hacker.org

I'm a web developer, and want to start learning more about internet security. A few others I know in the field said that the best way to learn how secure is your system is to hack it. Everything else up to this point I have been able to find a book and read up on it, but this is new to me. A good hacker seems to be more of an artist. The abstract ways they can use to get through a system is amazing.

Anyway, I'm looking for some starter materials or ideas where to start. I know XHTML, CSS (which I know won't help me here), JavaScript, PHP, SQL and am learning C++, Java and for fun some assembly for Linux. Everything I've done for a large part has been more aesthetic then anything, but it has gotten boring fast. What other languages should I verse myself in? Also, if you have any ideas of materials that I can read up on that would be great. The desire to hack is way different then the ability to think like a hacker, and the latter I don't really have any experience in.

Thanks

1. Go to Amazon.com
2. Look up the subject you want to learn about under the books category.
3. Sort by best selling.
4. Get the best selling book of that category, using whatever method you choose.
5. Read it

The Web Application Hacker's Handbook looks like reasonable choice. I haven't read it but from contents it looks like it covers most common vulnerabilities.
But, if you know every language you listed you can go pretty far with a bit of thinking.

niteria, thanks for the suggestion. That's more of what I was looking for, a specific book to read. If you go to Amazon and type in tcp/ip you get 13,002 results. If anyone else has any books that they have read and felt that it was a help, let me know. Thanks.

If you want to go professional you will have to learn to invest in your career by learning tools such as Amazon's search and directory feature (there is a TCP/IP bestselling category). Here is the link to the best selling TCPIP books on Amazon (Searching for TCP/IP will return all results that contain IP and all that contain TCP, so you have to search for "TCPIP" which will give you what you want). The "Dummies" book may be #1, but you may want something more advanced, such as this

http://www.amazon.com/TCP-Guide-Compreh ... F8&s=books

Best selling list:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/bo ... b_1_5_last


The other book niteria mentioned is reasonable as it has received good reviews (but the authors who wrote it haven't written any other books).

Good luck with your search.