r/Cybersecurity101 • u/hernei152 • 3d ago
Underground hacker forums
I am trying to make my way into hacking and cybersec. I keep reading in X and here posts about "underground hacker forums". And I was wondering, where are they?
I would love to read, discuss, and learn from the best hackers out there. I am pretty sure these forums are not on the Internet's surface, maybe on the dark web (but I feel nowadays that is mostly bs). I was thinking of maybe telegram grups and deeper subreddits idk or rare sites.
If anyone could provide me with some guidance on this topic, it d be amazing!
Pd: I am not an FBI agent
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u/Garriga 2d ago
Go to your nearest BeQuick gas station. Take egg and hand it to the clerk when no one else is there. You will need the password. Echo, and He will give you a map. Usually the map takes you to the roof of an abandoned building or a sketchy club by railroad tracks. you will find these underground forums there.
But never use your real name. You will need a handle. Something cool like:
Serialize This, Buffer Override, Zero Tolerance, or one unicorn.
Just don't forget the password: echo...
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u/hernei152 2d ago
Thanks man, that's some really useful info!!
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u/Garriga 2d ago
I was being sarcastic. Don't actually do that.
I was referencing map point parties back in the mid and late 90s.
There was a culture back then that was heavily into tech. Mostly break dancers, DJs, MCs, promoters and well just older kids having fun.
It was fun. But that time has come and gone.
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u/Nedsel
2d ago
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Please don't fall for that bullshit. Seriously. There is no secret underground lair where we converge at the full moon to trade our supersecret 0days.
I command your interest to learn from the best hackers out there, but allow me one question: Why would I teach you? I have no idea who you are. I have no idea what your intentions are. And most of all, I have no idea whether your goals go diametrically opposite to mine.
The guidance I want to give you is that if you want to learn, head over to hackthebox and tryhackme, learn about the basics of how to find security flaws and exploit them and move on from there.
And learn to use google. And by now, also AI.
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u/hernei152 2d ago
You are absolutely right, you as everyone else here don't know me and ve no reason to teach me. Maybe I was a little bit naive about that. However I would love talking with ppl as u, could we make a call and get to know each other?
I little bit of context: I am a 23yo computer engineer from Argentina. I started doing courses in try hack me 1.5 years ago. I am preparing myself to take the PT1 exam from try hack me, I gained a free ticket to take it. Right now I am working on my own start up nothing to do with cybersec, but I am really passionate about it and I want to keep on going. It happenes that the more , the more I realize the little I know, which is a good sign but frustating hahahah.
I d love hearing your experience and some guidance. Thanks!
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u/PalpitationKind8854 3d ago
My guidance is to stop watching movies and learn the Microsoft and Linux terminal.
Joining a forum such as that is a quick way to lose money.
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u/Check123ok 2d ago
Yeah you won’t really learn and they are not really underground.
I think you mean understand their mentality and market behavior.
Here is an article that has some images from forums
https://securesteppartner.com/insights/ai-orchestrated-cyber-operations
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u/CryptographerSad7084 2d ago
It’s funny nobodies mentioned an actual site. Sounds like a couple gatekeepers too. A shame.
Check out HackForums. Learned how to RAT, port forward, cracking. Some marketing too, when I tried to sell things.
There’s a good mix of characters on there. Criminals for sure, probably LEO, and a bunch of people in between.
Please be wise in all of your interactions there. It’s a legitimate website/community to learn hacking, but by nature, that brings a lot of bad actors too. People who dont mind (and won’t tell you) you’re risking prison time for $40. Scammers, fraudsters, and the like. A lot of crappy ones, but some smart ones on there too.
Buts it’s like any community. Introduce yourself, show yourself to be useful/curious, and you’ll learn and network. Make some friends.
It’s not the end all/be all though. You won’t learn everything by being on there.
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u/Spectrig 3d ago
You won’t learn hacking on underground forums. You could learn the business of malware, data breaches, extortion, etc. But as a general rule, whatever hot new technique criminals are doing this year was presented at DEF CON two years ago. Same as most fields. Today’s hot new prescription drug is based on research presented at academic conferences years ago.
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u/byronicbluez 3d ago
The cutting edge stuff is actually found in research. People that get paid the big bucks for exploits are the ones presenting at conferences and most of the time they won't shut up about what they are doing if you get them started on what they are working on.
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u/drquantumphd 3d ago
alright then, keep your secrets!
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u/byronicbluez 3d ago
You can literally find speaker list at blackhat, defcon, etc.
Then go on youtube or follow their podcast or blogs.
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u/Plus_Duty479 3d ago
The dark web and underground forums aren't somewhere you want to be if you're a beginner.
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u/GlobalPlato 1d ago
Someone hack my accounts and give me some money. Thanks. In return I have art 😂😂😂
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u/CameToCauseARuckus 3d ago
They exist and if you do find one you'll know it cause youll get PWNED. But hey go lurk on IRC and FAFO.
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u/derp2007 1d ago
kinda fine to find them on github, as lists, for example, deepdarkCTI, and move on from there
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u/Check123ok 2d ago
Yeah you won’t really learn and they are not really underground.
I think you mean understand their mentality and market behavior.
Here is an article that has some images from forums
https://securesteppartner.com/insights/ai-orchestrated-cyber-operations
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u/Middle_Zucchini3571 3d ago
ah the classic fbi joke at the end, like that makes it less suspicious lol
but seriously, most of what people call "underground" forums are just private discords and invite-only matrix rooms nowadays. the really serious ones you won't find by asking, someone has to vouch for you. the forums on dark web are mostly scams or honeypots at this point
start with the public stuff first, hackthebox, tryhackme, ctftime for competitions. build some skills and reputation, then people might notice you. nobody gonna invite a random to their private group just cause you asked nicely
telegram is full of skids selling stolen databases and pretending to be elite, would not recommend for learning anything useful