It's what the subject says, I'm looking for someone who's willing to teach me everything there is to know about IT security and hacking.

At my last job, I learnt asp classic in two months at my last job under the wing of a guy who had learnt it in college. Despite doing everything I could at home (as I don't have money for courses or anything), I hadn't learnt in years what he taught me.

So, my question again, is anyone willing to take me under their wing (to as great an extent as possible over the net) and teach me about hacking and IT security? I'm very eager and willing.

Now that's just cruel and unusual punishment...

WebWarl0ck, if you want a mentor the best way to find one I've found is to research topics and techniques yourself. Over time as you prove yourself and build a rapport with those providing support and guidance the mentor/mentoree relationship comes naturally. If you put in the work and ask questions that require more complex answers than the first hit on Google then you should find the whole EH-net crowd as a mentor, we're all fairly friendly (mostly)

Don't know too many people that'd take someone under their wing following nothing more than a request, at least no-one I'd trust....

Yuppers. Get yourself a new bookshelf and fill it, go hit some conferences, buy Apollo a few rounds of something blue with an umbrella in it.

You may want to start out with:

Counterhack Reloaded
Grey Hat Hacking
Hacking Exposed 6

Also, work on your certs if you intend on a career in security...

My favorite!  I think that I would actually put this one in my top 10 books (including non-technical ones), period.

I thought I chimed in on this topic, but I guess not.

Look for a mentor in your current workplace.  Find the "security" guy and offer to take him to lunch (or at least buiy him some Dew).  See if he can guide you.  You can also start attending chapter meetings of security groups in your area (like ISSA, InfraGard, or even Windows or Linux user groups) or if you are in school find the computer club.

I am lucky enough to work at a huge corporation that pushed mentoring.  While I've done a lot pulling myself up by my boot straps I have gotten a lot of good advise from a mentor for certifications.  Now I am looking for a career mentor.

Good luck.

I'm also fairly new to the game, but from my experience, everybody here has got it right.  Start with some books and websites, try to build a basic understanding of what you're getting into.  Hacking and security can be a fairly wide subject, and it changes as new technologies become popular.  Some of the books I started with are: Hacking for Dummies, Grey Hat Hacking, and I'm getting into The Art of Exploitation.  Another book I enjoyed was The Art of Deception, as it sheds more light on a big side of hacking that other books only touch on lightly.  Your knowledge of the target is equally as important as knowing how to exploit it.  Building your knowledge of networking hardware, software, protocols, etc, will also help grasp how exploitation techniques.  To Pen Test networks, you need to understand how they work. There is definitely a lot of work ahead, but in this field, there's always a lot more to know.

-Laz3r

Yeah, or just go here, select China and now you have a test lab.... (not that I would recommend that, just throwing it out there as an option)