A Programmer vs. A Hacker: The Lesson I Learned from My Hack

During the COVID lockdown, I was focused on improving my programming skills, thinking I would build a website for my school and earn my first income. I had just passed 10th grade a few months earlier, and this seemed like the perfect plan, a teenager’s version of 1entrepreneurship. Life felt simpler back then (hitting nostalgia). Let’s get back to the topic.

As I got deeper into programming, I realized that building a complete school management system—with students, teachers, and admin controls—was beyond my skill level. So, I changed my plan. Time passed, and a few months ago, I noticed that my school had launched a new website. Out of curiosity, I decided to check it for vulnerabilities.

I accessed the admin login page and tried a common trick to bypass authentication. I used a basic SQL injection payload:

"OR 1=1”

To my surprise, it worked! Just like that, I had access to my school’s admin panel. I could have done anything, but I didn’t because I knew it was unethical and illegal.

As I explored further, I discovered something even bigger. The website was hosted on a server along with over a hundred other websites, and each one had the same vulnerability. That meant anyone with basic SQL injection knowledge could access them.

This experience taught me something important: the developer who built these websites didn’t think like a hacker. They wrote code but never questioned, “How could someone break this?” Even when I was a programmer before becoming a hacker, I didn’t see things the way I do now. My mindset shifted after I became a hacker. Now, I see what others miss. That’s the real difference between a programmer and a hacker. This is the art of seeing what others miss.

Want to See the World Like a Hacker?

This is just one of the stories from my eBook + Audiobook, The Hacker’s Vision: Art of Seeing What Others Miss. If you’ve ever wondered how hackers think, this will change the way you see the digital world.

You can get both the eBook and the Audiobook for free.

Click Here to grab your copy and start developing your hacker’s mindset today.