Computer Hoarders, Are Farmers For Hackers

#hoarding #hackers #cheap #testing #lab

Old computers pile up or get disposed up.  The memory of yesteryear on a floppy buried three miles deep in a land fill, or packed in the back of a garage waiting to re-emerge a phoenix of epic powers.  Sadly that phoenix reincarnation rarely ever happens, or most likely ever, but there are some funky uses believe it or not for these old computers.  I know what you're thinking "But it's slow and stupid why would anyone want it?"  Honestly?  To crack, to test, to hack, to break, to format the fundamentals of hacking.

Say what?  Sounds exactly like what I said, these old computers all to often pile up in peoples basements, or get tossed out, and people like myself and many others would love to have them, we'd love to put them on a shelf, plug in an old CRT and start doing stuff.  But they are old though right?  What exactly can such old hardware do?  The possibilities are honestly endless, install an older copy of a windows product on one, install some form of Linux, most likely DSL (damn small Linux) on it.  Dead, old, decaying computers are playgrounds for a novice in the hacker world.  For those who are unaware of how the file system functions, how a motherboard responds to excess voltage, for those who don't know the difference between a SIMM and a DIMM, these old systems act as a formidable starting point.

But why stop there?  As a hacker we need to test, we need to implement, we need size.  Testing how to hack a system is fine, but what about a network?  What about multiple networks?  Can't do that with just one.  Which is why I LOVE old computers, as should any hacker or want to be hacker, old used crap is cheap or free.  Getting ten workstations for under two-hundred dollars with a cisco switch, what can go wrong?  Sure the hardware is dated, sure the software is dated, the premise and the fundamentals can be learned here.  You don't need the newest i7 with sixty-four gigs of RAM and a one terabyte SSD to learn how a DDOS attack works.  Hell you aren't even capable of doing one without multiple systems.  A hacking central station doesn't have to be a super computer.

What I'm getting at here is this, people throw out old computers, there is a mentality that "this is old, its crap, get rid of it, no use selling it."  And almost everyone has it, kicked to curbs, thrown in truck beds, just kicked aside before they can find the right time to take the beast out to pasture.  Any hacker out there should offer these people a free disposal service because... that's reclaimed lumber to you, this is the slightly worn and dated foundation to your profession, feed upon that, use it to your advantage let it fuel you.  Let the old adage be true, one mans trash is another mans treasure, and trust me this "trash" is one hell of a gold mine.  Which there is gold inside if that is any incentive to pick them up... not much though, but it is 24-karat.

With the older antiquated systems, as I said you can formulate yourself a lab, which in this industry, or hobby, which ever you see it as, a hacking lab is absolute nirvana.  A place of serenity in an otherwise confusing world of electronics.  We feel comfortable here, this picture to the right can be built for free, or a couple hundred bucks.  A cockpit of total power, a command center of happy hackyness, a central hub of just education and clout.  Now all this looks good on the hackers end, for the newb in the tube if you will.  But what about those who are getting rid of these computers should they do any butt covering?

In short, absolutely.  Leaving a computer on the side of the road for trash day sounds like a brilliant idea, but data remains on those hard drives, websites visited, autosaved and autofill passwords in browsers.  To anyone throwing out a computer, or donating to a good cause (yes hackers count as a good cause), ALWAYS WIPE YOUR COMPUTER!!!  Or to be as through as possible, take out your hard drives.  And before anyone says "I have no use for old hard drives" trust me, if you do a quick google search, you can come up with countless uses for an old hard drive.  Things including coasters, clocks, mirrors, wind chimes, and even hard drives made of flash drives inside of hard drives (yeah let that sink in).  For example this is my desk mirror, old SCSI drive that has no use beyond making sure I don't have any weird seasonings in my teeth.  Plus I rubbed my fingers all over the platter so they are useless anyway.  (the dude abides)

TL;DR, dont throw away old computers, learn to hack on them, horde them, take them from people who are throwing them out, make networks, and learn learn learn.  And as always, be safe my goblins.

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