Learning computer security

I was wondering… Is computer security hacking (there are different kinds) just the art of being good at low-level stuff? I've been pondering how to further my programming knowledge in the direction of computer security. You know, to have a focus. I'm still quite a noob (I'm a novice in Java, and still haven't written scripts for Linux) but the magic of computer security and just knowing the ins and outs of computers has captured me.

So, what I'm asking is, to be good like you guys, really, I just have to master programming basics and steadily move closer and closer to the machine?

Computers are just all built in programming languages. Most if not all programming languages can be disassembled, debugged, exploited etc. Computer 'hacking' is just the exploitation of code. There are all kinds of code that can be exploited and all different kinds of ways that they can be exploited. There are web languages that can be exploited (most popular being PHP) application based code that can be exploited etc. Just depends on what you want to do.

There is no low-level programming in anything. Learn your basic and work from there on up.

slpctrl wrote: There are web languages that can be exploited (most popular being PHP)

Any script is only as secure as the coder wrote it. When I make PHP scripts, I use many security features just to limit the possibility of them being hacked.

Lol….umm..agreeing with the above…no language itself is insecure…but the CODE weaved together by the coder is insecure…the code to make your site secure is there….you just have to CHOOSE to take the good ethics and use it and a majority of people are lazy and don't…THAT is why a majority of sites are vulnerable.

I've found that a lot of "web developers" Do just that set it up and there out and get paid. They don't bother and or worry about alot of security issues.

Feralas wrote: [quote]slpctrl wrote: There are web languages that can be exploited (most popular being PHP)

Any script is only as secure as the coder wrote it. When I make PHP scripts, I use many security features just to limit the possibility of them being hacked.[/quote]

Bleh, yeah guess I should have specified that. When I said that I meant the end written code, not the language it's self. Lots of times code can be manipulated based on how it's written etc etc.