hacking books

are ther any good books on hacking, that aren't outdated and actually teach you useful hacking skills?

this is a question im often asked over AIM.

my views on hacking books out there arent very positive.

theres 2 types of hacking books:

1 - "wanna be a 1337 h4x0r? Read this book!!!" 2 - books by kevin mitnick

1. These books are aimed at teenagers who just watched swordfish and think "fuck me!! hacking is uber cool" and think they can hack anything after they've read this book. All the details in these books are either outdated (such as 1/2 teh book dedicated to netbios hacks), or the information on the book can easily be found on this site. Infact there is more knowledge on this site, than any type of this book on the market.

2. What is the big deal with kevin mitnick. the majority of his hacks were based on social engernerring and lacked superb self designed exploits. i mean, he even phoned up the companies he had hacked, just so he could boast to a employee who doesnt give a shit. what is the deal with that. someone with major ego issues there. I've never read any of his books, so i cant really comment on there content, but i persume the content is little compared to the knowledge on this site.

I have never ever purchased a hacking book, or even read a hacking e-book. Perosnally i think they are a waste of time, and your time is much beter spent designing your own exploits and browsing HBH.

If you decide you MUST get a hacking book, then get something by kevin mitnick. its the lesser of two evils.

I've read about half of The Art of Deception by Kevin Mitnick. Although there isn't a whole lot of hacking in there, there are lots of useful social engineering techniques, both on SEing and avoiding it. If you want a book about SEing, then Kevin Mitnick is probably the way to go, but if you want a hacking book, I dont think you'll want him.

Try your local library :)

• AbSoRb

thats absolutely right, the best books you might wanna get that will be the closest to real practical hacking are programming books..

Mr_Cheese wrote:

2. What is the big deal with kevin mitnick. the majority of his hacks were based on social engernerring and lacked superb self designed exploits. i mean, he even phoned up the companies he had hacked, just so he could boast to a employee who doesnt give a shit. what is the deal with that. someone with major ego issues there. I've never read any of his books, so i cant really comment on there content, but i persume the content is little compared to the knowledge on this site.

Cheese I am nearly dones Art of Deception. They are good books and teach a lot. the worst exploit in the world is Human Nature. Not started the second one (Art of Intrusion) but I am sure they are more based on other hacks. He is not teaching how to hack…he is teaching how to protect ones self from such hacks. He is a Security guy now :P

damn.. i hate power failliures…. (my dad was working on the elecrtic stupf and trigered a power failure.. now i have to translate this back…. i hava a book on hacking called "the security on the internet" about mitnik i have the following… clasified as a cracker… " also known as the condor he is probably the most well known cracker in the world. he began his career as a phreaker.he succesfully hackeh/cracked every kind of security site you can imagine.. including (but not limiting to) military sites ,financial corporations, software companies and otehr firms w/ technological activities…. as a teenager he crached/hacked The North American Aerospace Defence Command…. when this book was in the making he was w8-ing for his sentince for some crackes he made in '94-'95 " i hope this helpes and is interesting… ( aldough i dunno what will help for.. but im jsu mad i had to write it all again.. )

Overlord wrote:

i hava a book on hacking called "the security on the internet" about mitnik i have the following… clasified as a cracker… " also known as the condor he is probably the most well known cracker in the world. he began his career as a phreaker.he succesfully hackeh/cracked every kind of security site you can imagine.. including (but not limiting to) military sites ,financial corporations, software companies and otehr firms w/ technological activities…. as a teenager he crached/hacked The North American Aerospace Defence Command…. when this book was in the making he was w8-ing for his sentince for some crackes he made in '94-'95 "

that book seems like a pile of shite. *note to self - dont buy that book *

heh note to self DONT BUY HACKING BOOKS

seriously if you want to learn how to hack through a book

buy a coding book like

-Javascript -Java -C++ -PHP

once you know how to code youll know the vulnerabliities of those languages and then youre a "1337" hacker

I was at the book store today and saw that there are clearly not many good hacking books. The ones i did see that looked like they might have been useful were the "Hacking Exposed Series", anyone read any of these? There were also a lot of programming books on the same languages. Does anyone know what series/company has good programming reference books?

Mr_Cheese wrote: that book seems like a pile of shite. *note to self - dont buy that book *

i never bought that book… it's not mine.. :P i borrowed (???) from a friend… i read it because.. i think it is kinda interesting… (read adout 1/5 of it).. or maibe because im bored… ill get back to ya when im done

I've brought quite a few books so heres my review:

hacking for dummies - good referance manual. pretty poor, the odd good tip

a complete h@ckers handbook - ok book, yet again more of a referance manual. covers quite a few topics

Hackers tales by Dr K - bragging by Dr K, as the title suggests stories of various hackers

The art of Intrusion - see above book! slightly better

The art of deception - shite

Silence on the wire - absolutly amazing, goes into the hidden depths of computers and algorythems etc.

hacker web exploitation uncovered - equaly as amazing. cd rom of challenges. loads of exploits/patches, 10/10

Hacking windows xp - 1'st book I ever brought (don't hate me for it) basicly how to play with regedit etc. to change start to say something else and various other "hacks"

as someone before me stated the best books are programming books and I would 100% agree with this.

I hope this helps! sorry about the bad spelling :p

and actually teach you useful hacking skills?

i think there is no book which will teach you how to "hack". work on challenges and read some books about programming (also learn how to program). analyze exploits and sourcecodes. one day you'll be able to create them on your own ;) just my two cents.

The amount of time it takes to write publish and print a book. Would be long enough to discover and patch hundreds of exploits. Not that hacking is all about exploits but its just an example.

yes you are right, but with "analyze exploits" i meant to studying them. it's just for understanding the sense of exploits ;) cheers, CyBeR

I think most books are decent as they server a purpose to get people interested in this type of information,I personaly allways buy books i learn a bit and enjoy owning books….

hack4u wrote: heh note to self DONT BUY HACKING BOOKS

seriously if you want to learn how to hack through a book

buy a coding book like

-Javascript -Java -C++ -PHP

once you know how to code youll know the vulnerabliities of those languages and then youre a "1337" hacker

This is so true. The only "hacking" books I have bought so far are coding books. There is so much information on this site and on the internet in general that you don't really need to pay for a book. Judging by what other people have said about the hacking books out there, I'm not going to by them either. I think I'll stick to my coding books!

sp00ky wrote: [quote]hack4u wrote: heh note to self DONT BUY HACKING BOOKS

seriously if you want to learn how to hack through a book

buy a coding book like

-Javascript -Java -C++ -PHP

once you know how to code youll know the vulnerabliities of those languages and then youre a "1337" hacker

This is so true. The only "hacking" books I have bought so far are coding books. There is so much information on this site and on the internet in general that you don't really need to pay for a book. Judging by what other people have said about the hacking books out there, I'm not going to by them either. I think I'll stick to my coding books![/quote] I disagree, but not entirely. It is good to know the languages well, but you need not know the syntax fluently. Knowing how the languages work and what can be accomplished with them is enough. But languages are not the only part of hacking, let alone Web hacking. You must have at least a vague idea of how the internet works, how client connect to servers, and how Web applications function.

I bought Web Hacking: Attacks and Defense by Stuart McClure, and it really is a great book! It does not go through languages used on the internet very in-depth, but there is no need for it. If you wish to excel in Web hacking, I highly recommend this book. I'm still looking for another that can accompany it on my shelf, but I have yet to find one with similar remarkable reviews and recommendations.

But languages are not the only part of hacking, let alone Web hacking. You must have at least a vague idea of how the internet works, how client connect to servers, and how Web applications function.

You've got a good point! :)