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What does a hacker really do and how do they act in real life? I hope my intentions are not misunderstood; I'm interested in educating myself about it because I want to write a story about hackers, but I don't want to fall into ridiculous stereotypes or write the characters as if they were script kiddies. I know about programming and hardware, but I don't know how these people act to achieve their goals. Thank you in advance and sorry for the inconvenience.(USER WAS WARNED FOR THIS POST, You should always elaborate on your opinions rather than just spilling the soykaf.)

>I hope my intentions are not misunderstood; of course friend we're all understanding

>>83152 Sorry, I'm not a native speaker and that was the first word I remembered for "not having bad intentions." I'm sorry for my poor word choice.

Obviously typing at a command prompt in a dark room while wearing a hoodie. More seriously Mitnick's activities have been widely documented and are rather entertaining. Although the technologies and protocols changed a lot since then.

>>83151 > What does a hacker really do and how do they act in real life? > I know about programming and hardware, but I don't know how these people act to achieve their goals. Very secretive, rather paranoid. Generally, every hacker that has been caught works to ensure that people in their lives don't know about their hacking. To the people online (or occasionally, in person) they go by whatever alias they are using at the time; otherwise they go by their birth name or standard identity. The song "Ten Crack Commandments" by The Notorious B.I.G ha s some guidelines on this, funnily enough. It may be a bit cliche, but think of the Dark Army members and foot soldiers from the show Mr. Robot, Irving in particular. To everyone around him he looks like a wholesome, if a bit corny, used car salesman, but those who work with him know that he's cold blooded and ruthless. His salesman personality bleeds through a bit when he's running tasks for the Dark Army, but this just serves to humanize him. Watch Mr. Robot. Note that not every hacker shown is sullen and withdrawn and wearing a black hoodie like Elliot, most of them are normal people who hack in their free time. Note the opsec measures they take and the mistakes that they make. Phineas Fisher published several guides on hacking and methodology that are worth a read: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/category/author/phineas-fisher This is a wonderful video on the opsec of a (former) dark net vendor, on the steps he took to anonymize himself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01oeaBb85Xc The long and short of it is, a disposable machine, Tails, and a long-range antenna to use someone else's connection from a mile or so off. Still very much worth a watch. This is another wonderful video on Romanian scammers with very good opsec (not good enough, if they're being talked about) and their setup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXmZnU2GdVk This is an article from Wired on Marcus Hutchins, a hacker who helped prevent the WannaCry worm from spreading. It goes into some detail on his day to day life (lots of time at the computer, focus enhancing drugs, etc.) https://www.wired.com/story/confessions-marcus-hutchins-hacker-who-saved-the-internet/ Finally, the Lainzine has some stories I like, about an anon who runs honeypots to stay up to date on hackers. https://lainzine.org/all-releases/lainzine05/GHOSTS_IN_THE_SHELL.pdf https://lainzine.org/all-releases/lainzine04.pdf ("Hunter Eat Hunter" story) I wish you the best in your writing. Would you consider posting your story here when you're done?

>>83155 Thank you so much! I will investigate more about him. >>83158 Thank you very, very much for the complete answer! These resources will be very helpful. Thanks a lot! > I wish you the best in your writing. Thank you! I will do my best. > Would you consider posting your story here when you're done? Sure! I wouldn't mind sharing it; although I will probably post it on a site dedicated to publishing stories, as it will be a long one (anonymity is not my priority, I use chans more for convenience than anything else), but I don't want the community and/or moderation to think I'm spamming in the form of self-promotion. If they don't have a problem, I wouldn't mind sharing my work once it's finished.

A thousand apologies, I just saw the warning. I must apologize, I mean it. I suppose it was because certain slang I used, or maybe this is a sensitive topic. Whatever it was the reason, I truly apologize for the inconvenience. I can't use my poor English as an excuse since it's my duty to investigate more about the rules of this chan. I'm really sorry. Anyway, thank you very much for just giving me a warning and not silencing me for a rookie mistake, I really mean it. The truth is that there are already several sites that censor me arbitrarily just for a mistake that may have been corrected, but I do not want to get out of the subject, a thousand apologies for that rant. This will not happen again. If you see fit, feel free to delete this thread.

>>83207 Don't worry about it, many perfectly fine threads get that "warning". If a thread is actually a problem it will get deleted or locked.

>>83208 Thank you so much for the clarification. The last thing I want to do is bring bad vibes to this board. I hope you are doing awesome!

>>83214 Stop apologising and just elaborate more in your replies regarding the topic / question you wanted to discuss in your OP, because your OP didn't elaborate on What you define as a hacker ? Do you mean the hacker culture definition in the Jargon file ? Or do you mean the computer criminal definition you see in the media ? Or do you just mean someone whose day job is offensive computer security and exploit development ? What you define as real life ? Do you mean people's offline physical life ? Or their online digital life or something else ? What you meant by the word act ? When you use the word act ? Are you asking about what their actual actions are ? Or are you asking about the actions they take to have operational security in various contexts ? You say you want to write a story about hackers, but you don't elaborate on what type of story or what type of characters ? You don't mention what other fiction and non fiction you have watched or read to give you an answer to your question, so we don't know if we should recommend certain books or media to help. That lack of elaboration is why your opening post got warned, not the slang or the topic. It isn't enough to ask a question or have a one line sentence as a discussion without mentioning what you have already tried as answers to the question and why you are asking it. References like http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html and https://www.wikihow.com/Ask-a-Question-Intelligently , give examples of how to ask questions better, but what Lainchan's Rule 4 primarily seeks is that your elaborate (say more then just the what) when you post. And yes the other poster is correct, plenty of opening posts that don't elaborate get warned, and the thread stays open, and people elaborate and frame the discussion in the replies to the opening post and everything is fine. The warning is more your replies in this thread and your next opening post as reminder to elaborate.

>>83216 Thank you very, very much for this detailed clarification and for taking the time to write it; I say this with all the sincerity in the world. After reading your answer, I realize that I don't even have a clear idea of what I'm going to write... sort of. Originally, I wanted to do a cyberpunk story, but I don't know if the genre works being merely written (and I suck at drawing). After some deliberation, I want to write a world like the one George Orwell's brilliant mind came up with in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. Ergo Proxy is also a great inspiration source. However, what encouraged me to try to carry out my idea was a game called Quadrilateral Cowboy; it's about hackers for hire and the objective is to carry out missions that are given to you. I've planned for the protagonist to be a mediocre hacker-for-hire (the kind who does DDoS or steals email accounts) who then gets involved in dangerous political affairs. I had planned for that world to be dominated by an A.I. that went crazy (like SHODAN from System Shock). I initially wanted to make a game, but I don't know... I'm hesitant about my own programming skills (that and my computer is a potato). I probably still have to plan it better. I am very grateful for the help I have been given.

>>83217 Question: Are there any things that really bother you about society today? Any dark roads you see us going down? The things that bother you probably bother others (or will, in a few years time). Cyberpunk-for-cyberpunk's sake (or dystopia-for-dystopia's sake) stories are a dime a dozen, and tend to be extremely forgettable. Say what you see, and people will either be happy to see someone else understands, or enjoy a perspective they hadn't yet considered.

>>83219 > Are there any things that really bother you about society today? Several things actually. I could express them in a polite manner without the need to resort to profanity, vulgar slang or ad hominem attacks, but if I do I will go completely off-topic. > Any dark roads you see us going down? A few, but my opinions are probably biased and I tend to expose them only when I am explicitly asked to do so. However, I do think long and hard before publishing anything online; the truth is that, at this point, I am really afraid of web censorship. When I say 'censorship', I don't mean being able to spew racist, homophobic, xenophobic, etc. slang or insult anyone who tries to engage me in conversation. Rather, I am referring to not being able to express an opinion or ask a question, seeking a cordial and pleasant debate in which both parties can nurture each other. Not to mention creative freedom... but I'm already ranting nonsensically, sorry about that.

>>83223 Don't apologize! The questions were rhetorical. I'm trying to get you to think about theme and worldbuilding a little, so you have a clearer idea of *what* you want to write. To take "disliking web censorship" as an example (I'm not saying this is the thing you should write about; I'm sure you've got more complex and interesting concerns, too). You could: >Have the protagonist watch an online discussion vanish a soon as it begins. >Write characters are all insulated, incurious and dull from living under censorship. Have basic questions like "Are you sure that's true?" or "What do you think life is all about?" either confuse or anger them. >Have the hacker's desire for knowledge lead them to more and more serious black-hatting, all the way to the top. >Balkanize the setting; have it dangerous to go against a given clique's dogma while you're in their territory. >Have the AI be a bot originally made to keep discussions civil, and/or be deliberately pitting people against each other with information manipulation to achieve it's own ends.

>>83234 All of the scenarios you raise sound extremely interesting. To tell the truth, sometimes I doubt if I will be able to write something with a relevant message at least. I'm going to do a little brainstorming to organize my ideas better and decide if I make it written or if I take the bull by the horns and make it a game (I've been wanting to experiment with Pygame for a while). I thank you very, very much for taking the trouble to share your time and knowledge with me. I wish you all the best!

>>83151 A year and a half later, and you still haven't began writing?? https://lainchan.org/sec/res/22322.html

>>83305 That's the bad thing about anonymous image boards: It is very easy to get the wrong person (although any regular user will have noticed that I tend to use an alias, I could care less about anonymity). Nope. I'm not the person who made that thread. Although I have to admit that I'm in a difficult situation: Either I start writing fantasy, or I start looking for a job. My life is like that confusion between whether you need to go to the toilet or it's just a fart; and most of the time it's actual sh*t.

>>83151 they mostly probably work for an intelligence agency in one form or another. or they're paid pentesters.

>>83151 Read war stories and watch conference vids! I recommend this video about darknet OPSEC => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01oeaBb85Xc

>>83151 this exact same image was in a cybersecurity lecture I went to on Monday, are we on the same course lol?

>>83366 nevermind, I read the date of the OP wrong

it seemed to be the most plausible moment to quoting this, so... >One day she asks me, “You know why nobody knows who I am?” >“Because I never got caught,” she says. “All the best hackers, all the best phreakers in the world, we don’t know who they are because they never got arrested. And they never went to prison. This is why you don’t know who the best ones in the world are. This is the truth. Think about it.” https://www.theverge.com/c/22889425/susy-thunder-headley-hackers-phone-phreakers-claire-evans

>>83151 In real life they sell out to big corporations and do exactly what they're told or they get killed fuarrrking around with state actors or big companies. The in between is the hobbyist who does whateve rhe wants with his small hobby projects

OP is the politest fuarrrking guy I've ever seen on the internet

http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/

>>83151 >hair constantly covers face >never speaks >uses Tails (not qubes and also not kali, maybe whonix) >uses emacs or vim >calls proprietary software malware >1 shower per week and generally the worst hygiene imaginable >hoodie >either a tranny or skinny sleep deprived white guy or extremely jacked or looks like rms, no middle ground Honestly Mr Robot was the most accurate depiction I have seen, but the schizo part should be less actual schizo and more security schizo where they think that the CIA/FBI cares about them (and maybe they are right)

>>83806 >be me >security schizo >actually knows about security >intelligence agencies are actually trying to find me >total NEET >pretending to be deaf-mute >they're not trying to get me for any crimes, they just want to hire me >keep sending me referrals and job apps >i don't want to work i think it would get 2 seasons

>>83372 Seems like this person mostly did social engineering. That's so lame. Social engineers shouldn't be considered hackers, they're con artists, and even if their methods are effective, being a manipulative sociopath will never be as cool as technical skill. There's nothing to admire in it, no honour or wonder.