I’m a girl in junior year currently about to start a hacking club where we go over how to use Linux operating systems, how to use Kali, and web hacking techniques to solve CTF and bug bounty problems for fun. I have a little bit of experience from reading a lot of books and experiencing with Linux a lot back in sophomore year as well as watching online videos and courses on ethical hacking, but never did any damage to the school. A lot of people I know are interested and would love this club.
However, reflecting on the one guy who got rejected from MIT for building a nuclear fusor (or whatever it was), and being aware of the perils and damage of what hacking in general can do, would this also be a red flag for college admissions? Even if I do follow precautionary measures to not tamper with the school network?
Ethical hacking is much in demand and very important. It’s akin to an internship in a nuclear facility, not building a nuclear reactor. Building a nuclear reactor would be like hacking the DOD for fun.
It’s not hacking, it’s Ethical Hacking. (That’s the proper term).
The club could be called Ethical Hacking and cybersecurity but the field should be known at tech schools (there are even degrees/certifications in it - it’s the proactive part of cybersecurity).
Would this be a school club? If so, you would probably need permission from the school administration and perhaps some involvement of a teacher – that would make it legitimate. Sounds like a great plan – good luck with it!
In general, schools seem to respond well to passionate pursuit of interests that align with your potential areas of intended study. My only small caution would be that none of the kids involved in the club deviate from the core “ethics.” it would be tragic if someone else’s poor choices tainted you in any way.
My son was a white hat hacker on a HS team that did quite well in several CTFs. He did include an additional essay in his applications saying that he always used his power for good. (Anyway, his specialty is decryption and finding flags in images/video/audio, more so than the pwning stuff.)
His acceptances included Caltech, CMU SCS, and all the UCs he applied to. (But, hacking wasn’t the entire picture.)
He wasn’t admitted to MIT, but a lot of people aren’t. (He was waitlisted at Harvard, Stanford, and some others, so maybe he came close on those, not that he would have chosen them.) We worried about hacking being a red flag for admissions, and tried to get him to always write “cybersecurity” instead of “hacking”. Maybe it was a red flag for some of the colleges on his list, but not all.
While they had the name of the AP CS teacher on their high school club information, the teacher didn’t advise the club (he had no clue about the topic) and wouldn’t travel to NY or Pittsburg for competitions and awards. Parents had to chaperone the trips.
I noticed that picoCTF is fundraising for another competition in fall 2018. You can still play the challenges from their 2017 competition, I think.