The Reality of Hacking

When we hear the word hacking, we see it as gaining an unauthorized access to the system and having a control over it. Normally, we think that the “system” I mentioned was just all about computers.  But it is wrong, hacking is not limited just to computer stuff.  Many beginners who wanted to learn how to hack (like me) think that hacking is just using the computer; however, understanding how it works and how to properly use tools to perform the hack involve a deeper understanding of not just computers (and similar devices), but also the reasoning behind it, and who "hackers" really are. An oversimplified definition of hacking is the way of making something do what you want it to do as opposed to what should it really do. That “something” I mentioned is not just a computer in general. A good analogy would be the use of a paper clip. This paper clip is simply designed to clip papers. But you see we can use the paper clip to make the wires of our laptop charger to stay in place when we curl it or we use the paper clip to clip it to the side of a thin table then we use the metal holder to hang our wires of our laptop charger. This is already called a hack because we just use the paper clip for any purpose we think we can use it for, as opposed to what it was originally intended to do. You may have heard the term/phrase “life hacks” or "life hacking." This refers to ways of accomplishing a task by using a thing or object (originally designed for a specific purpose) for something else.

So what is the relation of that in the world of IT? I just want to emphasize that hacking is not just limited to computer stuff. But why, when we hear the word "hacking," do we often think that it is about computers? That is because we are in the age where technology has risen to the top and forefront of people's lives and minds, and almost every form of information we can think of is stored on computers or uses computers as a medium to transfer information, which can easily be done by the use of IoT devices. That is why computers became the target of "hacking" because the information across them is quite sensitive and can affect the living of the person in reality so many other people attempted to gain access to it. That sensitive information includes things such as bank accounts, credit card numbers etc., which can bring danger in a person’s life in the real world. That is why in order to become a real hacker, we should not limit ourselves just to computers but apply it in whatever things we could think of in our life. Remember that in order to become a hacker, you must think like one. Learning to apply that thinking to computers will expand your area of hacking which is similar to how computers expand our lives.