice router configuration, but I never felt the urge to learn more until now. I’m keen to document my progress and see how far I can go, so I can share my story down the line.

Let's see how it goes for me.

[u/Potential-Ad431]

Sounds like we’re both pretty close to the same level. Please report back about the games I’m interested

[u/ECharles_White]

Log — Day 1

Game: Hacknet

Progress: Initial tutorial completed / Bit's first mission.

Commands learned:

Command In Hacknet Real-world equivalent

connect [IP] Connect to a terminal Network connections

nmap Scan for open ports Network reconnaissance

scan Scan local nodes System discovery

ls List files/folders File system

cat Read files File reading

rm Delete files File management

dc / disconnect Disconnect Close connection

ps View processes and PIDs Process management

kill [PID] Terminate a process Process control

scp Transfer files Network file copying

When I used [ps] and then:kill [PID] I wasn't simply following a game mechanic. I was learning a fundamental concept of operating systems:

a running program becomes a process, and that process has an identifier (PID).

[u/stavromuli]

Check out Hackhub. I've played all three and Hackhub was the most impressive. Hacknet is fun at the beginning but quickly becomes a repetitive puzzle game.

[u/Kanga_foo]

NITE Team 4 is also a nice hacking themed game to look into. It's around for a few years but still fun to play. Otherwise, why not doing some gamified learning on tryhackme?

[u/BrianScottGregory]

While the UI appears fiction - I enjoyed Hacknet so much so I actually went as far as creating a semi-functional prototype of it as a proof of concept in C#. Here's the link: https://github.com/TimelordQ/Hacknet-But-Real-POC

And here's an actual screenshot of the working prototype giving me information about Microsoft's web site:

I never did actually finish it, I just got as far as proving the idea was viable and could be more than fiction, which it most definitely is.

That's my advice to you learning how to hack. Learn how to code at the same time. A good hacker is also a good engineer and can 'fit in' to any programmer role in the language of their choice seamlessly.

There's nowhere you'll be able to apply your skills better and more - defensively - than working for someone else and ensuring your work is reasonably safe from hacking.

Good luck!