Starting out

[daseinuncanny]

Hi all,
I guess the subsequent question is kind of open ended so I'll try to start with what kind of stuff i'd like to learn more about: encryption/decryption, circumventing firewalls/about firewalls in general, data protection and the accessing of protected data. Also I'm curious about the theory of DOS attacks but I realize that might be a sketchy topic.

right now i have the option to take some intro computer science classes. Since i have no experience coding i figured that this could be a good way to start to learn(the class teaches java). Is this the case or would my time be better spent learning in different ways?

Let me just disclaim that I'm only interested in this stuff as knowledge for the sake of knowledge and I certainly don't intend to do anything malicious

Thanks
d

[pretentious]

i'll go unorthodox and throw out some words you can google:
cryptography: cryptographic hash, salt, one time pad, one way funciton, brute force attack, dictionary attack, rainbow tables
if you're using windows i recommend you get cain and able and play with it

firewalls: not too learned in this but i know of hardware and software firewalls
protecting/accessing data: dunno about this but check out truecrypt

DOS: ddos, ping, ping of death(historical reference ) i think LOIC is probably worth looking into

If you need any help with Java, give me a shout, though my personal preference would be to expand your programming language vocab as soon as you get comfy. I went from self taught C++ to a year of Java at uni, dive back into C++ and it was terrifying, but then again, i'm still a bit of a newbie, so take with a grain of salt

-- Wed Jan 18, 2012 2:26 am --

i'll go unorthodox and throw out some words you can google:
cryptography: cryptographic hash, salt, one time pad, one way funciton, brute force attack, dictionary attack, rainbow tables
if you're using windows i recommend you get cain and able and play with it

firewalls: not too learned in this but i know of hardware and software firewalls
protecting/accessing data: dunno about this but check out truecrypt

DOS: ddos, ping, ping of death(historical reference ) i think LOIC is probably worth looking into

If you need any help with Java, give me a shout, though my personal preference would be to expand your programming language vocab as soon as you get comfy. I went from self taught C++ to a year of Java at uni, dive back into C++ and it was terrifying, but then again, i'm still a bit of a newbie, so take with a grain of salt

[centip3de]

Hi all,
I guess the subsequent question is kind of open ended so I'll try to start with what kind of stuff i'd like to learn more about: encryption/decryption, circumventing firewalls/about firewalls in general, data protection and the accessing of protected data. Also I'm curious about the theory of DOS attacks but I realize that might be a sketchy topic.

right now i have the option to take some intro computer science classes. Since i have no experience coding i figured that this could be a good way to start to learn(the class teaches java). Is this the case or would my time be better spent learning in different ways?

Let me just disclaim that I'm only interested in this stuff as knowledge for the sake of knowledge and I certainly don't intend to do anything malicious

Thanks
d

I lot of this can be easily found on Google, which you will soon learn is your best friend. I highly doubt there is any DOS theory, it's pretty much a last ditch effort to take down a server. It's like sending you lots of mail until you're mailbox is full and can no longer accept new, legitimate, mail. This is the attempt the 'hacking' group Anonymous uses, because the majority of them don't know shit. Anywho, I would suggest you go and take those computer science classes as it'll help you understand quite a bit more.

[daseinuncanny]

thanks, pretentious, i'll probably take you up on that java help offer

thanks, centip3de. You mentioned that DOS are last ditch attempts to take down a server, what "field" would this kind of thing fall into? Like, what should i google if I wanted to learn more about the other strategies to take down a server?

[centip3de]

thanks, pretentious, i'll probably take you up on that java help offer

thanks, centip3de. You mentioned that DOS are last ditch attempts to take down a server, what "field" would this kind of thing fall into? Like, what should i google if I wanted to learn more about the other strategies to take down a server?

The field would be just general Internet based hacking.