HaVoK-69

Hello guys, I'm currently a college student majoring in computer network engineering focusing on cyber security and I want to get into the world of penetration testing and ethical hacking. I have began to teach myself basic concepts of security such as safe browsing habits, anti-malware removal and prevention, basic anonymity via proxies VPN etc, and others while continuing my education obtaining my A+ Certification and soon to be taking the test for my MCITP Certification. I understand to get much deeper into the pentesting field I will need to learn programming such as C/C++, C#, Perl, Python, etc and understand Linux and various protocols. Through news articles I research about different attacks such as Man in the Middle and DDoS attacks and how they work but I guess my real question is.... Where do I go from here? I would like to pursue more of this knowledge outside the classroom and become more informed on how to harden security on my system, network, mobile devices, and those of others much better to prepare myself more for the jobs that lie ahead. I have read through the sticky, http://forums.hak5.org/index.php?/topic/913-hacking-where-to-begin/ which has some good resources but if anyone has any others that may help I would really appreciate anything you may submit. I have looked into websites such as http://www.codeacademy.com for alternatives to learning programming languages. I also would like to learn more about how Worms and other malware function as well as how IDS work and some example setups of how you guys secure your home networks if you are willing to share. Thanks and eager to learn

I was looking through some internet articles the other day and found one about a hacker with a name familiar to us. I hadn't checked how recent it was so forgive me if you all have seen it already and feel free to move this to the proper forum if I haven't posted it in the correct spot. The article is about a hacker, Jacob Applebaum, who supposedly hacked Tor/WikiLeaks and published a list of SSL-certificates on the web. Here is the link if anyone is interested in reading about it.

foo, Whats the OS/Theme/Wallpaper you have it looks sick, I'm thinking of booting back to a random linux distro just I'm undecided between ubuntu 10.10 and others.

Ok thanks guys, so the best bet is to just have all the games installed on the hard drive of my gaming rig. Works for me.

I was wondering if it was possible to run something like a Windows Home Server or similar to host games installed onto the server to be remotely accessed throughout the house to play on a desktop or laptop without it installed. Also I was curious if this would take away preformance from the game in question and better running games the traditional way. The idea came from running out of HDD space on my storage drive and contemplating various rig upgrades. Let me know your input

Agreed, why not just KonBoot? just insert the software via USB or CD and after booting from the device all it takes is about 3 hits of the enter key and your in.

Thanks for clarification, I don't see how the thread went so far off topic into encryption algorithms but whatever. Thanks again

yes I understand how it works and I'm not going to claim I'm the best person ever at diagnosing issues with a computer because I know there is always room somewhere for improvement but I do know how to solve alot of the issues my reasoning behind looking for this software is having a short memory span and this looks like it would help organize my troubleshooting when I can't think it through in my head at the time. I think of it more as a web diagram. Diagnosing issues with PCs are similar to a doctors visit where in the doctor makes educated guesses on the cause of the symptom and moves from there deciding if the medication given contributed or not, in my opinion troubleshooting PC is similar but can be more accurately "guessed" if you will because the technology was man made to begin with opposed to the human body.

Looks like not many people recognize what I mean by expert system software so let me clarify. Expert System Software is a computer software that works like a survey, one for a computer tech would ask questions such as, "Does a Blue Error Screen Appear on Screen?" with the option of choosing yes or no until you answer enough questions to formulate a possible solution for the problem. In my mind this would put more ease on the work, not having to struggle to remember a possible cause for the issue at hand. Anyone know of such a software?

I have been running a Computer Repair business as a side job where I live for some extra cash. I've been taking college classes for certifications and learned about expert system software and how it would benefit my business. What I want to know is can anyone recommend a good Expert System Software for a computer repair business?

I'm using a Cable Internet Connection

Ah ok, thanks that helps alot. I just went to portforward.com and it showed some ports for 360 xbox live ps3 ps3 network etc. You would say this would only be for hosting matches?

Could you give a better explanation on "If its plugged in not much" and why I should only use AES? I would think AES and TKIP together would give a more secure network

I just currently replaced my old Linksys WRT54G with a newer WNDR3300 from Netgear and had a few questions. 1. The Router is Dual-Band, but how do I jump onto the 5 GHz channel from my netbook I only see the 2.4 GHz 2. I assume the Dual-Band feature is wireless only, so is there any way to futher improve my connection for gameplay via Xbox Live via ethernet? 3. Does Port Forwarding Work on Consoles and is there ports to forward for xbox live and the such? 4. I'm currently set up with default updated firmware and WPA-PSK [TKIP] + WPA2-PSK [AES] encryption set up with a complex passphrase, Any suggestions on further securing my network? 5. Is it possible to still setup an Untangle box between either the modem and router or router and computers through a switch with this setup? Thanks and I appreciate any help.

Is Avast really that good? I've always been using ESET NOD32 or Microsoft Security Essentials lately for anti-malware and they have worked great. I have seen ESET NOD32 has been rated very high as well. I have to say Microsoft Security Essentials is probably one of the best things released by the company. I use it more often now as it runs on less resources than NOD32 and is nearly as good, not to mention its free.