Hollywood vs Reality

Hollywood vs. Reality: The Myths of Hacking

The Myth of the Hacker Genius Typist

• Hollywood Scene: Rapid, incomprehensible typing with flashy screens, as seen in Hackers (1995) and The Matrix (1999).

• Reality: Real hacking often involves research, patience, and the use of pre-existing tools like Metasploit, Nmap, or Wireshark. A large chunk of hacking involves writing scripts, analyzing vulnerabilities, and leveraging social engineering, which isn't as visually exciting.

The One-Person Show

• Hollywood Scene: Lone wolf hackers single-handedly bringing down corporations or governments (Mr. Robot, Live Free or Die Hard).

• Reality: Many attacks are carried out by teams with specialized roles. Ethical hacking teams use frameworks like the MITRE ATT&CK Matrix or OWASP Top Ten to structure their operations.

Instant Hacking with Fancy GUIs

• Hollywood Scene: Colorful interfaces with 3D visuals for cracking firewalls (Swordfish).

• Reality: Hacking tools typically have minimalistic, command-line interfaces. GUIs exist, but they’re rarely as dramatic.

The Unlimited Access Trope

• Hollywood Scene: Gaining access to any system in seconds.

• Reality: Penetration testing can take days, weeks, or even months. Successful hacks often exploit human error, like weak passwords or phishing scams.

The Clean Escape

• Hollywood Scene: Hackers break in, steal data, and vanish without a trace.

• Reality: Logs and forensic tools often track intrusions. Covering tracks is an essential but challenging aspect of hacking, often shown unrealistically in movies.

Hackers with Advanced Gadgets

• Hollywood Scene: Unique, futuristic hardware used for "breaking into the mainframe."

• Reality: Hackers primarily use standard computers, network analyzers, and other accessible devices. The "mainframe" is often an outdated term used incorrectly.

Resources for Learning About Real Hacking

1. Books:

   • The Art of Intrusion by Kevin Mitnick.

   • Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick.

   • Hacking: The Art of Exploitation by Jon Erickson.

2. Websites:

   • OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project)

   • Kali Linux Tools Documentation

   • Cybrary

3. Online Courses:

   • TryHackMe – Beginner to advanced hacking labs.

   • Hack The Box – Real-world penetration testing.

   • Udemy Ethical Hacking Courses

4. Communities:

   • Reddit: r/netsec

   • Twitter – Follow cybersecurity experts like @thegrugq.

5. Tools:

   • Metasploit Framework

   • Wireshark

   • Burp Suite

6. Certifications:

   • CompTIA Security+

   • Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

   • Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP)

Hollywood makes it look cool, its a patience game. Still beware of these things out there now that we are in a digital age. I will feature a blog soon about Mitnick so look out for that.