There are a lots of classifications of hackers, major being Black Hat, White Hat and Grey Hat hackers.

We generally have two kind of thoughts when we think of hackers, the first one is hate, and the other one is the desire to become one. There is nothing major wrong in any of these thoughts. At least for me.

Go into any CS Class, either in college or in a school, or on any social media group or forum. You will see many people claiming themselves to be a hacker or they can teach others how to hack. Asking for an example? I did a search on Facebook for term hackers and here is what I found:

Hundreds of communities, groups and Facebook pages.

Are all of these people hackers?

Nope.

They are not hackers. Most of them are script kiddies.

People who are interested in hacking or people who are in a stupid illusion that they are hackers.

Before digging deep in Hacking, let’s find out one basic question.

Who are script kiddies?

Script Kiddies are people who are trying to hack even if they don’t have knowledge. These are people who are using search engines to find guides to hack something. Be it non-lethal or highly lethal such as trying to hack a Facebook profile.

Script Kiddies use readymade scripts or programs made by other people. They don’t understand how that thing works, but they have Google and some dirty guides to do hacks. Most script kiddies don’t really understand what hacking means.

Are you a script kiddie?

Knowing yourself is a tough task. To tell whether you are a script kiddie or not, you will have to ask yourself, are you using search engines to search hacking guides? Are you member of Hacking related groups on Facebook? Do you know how does internet work? Do you know any of the programming languages?

Ask yourself these questions and you will get to know if you are a script kiddie or not.

A Script Kiddie is just a stupid person trying show himself smart

Damn it., Script Kiddies call themselves hacker. I study in a CS Collage and I see 3 self-proclaimed hackers sitting in my class every day. They run several BlogSpot and WordPress Blogs and use a really stupid looking Profile Picture on WhatsApp and Facebook. This is how it works. Being script kiddie is easy, Join a few groups, browse a few cyber security blogs and learn how to use fishing and Tadaa… you are a script kiddie.

How not to become one?

It is a bit tougher than being a script kiddie. First you will have to understand that you will not become a hacker overnight. It takes time, passion, hard work to become a real cyber security expert.

Learn a Programming Language

You can’t be a good hacker if you don’t know how to code. Everyone should learn to code. You will find our Infographics useful in deciding what programming language to learn. Learning how to program will help you in developing your own tools. In modifying the open source tools and most important it will help you in understanding how programs work.

Become a Power User First

PoweUsers are people who use some more advance tools to accomplish task. They don’t always know how to program or how to hack, instead they are good at day-to-day tasks related to computer. By being a power user you will be able to use advance tools that most normal people cannot use. There is no course or school who can teach you how to become a power user. You will have to use your own wisdom and understanding to become one. Being a power user will help you in getting rid of the script kiddie tag from yourself.

For starters you can start with AutoHotKey.

Don’t use Hacking tools without understanding them

Using OphCrack to crack windows password will not make you a hacker. Making a tool to Crack Windows password will. Don’t rely on tools made by other hackers. If you are using them, try to understand how they work.

Stop Self Promotion

This should have been the first point on the list. Do not ever claim yourself as a hacker or a cyber-security expert. Even if you are not a script kiddie, it is really stupid to show off your skills and if you are a script kiddie, you are just lying through your teeth. Do not threaten other people about your hacking skills.

Learn how Computers and other Tech works

Computers are tough to understand and so are the software. To become a real hacker and get rid of script kiddie tag, you should study them as much as possible. To find loopholes in a software or a network, you should first study how they work. For beginners you can study what is Windows Experience Index and so on. Keep Wikipedia on top of your reference list. I am recommending it due to its neutral point of view about things. You should also learn assembly language, Linux and Windows Server to become good at hacking.

Understand Virtualization, Dockers and UNIX

To test what you have made you should have a proper test bench. In order to make that you should use Virtual PCs. Most of the servers and internet based tech is based on Linux or other UNIX like OS so having good knowledge will help you.

Partial Knowledge is always dangerous

Be it script kiddie or a trained hacker, you need to be wise. You should always know (and obey) Cyber laws. Hacks are good if you use them for good, otherwise no matter how good you are you will always be caught. Cyber Laws are strict and doing harm of others has always been a bad idea. Even if you have graduated yourself from a Script Kiddie and became a hacker. Do not use them as a creepy selfish person. Cyber Security is a good career option and you should go for it instead of messing up with lives of other people.

For any questions or suggestions, drop a comment below.