It can't be said better than this:"We are the undesirables of society."

Now that we have that out of the way I can continue to explain. 'Hacking' is not a modern game, it is a human instinct to test the rules that bind our world together. The basic driving instinct to see how things work and make them better.

If you hack for malicious purposes, as a service, or for your own personal development and education, the same rule still applies. Average-Joe hates hackers, he'll call us criminals, he'll warn people about us, and he'll take every opportunity to blame us for anything he can.

We can't call Joe our enemy, but more of a potential asset. Now the title of this article is 'The Modern Marauder' for a reason, this is exactly what we are. We are those with no home, no place to rest, no culture to claim as our own. A marauder is a wanderer and in the same sense so are we. Now just as in the days of old before any of us were born, marauders are considered outcasts, dangerous by public opinion and we will never change this. Joe will NEVER like us. Just deal with that early. However... We can make our own choice... To make Joe right or wrong.

With this in mind, consider your origin... Contemplate on where you come from... And now... Forget it. We exist within our own would, a gray world where we all exist as equals with an equal goal. What is this goal you might ask? Knowledge. The one basic motive that drives any marauder is a need to feed. As the marauders of old, we also need to feed ourselves. Nourish our minds, and once all of our resources are gone we will move on.

After all the secrets are discovered and all of the laws are written we will move on to the next fertile place. Now with this in mind: I suggest you think...

Do you learn so that you can hack...
Or do you hack so that you can learn...?

For the sake of clarity since my target group for this article is newbie hackers, we'll only consider blackhats and whitehats for now. In later articles I will go into detail about the other internal 'groups.' Bluehats, Greyhats... Hell even Pinkhats.

Now this is where the oil and water splits.

A blackhat by definition is a malicious hacker that uses his knowledge for destructive purposes with little regard to those he attacks.

A whitehat is a hacker that uses his knowledge to inform others of what he has learned, and discover new security loops so that he may help fix them.

Now that you have a basic understanding of what a white/blackhat is, you can consider what your goal is. As I stated early in this article, we are all on the same boat, whitehats and blackhats, we are the 'undesirables' of society. A hacker is a hacker is a hacker.

Now to come back in sight with my original point...

We are indeed wanderers. And as wanderers we are more weary than other people. Joe is a dangerous man, he fears what he does not know and he will act on that fear ignorantly whenever possible. There are a few rules to hacking that I would like to mention, the basic ethics that we all live by:

#1- Never get caught. Governments give no leniency to hackers, no bias for age, gender, race, or intent. Hacking(unless done on your own network.) Is in all senses illegal.

#2- Never attempt to hack a government system. They have the resources and time and WILL dedicate it to tracing you. With the given exception of certain university sites, networks, and systems.

#3- Never leave any of your personal information, name, callsign, phone number, or anything else traceable on any system or network you hack. You WILL be putting yourself in danger if you do.

#4- Hacking is NOT for bragging rights, there will always be someone better than you out there, and believe me they tend to be around when you decide to brag about something.

#5- If you make this a job before you make it an interest you will be miserable. If you don't enjoy learning this isn't cut out for you.

These are guidelines I try to live by at all times. For the safety of myself. And I say myself only because you are utterly... and ultimately... Alone. No one will go down with you if you are caught. No one will be a hero for you.

To conclude this article: Be the modern marauder, he ever moving and ever looking for greener pastures. And never get caught up on one thing. Never let a single stone on the path lead you off your ultimate goal.

Good luck, God speed, and Fair Hacking to you all.

-Takktical Blu3-