Why Do I Want to Be a Hacker? (For Newbies) 2017

So I read another article here lately and it was going over understanding why anyone would want to be a hacker. So after this, I started thinking, I have been committing 5-6 hours a day on learning hacking stuff but seem to be learning nothing. Then it came to me I needed to learn 2 things first. These two things would help me see my path to becoming a hacker.

First thing first and I won't go into too much about this as there are tons of articles on the internet that cover this. Why do I want to be a hacker? To be honest, at first, it was Hollywood. I wanted to hack because it looked cool on tv and I mean who doesn't want that type of power at their fingertips. The ability to hack an ATM or spy on your neighbors and the list goes on but let us be honest most of the things you see in movies are illegal and I doubt many or you would look good in orange. This whole time I'm researching and still waiting for an answer to the question of why I want to be a hacker. Why am i spending time on this? Then it clicked I knew why but first I had to learn something else.

The second issue would lead to my understanding of why I wanted to be a hacker in the first place which will allow me to even further my knowledge and have a better understanding of why I want to Hack. I started hacking 6 months ago id say and it has not been easy, but hey what fun is easy. I have been reading books, watching videos, reading articles on Nullbyte and using my laptop for hands on learning. Even spending hours a day doing this and handling my own life I felt like I was wasting my time. It wasn't until the last 2 weeks that I started to realize I had way more progress than I thought.

I was with a friend while he was getting tattooed and the artist had issues with her phone and her card payment reader. She started asking questions and I started replying feeling confident in my answers knowing that if I came across something I didn't know I wouldn't fake it and come up with something. Like any real hacker should, I looked it up and started researching to help resolve the issue. The following week I had someone ask me to go over their PC and see if I could see any vulnerabilities. I showed up with my EDC bag and had all my tools and started to pick away at anything I have learned that might be a way for someone to get into their PC. I checked their phone, tablets router and whatever else. While doing this I explained many of the ways I have learned about to get into someone's life without their knowledge. This made them uneasy at first but I assured them that with being aware they could start being more careful. That I'm sure gave them some comfort knowing they can start taking control of their lives. Are they 100% safe? No, no one is 100% safe but if you're not pissing off the wrong people and being a douche you're likely not going to get hacked just be careful.

It was after all this that I started to notice I knew more than I thought I was to the point that I could start helping people even if it was only at a basic level. Was I running full-scale pen test? God no but I was helping and that was good enough for me. I was using all that knowledge I had learned in the past months to make a difference in others lives. I was applying my knowledge. This lead to me answering the other question. Why do I want to be a hacker? Let's be honest Hollywoods version of hacking was unrealistic and I felt silly for that being why I wanted to do this and would likely be called out by the real hackers. It was in those two weeks that I decided. I wanted to be a hacker to help others. Not everyone is going to be good at PC stuff and it falls on us the ones that can learn and understand to use our power and knowledge to help those around us.

Now here I am writing my first article, something I never thought I would be doing let alone on one of my favorite websites. I honestly can't wait to write more hoping I can appeal to the newbies here and help them find a path of their own. I hope this story has or will help you on your way to becoming a hacker or even reminding yourself why you hack in the first place.