My 9 Daily Habits to Become Pro Hackers
Learning to hack is an important part of Ethical hacking, and it is required to go beyond performing security vulnerability assessments. Hacking is the part of Ethical hacking that makes it so attractive to those wanting to become Ethical hacking. Hacking skills are best developed through hands-on experience and repetition, and as you develop your knowledge and hacking skills, you will build your base knowledge of vulnerabilities and how to exploit them.
1. Build Hacker Mindset
An important part of becoming a pentester is developing the hacker mindset, which is the ability to think like a hacker and be able to find ways to exploit vulnerabilities.
The hacker mindset is a culmination of creative and analytical thinking. Developing this mindset is like learning how to troubleshoot. Installing software or hardware can be easy and straightforward, but when you run into problems and must work through those problems, you learn how to troubleshoot.
When you find a vulnerability and try to exploit it, the exploit might not work. Not all exploits work all of the time, and you must work through the options or try other exploits. You learn to put together different exploits to help you reach the goal of the information you are trying to access.
This might require admin or root level access to accomplish, or you may function just as a regular user would, but you must work through the vulnerability until you have exhausted all possibilities.
Not all vulnerabilities are exploitable, but you need to ensure that they can’t be exploited. The hacker mindset takes time and repetition to develop, and it is best developed by hands-on hacking experience.
2. Reading A Brief History of hacking
As you start on your journey to becoming an ethical hacker, it would be useful to understand the history of hacking as a discipline. An understanding of history always helps as you acquire a new area of expertise. History teaches us about the successes and failures of the past so that we can learn from mistakes and go with what works.
As long as time is linear, the past always affects the present and future! A knowledge of computer science is important for understanding cybersecurity, but so is a grasp of the humanities. Frankly, the history of computing is fascinating, and knowing a bit of it will help you as a hacker.
3. Relaxation
It’s interesting to note that relaxing — by meditating or simply avoiding distractions — is another of the most-often mentioned habits of successful people and for hackers.
Of course, relaxation comes more easily to those who are organized, so perhaps for some, it is more of a natural byproduct than a conscious decision.
It may also be that the act of “taking a breath” is the successful and hacker person’s way of preparing for the effort yet to come. In fact, one of the first steps toward achieving a meditative or relaxed state is to concentrate on your own breathing for three to five minutes.
4. Act Analytically: Organize, Plan and Take Action
Critical analysis is man’s true best friend. Say what you want about the thumb separating beast from man, knowing where to put it has always been a vital facet of our journey from ape-hood. If you apply that same problem-solving aptitude to the issues, you encounter daily, you’re bound to find results.
When confronted with a hurdle, you wouldn’t just run at it blindly. Sit back and take the time to work out the height of the problem you face, and which foot you should be jumping off. Planning is instrumental in the story of all success. Making it a habit is a huge step in realizing that success for yourself.
5. Networking
Successful hackers know the value of exchanging ideas with others through networking. They also know the value of collaboration and teamwork — all of which are likely when you network.
Successful hackers know the importance of surrounding themselves with other successful people, according to author Thomas Corley. Corley says 79% of wealthy people spend at least five hours a month networking
6. Learn something new every day
The end of school does not mean the end of learning. We are learning all the time, even if we are not aware of it. Life gives the best lessons of all, and it constantly teaches us lessons no one ever could. If you open up to the wonder of growing and learning, even if the lessons are something you never wanted to learn, you will keep moving in a forward direction.
7. 15–20 minutes of Self Focused Thinking a day
Taking a little break from the intense over-sensory world we live in is an essential habit in almost every success guide we came across. Creating a calm space where you can engage in the kind of deep thought that is necessary to make a real change to yourself will pay off tenfold in a year.
LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner regularly tweets about his love of meditation, suggesting the practice allows him to strategies and work proactively. “Part of the key to time management is carving out time to think, as opposed to constantly reacting,” Weiner said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
While brushing this aside to make time for others may feel more ‘productive’ in the short term, it’s a quick road to burnout. In life, much like on aero planes, you need to help yourself before you’re able to help anyone else.
8. Share your knowledge
Being successful hacker means, you obviously have a piece of deep knowledge of your field. What better way to use this knowledge than to share it with others? Successful hackers are often natural leaders and a way to truly embrace this knowledge is to give it to others.
9. Positive Attitude
According to many successful hackers, having a positive attitude is not just a result of being successful — it’s one of the root causes of success.
Joel Brown refers to gratitude and positive self-talk as priorities in the lives of the ultra-successful. Moreover, Brown says, it’s not enough to express gratitude and a positive attitude. You must also remind yourself why you are grateful in order to achieve a deeper effect.
Honestly, nothing is impossible if you really put in the effort! What a lot of people don’t see is the amount of time you have to spent learning and teaching yourself new things, the countless late nights you can spent reading blogs or hacking boxes in Hack the Box, and the amount of effort you can put in to become the best you can be.
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