In response to - http://thehowlersden2010.blogspot.com/2010/03/hackforumsnet.html
Let me start off by saying I am a lurker of HackForums, I do not post as I do not have much free time, however I am there to learn and educate myself. I am not involved much into the community but this is common sense. HackForums is and will always remain a white hat site. The site will and does not condone blackhat (or in other terms) illegal activity, everything there is for educational purposes and to inform. If you chose to use this information (as with everything else on the internet) in an illegal manner, then why should HackForums be held liable? The administrator of the site has ensured that the site is 100% legal with the help of his legal team, as he has mentioned in the emails, is it not obvious that the FBI and other authorities are aware of it? The adminstrator at one point even had his WHOIS information public, if he was running an illegal site, do you really think he would allow it to remain public?
Moving onto the second picture, those are all what most people call "skiddies" who have no idea how hacking works. Do you not believe they're legitimate reasons for having personal emails hacked? It's all about where you draw the moral line. Counter Strike Hacks? Really? You're going to get all whiney about game hack/patches...lol k.
Now, about the picture refering to staying safe (hackforums8.png/hackforums9.png), let me explain something to you. Hackers are split into three groups
White Hat: These hackers are usually hackers who have turned from blackhat and now use their knowledge of hacking to protect and secure systems.
Grey Hat: These hackers are in the middle. They have knowledge of both securing and comprimising systems. Whether they use these skills for good or bad is unknown.
Black Hat: These are the ones you don't want to fuck around with, their only aim is to comprimise and cause damage. They do it because they cant.
Now, most of the hackers on HackForums are White/Grey. You will hardly find any blackhats on there and the ones you will find are not a part of the community but rather just use the site as an news outlet (mainly the bragging section, hackers such as T3es). Most hackers will have to follow these "rules of conduct" simply because we would be persecuted by idiots like you who don't understand. Let's take the example of Gary Mckinnon. He penetrated government property, looking for information on UFOs. He was caught, extradited and is being sentenced in the USA.
Firstly, Gary Mckinnon is autistic, thus he is disabled in a sense. This is not an excuse but it must be taken into consideration, Gary's intention was not to cause damage but to gain information. Secondly, he was extradited for no reason, he should've been trialed under UK law where the appropiate action would be taken. Do you see US Soilders being extradited back to Iraq for war crimes they have commited? No, because the US thinks they are above everyone and know for a fact that the soilders would probably be executed according to Iraq law. Rather than hiring Gary as a security consultant and fixing the problem, what do they do? Arrest him because that's all they can do. Hackers are constantly persecuted for no reason and it's not fair they should have to live under anonimity because the rest of you don't understand. I now quote the Hackers Manifesto "My crime is that of curiosty, that of outsmarting you, something which you will never forgive me for". This is exactly the case of Gary and various other hackers.
Secondly, the PayPal "minupilation" is an EXAMPLE of not admitting to your "crimes". You must not understand the system, PayPal would easily notice a fradulent transaction and get the money back to the original owner. It's just a hypothetical scenario. Incase you didn't know, PayPal monitor HackForums as well and ALL PayPal fraud is banned on HackForums and has been from the start.
Thirdly, your concern about stealing walmart items. The information is there to inform, and not to be used illegaly, if it is "fraud" then all you needed to do was report the post, an admin/moderator would've reviewed it and most likley removed the post. Once again, spreading viruses - this tutorial was posted to inform. Let me explain something to you, if this information is there, don't you think security experts and regular users can use this to PROTECT themselves against their methods? Learn to use logical information, as I've said before the adminstrator's legal team have made sure NOTHING on the site is illegal.
I'll end with, once again HackForums.net is 100% legal and has been made sure by the adminstrator's legal team. If you think it is illegal, then feel free to contact the appropiate authorities and they will take, if any, action.
- The Exposer.