Why Do we hack? Illusion ________________________________________________________________________ Why do we hack? Why? The big question. Why do we, as a hacker community, hack? It has given thousands an undeserved bad name and put thousands in jail. Yet we persist. We continue this insane crusade of hacking!! I will incite you, as a hacker, and others, from the non hacking community, into the mind of a hacker. It starts in grade school. We all started with something. For some it was an apple II and yet for others it was DOS 5.x with win 3.1 installed over it. No one knew anything. All we did was play games or browse folders. Then came the internet. Holy shit! I can talk to people across the world! I can be whoever / whatever I want to be. All I have to do is type! Then I heard of a hacker. Now what's this. A hacker...at that time "hacker" wasn't such a bad name. It was still mainly used for programmers who "hack" at code until its perfect. I didn't know who or what a hacker was all I knew was that it sounded interesting. It started with simple script kiddy stuff. You basic sub7 or you simple virri. This didn't take much. All I would do is take the disk to the target.....plug it in and presto. Go home and I can access their comp. Ahhhh......real elite. Then you read. I think all hackers are born good readers. You read about programs called telnet and ftp. What's this? I can do all this stuff without having to pop in a disk? Wow. You start playing around with these tools. You learn about ports and their weaknesses. You learn about basic password cracking and finding ways around them. Its still real simple stuff. Then comes the glory. You crack your first system. Everyone can remember. Its a thrill of a lifetime. I remember calling my friend and telling him how I did it. It was my school. We had lots of fun with that school. Learning more and more each time you signed online. I think that's why we do it. Why we commit ourselves to do this crime. I have talked to a countless number of hackers and they all agree. Some people say its the quest for knowledge. And yes I agree. It is. I always love learning something new and then trying it out. Everyone has been there. Staying up till 2 AM so you can finish reading the article. I hope that this has showed a little bit into a hackers mind. For a hacker is misunderstood. No one is out there to be malicious and cruel but they are out there for the thrill and the knowledge. With this I hope that you understand the hacker better......for it is not us that is the criminal but you. ~~ILLUSION