I enjoy the convenience of having all the hacker tools pre-compiled and installed in one location, but always advise to *not* use BT as a production system.

1) It's bloated with apps, which increase risks to the system
2) I'm paranoid and don't trust others to compile my apps

If all you are doing is browsing and email, BT 4 is overkill... And so would be Win7. Buy an iPod touch or iPad. Even if you want to play with hacker tools, the Touch and iPad still fit your requirements.

Absolutely true - from what I've been told by attendees at the other offerings, anything you choose will be beneficial and educational - I haven't really heard or run across any training in this field that was sub-par... it is just a matter of what you want to learn and your own personal learning style.

Good luck with your future!

Just to interject in your thought process, people who sign up for the heorot.net courses also gain access to the hackingdojo.com classes during their enrollment. Although many people prefer (and have chosen) to *not* attend the hackingdojo.com classes (because of learning styles), there are others who have signed up specifically because they can attend both - that way they get both the heorot.net videos and the hackingdojo.com live classes.

The class does indeed use Skype to conduct the live portion of the course; however I do record a class each week and put the video online for the students to view at their convenience; I actually have students that only watch the videos instead of attending the classes. As for attendance in the classes, not required or expected - and another reason for me to provide videos (this last week, attendance was lower, undoubtedly due to the MLB playoffs).

As for the programming portion of the class, I am actually still deciding between perl and python.

Seems my last announcement has stirred up interest in the novice level training at hackingdojo.com, so I'm going to send out feelers to the community and see what the demand is; the class will cover the following topics:

    * Programming Languages
    * Education and Certifications
    * Operating Systems
    * Virtual Machines and Labs

The cost for the classes is the same as all the other levels ($95/mo.), and the hour-long classes will be running on Wednesdays. If you are interested in attending, please send me a private message on this site, or contact me via email at twilhelm [at] heorot [dot] net... if there's enough interest I'll get people signed up and get the class moving. Fair enough?

I rarely put myself in the spotlight, and I don't want this post to appear so... but last year I was a guest star on the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition show, which focused on the struggles of a cancer survivor. Well, that episode won an award a couple weeks ago - information about the award can be found here: http://bit.ly/aULk1N

For those interested in helping others, consider the Be the Match foundation... And to make this post hacker-related, marrow transplants are one of the coolest body hacks out there. And if you come to DefCon 19, swing by the Be the Match booth in the contest area where I'll again be signing up people for the registry!

HackingDojo.com has opened up the 2D Nidan (Intermediate) training class, and testing has begun for some students currently enrolled in the 1D Shodan Fundamentals class. I am still limiting enrollment for the Dojo to 100 students, so if anyone is interested in taking the more advanced courses, now would be a better time to enroll than later, when the class capacity has been met (hint hint).

Oh, and new twitter feed: http://twitter.com/hackingdojo

If you're going to do this on your own, I would suggest starting with the fundamentals, and learn the methodology. I suggest for those starting out to pick up a copy of the ISSAF and go from there.

Actually, there are some additional tutorials for the hackerdemia disk, but I have not released them; they were created by, and for, students at the college where I teach. I have always been willing to accept people's tutorials to be added to the disk, so if you find yourself with nothing to do on a saturday night, you are welcome to write one up and send it to me.  =)

As for the difference between the two disks, the hackerdemia is designed to teach tools. The de-ice disks are targets to learn / practice / challenge your skills at hacking.

Just wanted to provide people with an update to what is happening at the hackingdojo.com... I've been getting repetitive emails, so want to spread the info at one time instead of one email at a time.

1) We still have openings. Classes are definitely filling up, but there's still plenty of room; once we get to 100 people though, I will only be accepting stand-by requests, and those will only be accepted once a student moves up to an advance level or someone quits.

2) To get to the upper level courses, students have to start at the first level. I won't be opening up the upper levels to the public - the slots for the upper level courses are reserved for students

3) There is no time requirement before someone can move up to the higher levels. The class is only in its second week, and I will be testing students within a few days who have expressed an interest to move onto more advanced topics.

4) Classes are being held in both the evening and during the day (one hour in length) - chances are there is a time slot open that meets your schedule. If not, just ask.

5) We are using Skype for the online, live portion of the class - meaning the calls are free. I have one student that cannot access skype (from the UAE) - in his case, I'm trying to set up a VPN that will allow him to connect.

6) Cost for the class is the same throughout all levels - $95 a month.

7) Because life injects itself and forces some people to miss classes, I am recording them as I go. They are to be made available to students only, so that they don't miss out on the information provided each week.

ok, I think that's everything. For more information about the courses and to sign up, just visit:

http://hackingdojo.com

alucian -

Got it, and I'll be sending you an email in the morning; I will want to talk with you for about half an hour to understand what you want out of the class, background, etc, so I can tailor the live training to meet your needs... so think about what might be a good time to talk (via Skype).

I hate programming as well. Over time I have found that (unfortunately) understanding programming becomes more important in more advanced skills, especially reverse engineering. It's just one of the essentials that cannot be avoided.  >:-/ I wish it could be - I started out as a perl jockey since that was the most that was required for a solaris sysadmin. OO programming frustrates me.

Recently I asked for volunteers for a new project that I wanted to launch. I had asked for volunteers, and had quite a few people step up to help contribute. However, over time, life draws attention away from pet projects and back to real-world issues. Such was the case for the new project - after a couple months, although there was a desire, the project languished and is now a lost cause.

Therefore, I went with plan "B"

I have created a new hacker training web site, which can be found at:

http://hackingdojo.com

Since this site is just starting out, I have limited enrollment to only 100 people interested in learning the fundamentals of hacking. Access to the training is through monthly subscription, and includes a surprising list of advantages simply not found at other training sites, including weekly, live instruction with the instructor (me).

The training at the site is based on the concept of a martial art "dojo," or classroom. Each week, students will be given live instruction as well as access to video, tools, etc. If students have questions, there is a direct (live if requested) way to contact the instructor to obtain answers. Once a student has mastered and demonstrated a set of skills, they can be advanced to the next level of training.

This is a new concept in hacker training, but has worked for centuries in other arenas. I figured this would be a great opportunity to provide those interested in learning how to perform penetration tests a different way of learning.

For those people interested in finding out more, here are a couple links that might satiate your curiosity:

http://hackingdojo.com/faqs/
http://hackingdojo.com/now-enrolling/

Again, I am limiting the number of enrollments to 100 students, and will only be taking those who need to start out with the fundamentals.

I will be happy to answer any questions you might have. Classes begin October 1 - online, live training is held at various times throughout the week, in order to accommodate people's schedules.


Oh, and buy my new book - Ninja Hacking 

I have role models...

http://www.nopantsday.com/