Exclusive Interview of Rahul Tyagi: Author of Hacking Crux 2
Source: Softpedia
Rahul Tyagi, a respected ethical hacker from India, is about to release his latest work, a book called Hacking Crux 2. This is meant as a guide to anyone who wants to learn about hacking and defending themselves and others against cybercriminal plots.
Because the book looks very promising, we have decided to interview the author to find out more about his work and his new creation. Besides discussing his contributions to the IT security industry, Tyagi also shared his insight regarding the fact that many Indian ethical hackers are called fakes.
Softpedia: Please introduce yourself for our readers.
Rahul Tyagi: My name is Rahul Tyagi and I am 24 years old. I am a person for whom work is more important than anything in the world. I was born in a middle class family in Gurdaspur, a small city in Punjab. My father is an accountant and my mother is a housewife. I love to interact with new people and share knowledge.
At the age of 17 my father brought the first PC to my home for his accounting work. I remember spending hours on my father's computer, getting in trouble for messing things up. It occurred to me that the only way you really learn about something is by breaking it, then fixing it.
I am Lapi-Worm kinda person who works 24/7 on a laptop for many days without sleep. My mind always thinks of something, my mind never stays free. Because one thing I learnt in my life: a free mind is the house of Ghost. I admire Steve Jobs and I want to contribute to the cyber society just like him.
Softpedia: Please introduce yourself for our readers.
Rahul Tyagi: My name is Rahul Tyagi and I am 24 years old. I am a person for whom work is more important than anything in the world. I was born in a middle class family in Gurdaspur, a small city in Punjab. My father is an accountant and my mother is a housewife. I love to interact with new people and share knowledge.
At the age of 17 my father brought the first PC to my home for his accounting work. I remember spending hours on my father's computer, getting in trouble for messing things up. It occurred to me that the only way you really learn about something is by breaking it, then fixing it.
I am Lapi-Worm kinda person who works 24/7 on a laptop for many days without sleep. My mind always thinks of something, my mind never stays free. Because one thing I learnt in my life: a free mind is the house of Ghost. I admire Steve Jobs and I want to contribute to the cyber society just like him.
Softpedia: What qualifies you as an ethical hacker? Tell us about your previous experience and studies.
Rahul Tyagi: Well, first I will try to explain the meaning and responsibility of an ethical hacker. According to me, an ethical hacker is a computer geek, who obviously thinks more out of the box than other computer lovers. The main responsibility of an ethical hacker is to protect people from the cyber space attacks.
Protection can be at corporate level by securing their servers, by patching the web vulnerabilities or maybe securing a common mans Gmail account by adding two-step verification on his/her account.
I think I have trained more than 10,000 people from all around the world physically and online in the last 7 years, and today if they are using their computers and internet freely without any problems then I think my work is done.
I did my pre schooling from my hometown. I have obtained a bachelors degree in Computer Applications at the Punjab Technical University. After my three year graduation I got admitted to Indias largest university, the Lovely Professional University (LPU) for my masters, i.e, Master in Computer Applications (MCA), and that was my lifes best decision.
At LPU I learned a lot because there I found the best infrastructure required for penetration testing. I hacked into LPUs University Management System twice and found much vulnerability in the network, but instead of doing harm I reported the vulnerability to the authorities there.
In my 5th semester of masters I got placed in TCIL-IT Chandigarh as their brand ambassador and that was something big for me. Later I was selected as Vice-President of Cyber Security and Anti-Hacking Org India. Last, but not least, I am working as the Technical Head at the News Paper Association of India.
For the past two years I have been associated with DEF CON India meets and I was one of the leading speakers in DEF CON Chennai, where I presented my paper named Busting Windows in Backtrack 5 and DEF CON Rajasthan, where I presented my paper called The Endless Fight with Global Cyber Crime.
This month you can see my article in one of the reputable security magazines named Pen Test.
Softpedia: Tell us a little bit about your new book Hacking Crux 2. What IT security topics does it cover?
Rahul Tyagi: Hacking Crux 2 is a book which is like a mirror of me. Everything that I learned in the past Ive put into this book. I had many issues with the content of the book, but after 8 months of blood burn effort from my part and my publisher, Mr. Dev, I am happy to present Hacking Crux 2.
Initially I wanted to publish it in January, but after that I decided to make it more knowledgeable and I tried to cover every aspect related to computer security in it. We tried to make this a lively book, having 90% screenshots for the readers so that it will be easy for them to implement testing by just watching the pictures, rather than reading theory.
Here are the chapters of the book:
1. Introduction to Ethical Hacking
2. Information Gathering
3. Advance Google Hacking
4. Trojan and Backdoors
5. Binder and Crypters
6. Website Hacking Techniques
7. Spamming Techniques
8. Email Hacking and Countermeasures
9. Advance System Hacking
10. Steganography Terrorists Way
11. Basics of Python for Coders
12. Virus and Worms
13. Proxy Servers ad VPN
14. Exploit Launching with Perl
15. Advance Mobile Hacking
16. Wireless Attacks
17. Penetration Testing With Backtrack 5 R1
We have a total of 17 chapters covering every possible ethical hacking module. The main highlighted topics of the book are Binder and Crypters, Advance System Hacking, Email Hacking and Countermeasures, Exploit Launching in Perl, Advance Mobile Hacking , Penetration Testing With Backtrack 5, and, last but not least, my favorite, Basics of Python.
This is the first book on ethical hacking ever published in India having so many chapters at such a small price, i.e. INR150 , under 5 USD.
I tried to make this book as informative as possible so that after reading this book no one will need to join any expensive ethical hacking courses. If you believe my words, then Hacking Crux 2 contains all you ever need and wish to know about the so-called Ethical Hacking.
Softpedia: When will the book be released and where will it be available?
Rahul Tyagi: We are trying to publish it worldwide through eBay, Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal to our international readers before May 15. Indian readers can get this book from any nearby bookstore starting with the last week of May or the first week of June. Also, online purchasing options like Flipkart and Snapdeal will be available.
And if someone is facing any problems then they can send an order to [email protected].
Softpedia: In the past period many Indian ethical hackers have been named fakes and mere marketing stunts. On the other hand, we have white hats, such as Himanshu Sharma, who try to wash away this stained reputation gained by many Indian security experts. What makes you different from the fakes? What do you hope to achieve with this book and with your work?
Rahul Tyagi: If you talk about Himanshu, then yes, he is like my younger brother. Even though he is younger than me, I still respect his talent from the bottom of my heart.
Now, lets talk about some fake hackers. According to me, there are some reasons why people call some Indian ethical hackers fake.
The first reason is that many ethical hackers claim to be great in their work, but if you talk about statistics, then they are ZERO. You can take a look at attrition.org.
They exposed many ethical hackers who were just fooling people with ethical hacking courses, but in reality the things they teach are just internet filtering techniques and tricks, which, from my point of view, are not going to help any person get a reputed job in any company.
Thats why those who have done the ethical hacking certification from these kinds of hackers later abuse them and say that they were fake hackers, who cheated them.
The second reason is that people from the cyber world these days are becoming smarter day by day. They are bored with traditional hacking tricks, hacking websites with SQL Injection, NETBUS, Proxy servers and other noobish things, which today anyone can do even at the age of 10. So if you are repeating the same and same thing from 2000 to 2012, then obviously you deserve the tag of fake hacker.
As far as I am concerned, its not that I dont have critics, but today almost all white hat and black hat communities know me, respect me and motivate me. I have many friends from both black and white hat communities who from time to time help me upgrade myself.
This is why I was the first white hat ethical hacking trainer who spoke at DEF CON meets in India. My paper is there in Exploit-DB and Packetstorm Security and if you compare this fact with the ethical hackers tagged as fakes, they dont submit any papers and they never dare to enter into conferences like DEF CON and NULLCON.
The only thing that makes me different from other ethical hackers is that I do not forget my past, from where I rose. Even though I have 38k followers on Twitter and 5k friends on Facebook , I reply to every possible query they ask me.
I also believe in contributing with new stuff to cyber space, hence a few months back, I released a full Python language-learning course on YouTube and it was the first ever basic Python video lectures series made by an Indian ethical hacker.
With all this I dont think anyone can say I am a fake hacker. If anyone wants to say that, I ask him/her to compare my contribution with the ones of other fake ethical hackers and, they will get their answer automatically.
Finally, I hope my new book Hacking Crux 2 will help you to learn all the hidden areas of ethical hacking, especially ones that are never revealed by any ethical hacker, ever. I promise that if you trust me and buy this book you will thank me for sure.
You can contact me on: Facebook, Twitter or by e-mail.
Rahul Tyagi: Well, first I will try to explain the meaning and responsibility of an ethical hacker. According to me, an ethical hacker is a computer geek, who obviously thinks more out of the box than other computer lovers. The main responsibility of an ethical hacker is to protect people from the cyber space attacks.
Protection can be at corporate level by securing their servers, by patching the web vulnerabilities or maybe securing a common mans Gmail account by adding two-step verification on his/her account.
I think I have trained more than 10,000 people from all around the world physically and online in the last 7 years, and today if they are using their computers and internet freely without any problems then I think my work is done.
I did my pre schooling from my hometown. I have obtained a bachelors degree in Computer Applications at the Punjab Technical University. After my three year graduation I got admitted to Indias largest university, the Lovely Professional University (LPU) for my masters, i.e, Master in Computer Applications (MCA), and that was my lifes best decision.
At LPU I learned a lot because there I found the best infrastructure required for penetration testing. I hacked into LPUs University Management System twice and found much vulnerability in the network, but instead of doing harm I reported the vulnerability to the authorities there.
In my 5th semester of masters I got placed in TCIL-IT Chandigarh as their brand ambassador and that was something big for me. Later I was selected as Vice-President of Cyber Security and Anti-Hacking Org India. Last, but not least, I am working as the Technical Head at the News Paper Association of India.
For the past two years I have been associated with DEF CON India meets and I was one of the leading speakers in DEF CON Chennai, where I presented my paper named Busting Windows in Backtrack 5 and DEF CON Rajasthan, where I presented my paper called The Endless Fight with Global Cyber Crime.
This month you can see my article in one of the reputable security magazines named Pen Test.
Softpedia: Tell us a little bit about your new book Hacking Crux 2. What IT security topics does it cover?
Rahul Tyagi: Hacking Crux 2 is a book which is like a mirror of me. Everything that I learned in the past Ive put into this book. I had many issues with the content of the book, but after 8 months of blood burn effort from my part and my publisher, Mr. Dev, I am happy to present Hacking Crux 2.
Initially I wanted to publish it in January, but after that I decided to make it more knowledgeable and I tried to cover every aspect related to computer security in it. We tried to make this a lively book, having 90% screenshots for the readers so that it will be easy for them to implement testing by just watching the pictures, rather than reading theory.
Here are the chapters of the book:
1. Introduction to Ethical Hacking
2. Information Gathering
3. Advance Google Hacking
4. Trojan and Backdoors
5. Binder and Crypters
6. Website Hacking Techniques
7. Spamming Techniques
8. Email Hacking and Countermeasures
9. Advance System Hacking
10. Steganography Terrorists Way
11. Basics of Python for Coders
12. Virus and Worms
13. Proxy Servers ad VPN
14. Exploit Launching with Perl
15. Advance Mobile Hacking
16. Wireless Attacks
17. Penetration Testing With Backtrack 5 R1
We have a total of 17 chapters covering every possible ethical hacking module. The main highlighted topics of the book are Binder and Crypters, Advance System Hacking, Email Hacking and Countermeasures, Exploit Launching in Perl, Advance Mobile Hacking , Penetration Testing With Backtrack 5, and, last but not least, my favorite, Basics of Python.
This is the first book on ethical hacking ever published in India having so many chapters at such a small price, i.e. INR150 , under 5 USD.
I tried to make this book as informative as possible so that after reading this book no one will need to join any expensive ethical hacking courses. If you believe my words, then Hacking Crux 2 contains all you ever need and wish to know about the so-called Ethical Hacking.
Softpedia: When will the book be released and where will it be available?
Rahul Tyagi: We are trying to publish it worldwide through eBay, Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal to our international readers before May 15. Indian readers can get this book from any nearby bookstore starting with the last week of May or the first week of June. Also, online purchasing options like Flipkart and Snapdeal will be available.
And if someone is facing any problems then they can send an order to [email protected].
Softpedia: In the past period many Indian ethical hackers have been named fakes and mere marketing stunts. On the other hand, we have white hats, such as Himanshu Sharma, who try to wash away this stained reputation gained by many Indian security experts. What makes you different from the fakes? What do you hope to achieve with this book and with your work?
Rahul Tyagi: If you talk about Himanshu, then yes, he is like my younger brother. Even though he is younger than me, I still respect his talent from the bottom of my heart.
Now, lets talk about some fake hackers. According to me, there are some reasons why people call some Indian ethical hackers fake.
The first reason is that many ethical hackers claim to be great in their work, but if you talk about statistics, then they are ZERO. You can take a look at attrition.org.
They exposed many ethical hackers who were just fooling people with ethical hacking courses, but in reality the things they teach are just internet filtering techniques and tricks, which, from my point of view, are not going to help any person get a reputed job in any company.
Thats why those who have done the ethical hacking certification from these kinds of hackers later abuse them and say that they were fake hackers, who cheated them.
The second reason is that people from the cyber world these days are becoming smarter day by day. They are bored with traditional hacking tricks, hacking websites with SQL Injection, NETBUS, Proxy servers and other noobish things, which today anyone can do even at the age of 10. So if you are repeating the same and same thing from 2000 to 2012, then obviously you deserve the tag of fake hacker.
As far as I am concerned, its not that I dont have critics, but today almost all white hat and black hat communities know me, respect me and motivate me. I have many friends from both black and white hat communities who from time to time help me upgrade myself.
This is why I was the first white hat ethical hacking trainer who spoke at DEF CON meets in India. My paper is there in Exploit-DB and Packetstorm Security and if you compare this fact with the ethical hackers tagged as fakes, they dont submit any papers and they never dare to enter into conferences like DEF CON and NULLCON.
The only thing that makes me different from other ethical hackers is that I do not forget my past, from where I rose. Even though I have 38k followers on Twitter and 5k friends on Facebook , I reply to every possible query they ask me.
I also believe in contributing with new stuff to cyber space, hence a few months back, I released a full Python language-learning course on YouTube and it was the first ever basic Python video lectures series made by an Indian ethical hacker.
With all this I dont think anyone can say I am a fake hacker. If anyone wants to say that, I ask him/her to compare my contribution with the ones of other fake ethical hackers and, they will get their answer automatically.
Finally, I hope my new book Hacking Crux 2 will help you to learn all the hidden areas of ethical hacking, especially ones that are never revealed by any ethical hacker, ever. I promise that if you trust me and buy this book you will thank me for sure.
You can contact me on: Facebook, Twitter or by e-mail.
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