Schoolboy hacker lays down the law

A teenage hacker from India spent his summer holiday writing a 600 page book on the tricks and techniques of ethical hacking, and managed to score a deal with a mainstream UK book publisher.

While all the other kids were out enjoying their freedom from school, 16 year old Ankit Fadia of New Delhi, wrote a hackers manual entitled 'The Unofficial Guide to Ethical Hacking'. The 600 page guide took him just 15 days and managed to stir enough interest from UK publisher Macmillan that the company struck a deal with him. As a result, the book will be available in September for around £5.00.

Fadia, who also runs a website, hackingtruths.box.sk, which itself is a repository of self taught hacking methodology, said he learned the tricks of his trade by going out there and breaking into machines to teach himself about hacking and cracking.

He said he wrote the book because there is no authoritative and practical manual on the techniques and ethics of hacking available and it would more than likely become an ongoing process as more techniques and technologies appear.

The book includes sections on registry editing, encryption, writing and handling viruses and cracking passwords amongst other hacker activities.

Macmillan said that it had already received 3,000 pre-orders for the book which would also make Fadia India's youngest author.