Do you think you’re a hacker? Have you ever wondered, like me, what exactly makes you different from others? I have been thinking about listing down the differences and finally got a chance to put down my thoughts into this post today.
I grouped into 3 categories and the points doesn’t follow any particular order.
Attitude
1. Never ending curiosity to dig till the bottom
Be it in learning or testing something, you don’t give up until you succeed. If your mind catches something, you don’t leave it until you understand how exactly that works, in detail.
2. A great observer
You give attention to all the tiny things and spot the minute difference immediately.
Behaviour
3. Different
You like to be identified different. Zero is always ‘O’ to you. You like to be in shorts with flip-flops. You have messy hair on your head or a long beard. You wear a strange bracelets or a chain. May be addicted to cigarettes or an alcoholic.
4. A tech nerd
You like the open source softwares. You know how exactly permissions work in Linux. You understand how TCP/IP protocol works. You are pretty sure about all the minute details in a client-server communication. You rooted, jailbroke your old phone & have set up 2FA on all important online accounts. Use a high-end computer and like to have a good collection of gadgets.
5. Care about your privacy
You always fake your mobile number & name at the billing counter. You worry about getting your personal data mis-used. You use fake social accounts. You have an internet nickname, which you use it on the online forums. You don’t like that negative comment about you on social media. You Google your name to see what’s there online about you.
Habits
6. Extremely good with keyboard
You prefer using keyboard over a mouse. Master of all the keyboard shortcuts. Love to type. Fast in typing commands on a black screen and press the enter key hard!
7. Online life
Online all the time. Twitter is more important to you than facebook. You follow popular personalities online, blogs and forums. When you come across something you are not sure, you Google that immediately. You feel breathless when your internet is down or your computer is corrupted. Your bandwidth consumption crosses 100 GB each month.
8. More expressive
You are proud about what you do & like to showcase your milestones on social media. You like chatting with your other tech nerds online than talking over the phone. You keep updating your blog, maintain a personal website. Feel happy helping your online friend who shares the same interest.
9. Mad about a movie character
You like that character. Be it the joker in batman or IronMan. You make it your wallpaper. You use the name in signing up with some useless online accounts. Mr.Robot is your favorite TV series and you see yourself in Eliot character.
10. Find anything and anyone!
You can find any information you want. Advanced Googling, effectively using online communities, finding the right torrentz, find anybody on facebook or linked-in. You are good at mind reading.
You are self taught. You didn’t start asking someone how to become to a hacker. You figured it out yourself. You found the underground black forums, InfoSec communities, making bucks from bug bounty programs, all yourself.
That’s all I could point it for now. Got some point, which is not here? Comment what you think..