I get asked this question all the time.  I usually answer that you need 2 things to be a great hacker. One is patients and the other is a lot of spare time!  If on the other hand you are the impatient type with little free time, well forget it!  I remember one of my first attempts with installing a simple driver in linux years ago. I kept trying over and over and never stopped until I got it working. I probably spent a day. That’s a hacker’s mentality!  I believe I read some place that a recent University data base was hacked and they believe the hacker spent 1 year trying to get in!  Talk about being patient!  Given enough time, a lot of systems can be breached one way or another. That’s one of the biggest disadvantages for most Admins. They often have little extra time and can be over worked. That’s a dream come true for the average teenage script kiddie. 

Sup Oyle!

another good trait of a hacker is not to completely bodyslam your PC with your windows BSOD's on you...even though you really really want to.

all kidding aside, a good hacker will work to figure out solutions to problems even with easier (while not as good) solutions exist.

i got my start into being more than a user with computers by having a windows NT computer at school.  Tech supports fix was to wipe everything and reinstall (bye bye data) every time there was the slightest problem.  After a couple of times of that i started figuring out how to fix the problem myself and thus started me down my road of thousands of lost hours starting a the computer and tons of caffeine.

Exactly right. Next time someone (works especially good with the elderly)asks you to look at their box, ask them what's wrong with it. Of course they'll tell you they don't know. Then you fix their machine. They ask you how you did that. You tell 'em,"piece a cake". or something similar. They're left scratching their heads wondering what you did, you just smile at 'em and walk away. Always leave 'em wondering. Then they tell their friends, and their friends tell and their friends......word-of-mouth, babee.

Computer? Who needs a computer to hack? I don't need no stinkin' computer. I want to hack something, I look for an old Coke machine, and hack that, instead. Keeps me in practice.

Oh boy. Tyra Banks is showing me how to jump a dead car battery.

'Sup, Kev.