[Riggs]

I joined HF a decade ago next month. Strange to think that there are probably some members here now that hadn’t even been born yet. I recall arriving here looking for Perl programming tutorials and being greeted with shitposts, profanity, and an abundance of scammers.

There’s less scammers and profanity now.

I’ve witnessed members make headlines, become multi-millionaires, go to jail, and in some cases – both. Some are now dead, and some still haven’t properly lived yet. What a ride it’s been.

HF helped shape my interests, meet new people, and some of what I learned here contributed towards the development of a solid white hat white-collar career. I’m not sure what the next 10 years for HF might look like, but let’s hope each of us continues to grow with it.

Remember, life is short. Don’t be a skid.

Some events of the past decade that stand out to me in memory:

• VipVince using The Lounge as a diary for his prepubescent sex addiction.
  
• Poppins trolling every person of faith in the SRPP section.
  
• The Marketers seal of approval and its 100% approval rate.
  
• Codevade pranking bodybuilding.com and then having a 2 hour Skype call with Chisel Chris and Juggernaut Jay.
  
• Tate faking his own suicide once a week then actually streaming it for real (RIP).
  
• Fetus Flipper boasting about his riches then getting exposed as a filthy peasant.
  
• QnA peacefully sleeping in his RV and then some lunatic driving a truck through it (RIP).
  
• nokia2mon2 donating to HF then having Jamal Khashoggi killed in a Saudi consulate.
  
• WiFi and Darkwin debuting their hacking themed MTV rap music.
  
• bugga being the only female.
  
• Armada getting doxed by Krebs.
  
• m4v3r1ck, an undercover FBI agent, failing to buy HF in cash, then busting BlackShades.
  
• BlackShades getting shutdown and all the European customers asking if the FBI would raid them.
  
• BlackShadow, in all his infinite wisdom, declaring probability theory is random but there's a pattern.
  
  

Shoutout to some of the oldfags still here:
Omniscient Pow3r TheHackersLove bugga Shadow_Cloud iNviZ Xerotic Qwazz [mention=96230] Orgy Plutonium SUI-3183372 Kr4z1 [mention=113705] AsSaSs@iN Apple J4ck. Diabolic Vitani Vitani's Mate Minnesota Nice iBruteforce Yoko_ Froggy Zain chick3nman :'D Sam Cooligan [mention=1306528] VipVince

Some unsolicited Omni memes still on my HDD:
Spoiler (Click to View)

[iNviZ]

Oh man, some good memories for sure. I don’t think anyone made me lol harder then you in our endless hours on Skype with the whole crew.
I’ll never forget you’re cat either “my stupid fucking cat” 🤣

Stay safe brotha and become a comedian on the side because you have always cracked everyone one up.

[L0RE]

Damn, the Saudi thing sounded crazy. Was there a reason for his death?

[SIM-2327840]

Hahaha I love your post. Its been a long time you are here!

[Riggs]

Oh man, some good memories for sure. I don’t think anyone made me lol harder then you in our endless hours on Skype with the whole crew.
I’ll never forget you’re cat either “my stupid fugging cat” 🤣

Stay safe brotha and become a comedian on the side because you have always cracked everyone one up.

Damn, the Saudi thing sounded crazy. Was there a reason for his death?

Khashoggi was a journalist and defiant dissident critical of lunatic Saudi Arabian royals.

Seems like a I registered 2 months after you.  Holy shit.

Oldfags unite.

[Simplex]

Wow, you been here a long time and witnessed a lot. The only thing that really stands out for me is the taco award event.

[Cooligan]

Wow, this thread brought back some awesome memories lol. Don't think I've read a good few of those names in a long time. It's nice to see members taking the time (and what looks like to be money in this case due to the sticky) to create threads like these commemorating something that has been truly great for oh so many people over the last decade.

Btw just as a "why not cause I'm already here" type thing, you've always been one of those members I sort of "looked up to" in a way if you wanna use those words, and someone I've tried to model myself after in terms of overall quality of posts, threads, interactions and etc.. Always thought you were a pretty cool dude Riggs

Anyway, I'm off to dinner. Was great reading this before-hand, put me in a good mood for the car ride there. :)

[Riggs]

Wow, this thread brought back some awesome memories lol. Don't think I've read a good few of those names in a long time. It's nice to see members taking the time (and what looks like to be money in this case due to the sticky) to create threads like these commemorating something that has been truly great for oh so many people over the last decade.

Btw just as a "why not cause I'm already here" type thing, you've always been one of those members I sort of "looked up to" in a way if you wanna use those words, and someone I've tried to model myself after in terms of overall quality of posts, threads, interactions and etc.. Always thought you were a pretty cool dude Riggs

Anyway, I'm off to dinner. Was great reading this before-hand, put me in a good mood for the car ride there. :)

Thanks my dude, I'm humbled to read that.

I stickied this thread to financially contribute, capture the attention of the remaining oldfags, and hopefully reignite some memorable discourse.

The development posture of HF has matured so much over the years. I sometimes wonder what it would be like if Omni restored every closed account circa 2008-2015 and notified them via email. Would HF be chaos? Or would those returning exhibit a developed maturity themselves?

Some good memories you have there, and some rather amusing ones as well. I love the omni memes :D

You say bugga is the only female, but what about froggy?

Claiming there were no females on HF was a thing at the time.

[Parks]

What would you say some of the most valuable things you learned here were? Any regrets or missed opportunities?

[random123123]

Sick stories and alot new learnt about HF and it's members. Thanks for the good read, and damn your loyal to HF!

[XXX]

Wow, this thread made me realize I've been on HF for over 10 years. Can't believe it's been this long.

[Riggs]

What would you say some of the most valuable things you learned here were? Any regrets or missed opportunities?

Valuable things I've learned:

• The law surrounding the information security industry. Not just the legislation, but the challenges law enforcement face when dealing with hackers in practice. Reading detailed news reports about HF members being arrested, studying indictments, and observing things like the NCA overtly post their own threads helped me understand the reality and constraints of the geopolitical landscape.
  
  
• The media and their interpretation of hacker communities like HF. Much like the public, there are very few respectable journalists willing to separate the hacker community from those that choose to engage in criminal acts.
  

Regrets:

• Failing, from the beginning, to properly separate my HF identity from my real one. The risk I might get doxed on HF has always been known and accepted, but I've had a few bad run-ins with trolls, investigative reporters trying to stir trouble, and even a well-known threat intelligence company (sup guys). Feeling that exposed link naturally limits your behavioural options online. Your interactions become an attribute of censorship, and you grow concious of every possible way your words could later be manipulated or the context of your actions skewed. Freedom of expression erodes, as does the self. I would advise all HF members interested in building an infosec career to consider the adoption of your pseudonymity holistically, as your current threat model may significantly change later on in life.
  

[BTB™]

Great journey mate.

Always stay blessed and strong.

+3. Cheers.

[Cooligan]

Thanks my dude, I'm humbled to read that.

I stickied this thread to financially contribute, capture the attention of the remaining oldfags, and hopefully reignite some memorable discourse.

The development posture of HF has matured so much over the years. I sometimes wonder what it would be like if Omni restored every closed account circa 2008-2015 and notified them via email. Would HF be chaos? Or would those returning exhibit a developed maturity themselves?

No problem man, all nothing but the truth.

It's funny you mention that, I was just talking to a few HF members that have been active for quite some time now and we were all saying the same thing; how the Lounge has severely changed into much more of a friendly and more helpful place than it might have been some years ago, however each and every one of us here were younger years ago.

With that, I think some members would have a different approach compared to how they used to conduct themselves solely on the basis of that they were starting to become more mature towards when they were either closed or stopped using the site. However on the other side of the spectrum you do have those life long trolls, the ones who most likely still use sites like reddit today on a daily basis engaging in pointless arguments. Some of those people will never change, but I'm definitely extremely curious to see what it'd be like if a solid majority of those era members did come back somehow.

Regardless of anything, I'm sure it would be very interesting to see unfold nonetheless.

[ETH]

Really lot's of old things went before i joined
Really i saw the person who is around on the forum is Armada before he gets banned here
I got news that he is arrested to for RAT tool

I hope you enjoyed lot in past
Congrats on 10 years buddy !