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Where and how the heck do I start to learn to hack and learn to secure myself? I know this is a very basic question but I cant seem to find the right words.....what do I need to learn? where do I need to start? thats truly all I know...:( but would appreciate anyknowledge given thanks
Hacking wise, Click Here, awesome site, you'll learn everything that you need to know about how to hack that. Securing yourself, just read through previous posts here, or check out the tutorials index Here or the Tutorials section Here. This should suit you just well for now if your pretty new to the security world.
In response to your first question may I suggest happyhacker for all you could ever want to know about what hacking is....
Regarding your second question review this sites newbie sections here is
a quick and basic step by step for securing your Windows computer from the Internet.
This assumes that your computer is still virgin and has not been compromised in any way before you begin.
For basic lockdown of you computer I suggest this software.
Personal firewall like Zonealarm www.zonelabs.com
Adware / trojan scanner like Webroot Spy Sweeper www.webroot.com
Virus software like Norton Antivirus www.symantec.com
There are many programs out there that will do the job these are just the ones I happen to like at the moment.
Zonealarm will lockdown the ports on your computer and control access and data traffic from applications.
With Zonealarm running visit www.grc.com and click the Shields Up link then run the Shields up tests and have GRC probe your ports for you to help determine if all your ports are now in stealth mode i.e. cannot be seen from the outside.
Ports are like windows and doors on a house. When they are open anything can come in or out and people can see in from the outside without actually coming in, Only by maintaining total control of your ports can you maintain the security of your PC.
You can use a Port Monitor program to actually keep an eye on what's going in and out. I have caught several hackers this way. A TCP/IP traffic monitor is a quick way to get acquainted with ports and which ones are doing what.
If your ports are secure then a hacker has to pretty much get something into your system to open the port from the inside. This is the M.O. of many trojans like Back Orifice etc. That is why Keeping your virus and trojan definitions up to date is critical. Obey common sense e-mail rules regarding attachments and executables. Also make sure your trojan program notifies you when changes are made to your system. In many cases you can catch attacks as they happen because most attacks involve making changes to your system. If you are notified when changes happen you can avaoid a lot of grief.
This is by no means foolproof but for the average surfer it is adequate.
computer/network security is such a broad issue, theres no one site or one book that will tell you everything you need to know. I would suggest with the TCP/IP stack, get TCP/IP illustrated by W. rich stevens. After that i would suggest start reading o/s manuals, learn all that you can about wide used o/s 's like linux (red hat, slackware, debian), unix (solaris, freeBSD, openBSD) windows (win2k,NT,XP) and then after that I think you should have a good understanding of what type of reading material you need. Hope this helped, take it easy.