How to Hack Legally
Are you an ethical hacker? Yes? Then it can be hard to put your skills to the test without harming anyone. If not, then there are plenty of websites to teach how to hack ethically and legally. This is a nice platform to show off and try your skills.
Don’t you worry, these websites will not get you into any trouble.
HackThis
HackThis does not invite to hack their own website. But it certainly does give you numerous challenges to try your skills.
HackThis has different categories and offers a variety of challenges. You only need to find something to test your skills. You are basic challenges and different levels of difficulties depending on your level.
The exciting part is the “Real” category where you actually hack a website for a client.
Also, the best part about HackThis is the hint. Each challenge has a dedicated hints page where you can ask the hackers where do you think you are going wring. The members will never give you the right answer and solution so that you figure it out yourself.
Hack This Site
Another inviting website to hack is the Hack This Site. It has lessons for beginner-oriented lessons to hosting a dedicated phone line for phone phreak attacks.
Lessons are based on a story mission to keep you engaged. For example, the basic course will go toe-to-toe with Network Security Sam for beginners. Network Security Sam is a forgetful man who’s adamant about storing his password on the website so that we will never forget it. But, every time you crack his security and discover his password, he adds more security to his website.
There are also “realistic: exercises. These are fake websites set up for you to hack. It may be rigging a voting system or undoing the work of spiteful people who hacked into a peaceful website.
Each puzzle (situation/lesson) has a dedicated thread where you can ask for help. The answers have been posted a long time, and users who have already answered the questions may post their own helpful resources.
Like the previous website users, they will never give you the correct answer. Do some research, there are hints and tips on the internet.
Over the Wire
OverTheWire features warzones and wargames for advanced hacking sessions. It has unique scenarios like Cyber Wargames to add thrills to it. Cyberwarfare can be competitive between hackers, as a race, or by attacking the opponent’s servers.
It may sound scary but it has lessons ranging from basic to advanced tricks. It requires SSH connection to use.
The OverTheWire has three (3) primary uses. You can play through small games with increasing difficulty to learn how to hack. After gaining experience, you can download more cyber wargames with exciting stories for more immersive experience.
There is also an exclusive network designed to work just like IPv4. Hackers find vulnerabilities in the network, hack onto opponents server, or just to practice network hacking skills.
Google Gruyere
It is a hackable website developed by the Tech Giant Google. It is full of holes. Also, it uses “cheesy” code reference with the cheese-themed name and design.
Once you have started, Google will give you a few challenges. It features weak and vulnerable code for you to exploit.
Problems in this hacking website have weak areas, and give you task to perform. Sample challenge is you have to inject HTML alert boxes into the website’s snippets feature, which fires when the user loads the page.
If you can’t jump to the next level, there are hints to help you out. If these don’t help, you can view the solution and use it yourself to feel how the exploit works.
bWAPP
While hacking websites are useful, there are some bugs and exploits that they can’t cover. Like websites that can’t host challenges that involve taking down a website. If they did, nobody else would get a turn.
With this, the best performing and more devastating attacks are on a self-hosted server so you don’t damage other websites. if you are into this kind of hacking, try bWAPP.
The good thing about bWAPP is its sheer number of bugs. It has DDOS weaknesses to Hertbleed vulnerabilities to HTML5 ClickJacking.
If you want to try it out, download it and run into your target system. Once installed and running, you can learn how to hack legally and ethically without worrying about the webmaster.
Final Thoughts
Hacking is always fun. But, hacking might also be devastating if misused by attackers. On the other hand, it is helpful for webmasters by hiring white hat hackers to find vulnerabilities on their site and avoid further damage.
If you’ve become a hacker, what kind of hacker would you want? A white hat or a black hat? comment down below!
How to Hack Legally
