That’s right, put away those books, close those Reddit tabs, and embark on a journey to become a real hacking pro!
In fact, what if I told you that the fact that you spend so much time studying Hacking or learning about a particular bug is the exact reason why you struggle with actually learning it?
Hacking or Bug Hunting is not a science, it is a skill that are honed through practice, practice and more practice only.
So, if you’re eager to dive into the exciting world of hacking, all you need to have open are your trusty VM, BurpSuite, and Google.com.
But here’s the thing — you probably already know this, deep down inside. So, why aren’t you out there finding bugs and hacking away? Yet, you don’t try to find bugs because there’s a deeper root problem that’s causing you to not to be able to do the work that your kind of already know that you should be doing.
I’ve learned this exact thing the hard way and I’ve realized that usually there are three core reasons that stop people from sitting their ass down their computers and actually practicing and it’s always one of these three reasons that causes people to fail at Finding Bugs. Because if you didn’t have any of these three problems, you would be Hunting Bugs every day and it wouldn’t be a problem for you.
At the end of the day, even if you don’t think you’re smart, no matter your background, you would learn it.
So let’s dive deep into these three core reasons that might be holding you back, and trust me, you’re not alone.
1. The Paralysis of Perfectionism
What if i told you that you are actualy waiting for that perfect moment when you’re fully prepared to dive into hacking? Well, guess what? the truth is that won’t happen in a day or two but in fact You basically do not need to be a hacking genius to get started. In fact, the absolute best way to start finding more is just to start thinking about how the things work like how would you access the website as a regular user with your own style. Thus Start with a simple idea and just go for it. Don’t worry about finding something monumental right away. The key is to begin, even when you feel unprepared. As an engineer or analyst, your strength lies in your ability to figure things out on the fly.
As an engineer or analyst, you’re not supposed to know what to do. But you are supposed to know how to figure it out.
That’s the first core reason you’re sitting there watching another dumbass tutorials. So stop watching countless YouTube tutorials and just start hacking. You’ll learn as you go, just like the rest of us do. Remember, you don’t need to be a know-it-all; you just need to be resourceful.
For Example
You just need to pick a target and get your burp on and start it. It’s not some kind of framework or anything like that. My point is, every day I start my day with a task and with no idea in the world how to accomplish it. But I just figure it out as I go. I still Google how to center a div every single time i try to get my hands dirty on CSS.
2. Analysis Paralysis
Ever been overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices when buying a new computer? It’s the same feeling you get when deciding how to start your hacking journey. Should you learn hacking tools and kali, focus on front-end development, but wait, then I will miss out on all the back-end job openings so maybe I should go for full stack instead. The options seem endless, and that’s what’s been holding you back.
So don’t overcomplicate things. Choose one path and stick with it. You can always pivot later if needed. Commit to a direction, build your skills, and you’ll find your way.
Let’s take a Example to understand it
basically we need to talk about how Apple has fooled all of us with their MacBooks. So when you go on buy any product, like for example, a computer and you watch reviews of all the options out there and you learn all the Dell, HP, Lenovo Y7 kind of stuff and see which one looks good and then someone already says, oh, but the graphics aren’t quite strong enough to play Fortnite Elite Edition, but oh, also the ASUS TUF looks really tough. And this is how Apple has tricked many of us into buying all of their stuff. Like if I convince myself to buy a MacBook, it’s so much more straight forward to just pick from the two to three options and just choose the specs rather than from the 200 Windows options. The same phenomenon is what happens to you when you try to start as a newbie finding bug.
3. The Smart ass vs. Dumb ass Dilemma
Believe it or not, sometimes it’s better to be a little “dumb” when you’re learning to code.
Let’s break it down with a Example
The “dumb” guy starts by learning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. He builds a basic website without fully understanding how these languages work under the hood. He gains confidence and keeps learning as he goes.
On the other hand, the “smart” guy spends time on theory, delving deep into the intricacies of concepts like hash maps before ever building anything. The result? He learns less than the “dumb” guy who’s busy creating and experimenting.
The moral of the story? Don’t aim for perfection or try to be the smartest person in the room. Start with a simple project, get your hands dirty, and learn through doing. Theory is valuable, but it’s most effective when applied to real-world problems you’ve encountered.
Let me break it for you as there are times when learning theory becomes useful but the right time to learn the theory is once you’ve already encountered ten situations where you don’t understand how use effects work for example. That is the time when you should go and okay, let me take 30 minutes to actually learn the foundations of how a user effect works for example.
So, let go of the need to be “smart”, be humble and embrace the process of becoming proficient. Build, add features, make mistakes, and keep learning.
Let me know which of these reasons you can relate to you the most in the comments down below.
Here in this blog, I shared the three biggest mistakes that I made and I really don’t want you to make them too. Also I just want you to know that it’s okay. I was there too. Even after you get over these three core reasons, you’re still prone to make lots of mistakes when you’re bringing it. So I highly recommend you go give it a shot live with the flow and until next time Happy Hacking!