Gatekeeping

Gatekeeping:

So lastnight I came across an amusing Hackthebox image that had a beartrap with a energy drink, a black hoodie, and a Flipper Zero inside with the caption "Trap a hacker". The first post was something to the effect of "The Flipper Zero is a child's toy no REAL hacker would use that".

This reminded me of the elitist, gatekeeping attitudes in the 80's and 90's for the Linux and hacking communities. Asking a simple question often times resulted in "figure it out n00b", "GTFO if you don't know how to run X from terminal", and the like. This didn't do a lot to grow a already small community, it helped alienate people looking to learn, grow, and get started.

Things obviously changed over the years with open classes, certifications, events, etc. all over the place (including awesome places like Hackthebox, Kase, THM, etc.). Yet there still are people who have to be elitists....

I'm a long time hacker and do OSINT investigations, I also own a Flipper Zero and various Hak5 tools. I find these to be incredibly handy tools (and yes, I have programmed loads of Aurduino nano's to run like a Hak5 USB Rubber Ducky). I don't think convenience should be mistaken for a lack of skill. Nor a way to help onboard people learning penetration testing and hacking as a worthless childish endeavor.

People start from different places, have access to different resources, and don't always learn the same as you do. For people that have been in this space for a while, we need to remember this. For people new or trying to come over it's important to know that no one knew everything going in, we all had to learn just like everyone else. If you learn a little slower, need a little extra help, that's ok. Stick with it, ask questions and keep learning and growing.

Oh, almost forgot. For the people out there who call certain tools children's toy's and how l33t hax0rs don't use "toys", I guess the OG's forgot about this ACTUAL toy that was used for hacking for a bit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Draper

And those of you who are either too young or never had a chance to get one: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2630646