Hacking 101

Almost 10 years have passed since the infamous ‘Learn to Hack’ feature got us in trouble with Barnes & Noble, but just in case let’s start with a warning. The word “hacking” has unfortunately been co-opted by the media and entertainment industries, where it’s repeatedly used to denote any and all illegal activities done on a computer. The traditional (and correct!) usage refers to much more honourable pastimes: tinkering, reimagining and making machines behave in a way other than how they were designed to behave.

Wait, that wasn’t a warning. This is though: whatever you learn in this feature, be aware that inappropriate use of computers can land you in a lot of trouble. Some of the tools featured here can do real damage. It’s also simple