How old you have to be to become a Certified Hacker?

What do you study to become a hacker?

• I don't want to be a hacker, I am going to be a psychiatrist. But I just recently saw "The girl with the dragon tattoo" by David Fincher and the character Lisbeth portrayed an amazing hacker. What did she study? Is it programming or something else? And if someone studies "that" , couldn't anybody who studies it become a hacker? Or people just keep away because of trouble?

• Answer:

  The truth? A real hacker is a highly skilled individual with skills in electronics, computer programming, networking, machining, repair, generally a jack of all trades type and more. A hacker may or may not have a college degree or other formal education in the various fields he or she may be an expert in. By expert here, I mean the equivalent of an advanced degree in many cases. If you really want to know more about the subject, I suggest studying ethical hacking or penetration testing. And then you may also learn that "locks" of the various types only really keep honest people out. You can get into any place or any thing given enough time and often not so much money as some might lead you to believe. I wouldn't call anyone with a few piercings and a tattoo a freak. Imaginative artistic types tend to be a little outside of what average people describe as "normal". Going to be a psychiatrist? Maybe you should look a little deeper into what is "normal" and what is "average". Hackers are not average by any measure, but you'll find that most are relatively normal. Shadow Wolf