A. What is hacking?


     Hacking is the act of penetrating computer systems to gain
knowledge about the system and how it works.
     Hacking is illegal because we demand free access to ALL data, and
we get it. This pisses people off and we are outcasted from society, and
in order to stay out of prison, we must keep our status of being a
hacker/phreaker a secret. We can't discuss our findings with anyone but
other members of the hacking/phreaking community for fear of being
punished. We are punished for wanting to learn. Why is the government
spending huge amounts of time and money to arrest hackers when there are
other much more dangerous people out there. It is the murderers,
rapists, terrorists, kidnappers, and burglers who should be punished for what they have done, not hackers. We do NOT pose a threat to anyone. We are NOT out to hurt people or there computers. I admit that there are some people out there who call themselves hackers and who deliberately damage computers. But these people are criminals, NOT hackers. I don't care what the government says, we are NOT criminals. We are NOT trying to alter or damage any system. This is widely misunderstood. Maybe one day people will believe us when we say that all we want is to learn.
     There are only two ways to get rid of hackers and phreakers.
One is to get rid of computers and telephones, in which case we would
find other means of getting what we want.(Like that is really going to
happen.) The other way is to give us what we want, which is free access
to ALL information. Until one of those two things happen, we are not
going anywhere.


B. Why hack?
     

     As said above, we hack to gain knowledge about systems and the
way they work. We do NOT want to damage systems in any way. If you do
damage a system, you WILL get caught. But, if you don't damage
anything, it is very unlikely that you will be noticed, let alone be
tracked down and arrested, which costs a considerable amount of time
and money.
     Beginners should read all the files that they can get their
hands on about anything even remotely related to hacking and phreaking,
BEFORE they start hacking. I know it sounds stupid and boring but it
will definetly pay off in the future. The more you read about hacking
and phreaking, the more unlikely it is that you will get caught. Some
of the most useless pieces of information that you read could turn out
to be the most helpful. That is why you need to read everything
possible.


C. Hacking rules


1.     Never damage any system. This will only get you into trouble.

2.     Never alter any of the systems files, except for those needed to
insure that you are not detected, and those to insure that you have
access into that computer in the future.

3.     Do not share any information about your hacking projects with
anyone but those you'd trust with your life.

4.     When posting on BBS's (Bulletin Board Systems) be as vague as
possible when describing your current hacking projects. BBS's CAN
be monitered by law enforcement.

5.     Never use anyone's real name or real phone number when posting
on a BBS.

6.     Never leave your handle on any systems that you hack in to.

7.     DO NOT hack government computers.

8.     Never speak about hacking projects over your home telephone line.

9.     Be paranoid. Keep all of your hacking materials in a safe place.

10.     To become a real hacker, you have to hack. You can't just sit
around reading text files and hanging out on BBS's. This is not what
hacking is all about.


D. Getting started


     The very first thing you need to do is get a copy of PKZIP
or some other file unzipping utility. Nearly everything that you
download from the Internet or from a BBS will be zipped. A zipped file is a file that has been compressed. Zipped files end with the extension ".zip".
     Then you need to get yourself a good prefix scanner.(also known
as a War Dialer) This is a program that automatically dials phone
numbers beginning with the three numbers (prefix) that you specify. It
checks to see if the number dialed has a carrier.(series of beeps that
tells you that you have dialed a computer) Try and find a large
business area prefix to scan. It is these businesses that have
interesting computers. There are many good scanners out there, but I
would recommend Autoscan or A-Dial. These are very easy to use and get
the job done quickly and efficiently.