Script Kiddies: Who are they?

     Sure thing a lot of people wants to become an "3733T H4CK35" and do some funny thing or two then consider themselves a hacker. So who really are the hackers, and who are the ones just pretending?



     In my recent time of studies concerning malware, exploits and vulnerabilities, and any other IT Security subjects, I've met a lot of people saying something like, "Hey, c'mon teach me. Wanna be a cool hacker! Wanna hack my friend's bla-bla-bla account!". Of course it makes me a little encouraged to find people that also wants to study what I do, but still, it's just always wrong. A lot of people consider hacking as easy as opening an application and then pressing the 'Hack Button'. There's no such thing as that 'ya know? If you want to belong in the Cyber Security Industry, you need to invest a lot. This means knowing a lot of things that circulate in the Cyber World; Cryptography, Network Intrusion, Exploits and Vulnerabilites etc. That is what REAL HACKERS always seek. REAL KNOWLEDGE.


     So in this industry exists people called as Script Kiddies or also known as Skiddies. These are the folks that emulate what real hackers do; Sniffing in networks, catching passwords, defacing websites and other things that they do not actually understand. For example, a hacker would pick a software in the market and try to unravel its vulnerabilities then create an exploit that can execute something into the software user's machine. The hacker then would share it somewhere (hopefully, for it to be improved) then the skiddie would catch it. Since the hacker created a binary tool to easily carry out the exploit, the Skiddie would then download and use the tool and use the exploit for his own intentions. As easy at it may seem, this always happen. I've been in a lot of hacking and security forums where the members (mostly new ones) use one or another tool from other members without really knowing what it really is for, and to make it worse, they don't even know how to create their own program.


     That is what Script kiddies differ from hackers. They just pretend to be a hacker. They lack expanse knowledge in this industry. They do not really know what they are up to; downloading and using some tool without any hint of its complete function. There are even some who were busted by the FBI not knowing that they've committed crimes in the internet. So if you wanna be one of 'em, go download your tools and expose yourselves to the public and wait for the FBI to catch you in your own house.