I am not sure how best to start or how exactly happened that I stumbled upon Hack Forums but from what I do know it all started before I even had Internet. I always had a big struggle in my life between my 3 passions. Technology (of any kind), Psychology and Languages. I am not from an English speaking country and I cannot even remember when I started to speak English. I also speak German, French, Russian fluently and few others I can understand basics things but that is beside the point.
Why I mention this right at the start is because Hack Forums not only changed my life but also helped me develop all 3 of my passions. When I joined back in 2009 I was 14 years old. I did not join Hack Forums after I watched some hacker movie or because of some dream of being this awesome computer crusader. In my search for knowledge or rather during one of my projects as a kid (I cannot even remember what I was making back then) I was searching for an answer online and one of the sub forums ended up having the answer I was looking for. All I know is that I saved this website for later. At first I came on here and there just to look up on stuff I found interesting until until one day I found that little corner of Hack Forums that is now gone and in bad memory to most people. Social Engineering section. I looked it right up and found out it is something used by hackers to manipulate systems and gain access trough psychology. Now I had all 3 of my passions combined into one spot. I could use English here and meet and talk to people in foreign language, I could learn about computers, programming and technology and Social Engineering was a way to lead me into Psychology of things.
At first I just spent time reading and after 6 month or so of reading and few LQ posts here and there I decided to give back. In my 6 months here in order to learn I spent a lot of time researching and reading up on things. I still never got interested in actually hacking anything but I did want to know how it is done. Since my first day here until today I maybe used my knowledge of hacking only a few times. But I did learn. I knew the inns and outs and could answer most questions anyone in Beginner Hacking section could throw at me. And that is what I did. I answered questions and helped people with knowledge I acquired. In Social Engineering forum I did more than that. Since the first day to this day I find that Social Engineering is a way to gain what you want by talking. I spent years trying to purge the Fraud threads from that forum. I reported all threads that contained the discussion of defrauding companies but in the end that was not enough and the my beloved forum got closed.
Well I am not sure when but some time after that my life got busy and I came on here less and less until few months ago when I had more time and decided to get back here once more.
As to how Hack Forum and all this knowledge I gained because of I spent time and tried to learn more helped me in my life. Well because I wrote Tutorials and posted almost every day I inadvertently improved my English. That knowledge led me to be chosen in school and community to go on Trips and excursions to foreign countries. Most people who did not go, did not get the chance because one requirement was good English skills. Also in many cases that helped me meet many good people who helped me and became part of my life including my fiancee. So thank you Hack Forums for helping me develop my English.
The knowledge I learned on programming, how systems work and just about anything that has to do with computers helped me in my job as mechanical engineer. While most of my peers had knowledge of their field I had the advantage of being good in programming. And as you all know that is a big plus on someones CV. My knowledge on computers led me to have very good opportunities in life. I used my knowledge of security to improve systems at work and university which brought recognition. My knowing to repair computers made my boss notice me more and respect my skill set. So thank you Hack Forums for helping me get ahead in life.
And lastly. I was always a shy person. I never had friends. I could not speak in a group larger than 3-4 people even if I was forced to. Reading up on psychology, writing tutorials and doing research to write them helped me learn about people. What makes them tick. I met like minded people who shared my passion and were some of my first friends not only on Hack Forums but in general. I spent time with them, we skyped and talked. That helped me get more open in real life and helped me meet people. So thank you Hack Forums for helping me lead a life where I do not have to hide.
My story does not end here. I am back after being away for a while. I moved to a new country and I never stopped learning. Because of the need to learn more I read many books and now have a personal library that started with "How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie and now contains well over 700 books on Psychology, Technology and fiction. I still spend time learning about systems, programs and new ways to hack stuff. I program some simple programs here and there for the company to improve our testing devices. And in the end I make new friends almost daily, I can have an pleasant conversation and just the other day I held a speech in front of 120 people.
As a bonus I would like to thank everyone here for your fine contributions. Even if I do not reply to many threads you have my thanks and should know I read quite a lot of stuff that you post. Thanks to Admins and Omni (I still hate you for deleting Social Engineering forums, but then again better to shoot a dying horse then to let it suffer). Oh and thanks to those 2 suckers who bought me l33t and ub3r upgrades if you are still active hope you read this. I could write a whole story on how I managed that. But I will leave it for another time.
Anyway. This is my Testimony hope you like the read and see you all out there in the posts.
Why I mention this right at the start is because Hack Forums not only changed my life but also helped me develop all 3 of my passions. When I joined back in 2009 I was 14 years old. I did not join Hack Forums after I watched some hacker movie or because of some dream of being this awesome computer crusader. In my search for knowledge or rather during one of my projects as a kid (I cannot even remember what I was making back then) I was searching for an answer online and one of the sub forums ended up having the answer I was looking for. All I know is that I saved this website for later. At first I came on here and there just to look up on stuff I found interesting until until one day I found that little corner of Hack Forums that is now gone and in bad memory to most people. Social Engineering section. I looked it right up and found out it is something used by hackers to manipulate systems and gain access trough psychology. Now I had all 3 of my passions combined into one spot. I could use English here and meet and talk to people in foreign language, I could learn about computers, programming and technology and Social Engineering was a way to lead me into Psychology of things.
At first I just spent time reading and after 6 month or so of reading and few LQ posts here and there I decided to give back. In my 6 months here in order to learn I spent a lot of time researching and reading up on things. I still never got interested in actually hacking anything but I did want to know how it is done. Since my first day here until today I maybe used my knowledge of hacking only a few times. But I did learn. I knew the inns and outs and could answer most questions anyone in Beginner Hacking section could throw at me. And that is what I did. I answered questions and helped people with knowledge I acquired. In Social Engineering forum I did more than that. Since the first day to this day I find that Social Engineering is a way to gain what you want by talking. I spent years trying to purge the Fraud threads from that forum. I reported all threads that contained the discussion of defrauding companies but in the end that was not enough and the my beloved forum got closed.
Well I am not sure when but some time after that my life got busy and I came on here less and less until few months ago when I had more time and decided to get back here once more.
As to how Hack Forum and all this knowledge I gained because of I spent time and tried to learn more helped me in my life. Well because I wrote Tutorials and posted almost every day I inadvertently improved my English. That knowledge led me to be chosen in school and community to go on Trips and excursions to foreign countries. Most people who did not go, did not get the chance because one requirement was good English skills. Also in many cases that helped me meet many good people who helped me and became part of my life including my fiancee. So thank you Hack Forums for helping me develop my English.
The knowledge I learned on programming, how systems work and just about anything that has to do with computers helped me in my job as mechanical engineer. While most of my peers had knowledge of their field I had the advantage of being good in programming. And as you all know that is a big plus on someones CV. My knowledge on computers led me to have very good opportunities in life. I used my knowledge of security to improve systems at work and university which brought recognition. My knowing to repair computers made my boss notice me more and respect my skill set. So thank you Hack Forums for helping me get ahead in life.
And lastly. I was always a shy person. I never had friends. I could not speak in a group larger than 3-4 people even if I was forced to. Reading up on psychology, writing tutorials and doing research to write them helped me learn about people. What makes them tick. I met like minded people who shared my passion and were some of my first friends not only on Hack Forums but in general. I spent time with them, we skyped and talked. That helped me get more open in real life and helped me meet people. So thank you Hack Forums for helping me lead a life where I do not have to hide.
My story does not end here. I am back after being away for a while. I moved to a new country and I never stopped learning. Because of the need to learn more I read many books and now have a personal library that started with "How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie and now contains well over 700 books on Psychology, Technology and fiction. I still spend time learning about systems, programs and new ways to hack stuff. I program some simple programs here and there for the company to improve our testing devices. And in the end I make new friends almost daily, I can have an pleasant conversation and just the other day I held a speech in front of 120 people.
As a bonus I would like to thank everyone here for your fine contributions. Even if I do not reply to many threads you have my thanks and should know I read quite a lot of stuff that you post. Thanks to Admins and Omni (I still hate you for deleting Social Engineering forums, but then again better to shoot a dying horse then to let it suffer). Oh and thanks to those 2 suckers who bought me l33t and ub3r upgrades if you are still active hope you read this. I could write a whole story on how I managed that. But I will leave it for another time.
Anyway. This is my Testimony hope you like the read and see you all out there in the posts.