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Posted by twostraws 10/22/2025

Why I'm teaching kids to hack computers(www.hacktivate.app)
281 points | 110 commentspage 2
VladVladikoff 10/27/2025|
Cool idea I was going to check it out but I don’t want to update my iPad to the latest OS for jailbreaky reasons. Any chance you could release support for something slightly before 18.5?
twostraws 10/27/2025|
The app only uses one API from iOS 18 and later, so from a coding perspective I could make it support older versions easily. However, the bigger problem is testing: right now I test each release thoroughly on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, across iOS 18 and iOS 26, so adding another iOS version would require another set of devices and more time.
charcircuit 10/27/2025||
>how to do SQL injection, how to use rainbow tables to figure out hashes, how to use steganography to hide data in images, and more.

I feel like there are more practical and timeless topics that will still be relevant in 2040. Frameworks (abstraction) have largely solved SQL injection and bad cryptography.

Personally I would avoid a cybersecurity focused corriculum and just focus on regular software engineering. Being able to think like who you are attacking and knowing the common pitfalls is most of the battle.

twostraws 10/27/2025|
Eh… I just went to Stack Overflow and searched for "php mysql", and the first result (https://stackoverflow.com/q/79790370) – asked 12 days ago – had SQL injection
charcircuit 10/27/2025||
This is part of the long tail. I think you are underestimating the role AI is going to be playing in 2040. ChatGPT can already solve that stack overflow question and make the code use the prepared statement correctly. AI will play a pivotal role in helping with the long tail of these issues.
twostraws 10/27/2025||
If it's all the same to you, I'm going to focus on inspiring people with today's technology, and hopefully help fuel their curiosity to learn about what comes in the future – whatever that may be.
charcircuit 10/27/2025||
Yes, that is part of what my point is. To focus on today's technology rather than the technology of the 90s or 00s.
saagarjha 10/28/2025||
Then why are you talking about hypothetical technology from 2040?
hacb 10/27/2025||
This is why I like the Try Hack Me platform so much. You have a lot of walkthroughs and guided challenges to get started and learn the basics; challenges get harder and harder with less and less help. You also have access to challenge write-ups even if you did not complete them, meaning that if you're stuck, instead of losing motivation, you can make progress.

They embrace learning for all levels and helped me so much getting into infosec professionally.

harperlee 10/27/2025||
Game for kids, where you dedicate a third of the screen to a locked hint list and a very prominent "Buy Hint Tokens" button? Hard pass.

https://www.hacktivate.app/img/framed-ipad-3.png

The game industry needs to move away from milking vulnerable people with pay-to-win schemes.

fainpul 10/27/2025||
Also the game costs 20 bucks but it's offered as "Free" with "in app purchases". But you can only play one challenge until you need to buy the game. That's just false advertising. Just be upfront about it and sell the game for 20 bucks instead.
twostraws 10/27/2025||
I'm not sure where you got the one challenge thing from – you can play 10 challenges without needing to pay a cent. Plus, there is a dedicated version you can buy up front front without any in-app purchases, right here: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/hacktivate-education-edition/i...
fainpul 10/27/2025||
I installed and played the game on my mac this morning. I tried several ways to get to another challenge I could play, but was unable.

The link I used is the one from your site.

twostraws 10/27/2025||
All you have to do to unlock the next free challenge is solve the previous challenge. The first 10 tutorials are designed to teach the basics of the app – how to transform data with the toolbox, how to read web page source code and run JavaScript, basic Linux commands, etc – and so they are run in order. There are 10 in total, all free, plus another one in the first territory afterwards, which teaches the basics of ciphers.
fainpul 10/27/2025||
So there's our misunderstanding. I skipped the tutorial, because I already saw your demo video. Then I clicked on the US on the map and played the first challenge called "Tutorial: Cipher salad". After that I always got the "Buy now" popup when I tried to play another challenge.

But you're right, the tutorial is playable too and it consists of the same kind of challenges, not just simple explanations how to play. So my initial statement was not correct.

twostraws 10/27/2025||
I see. Well, I hope you can appreciate there are limits to what I can do – if someone skips the free challenges then is unhappy there aren't enough free challenges, I don't really know how I can fix that. If you want to go back to play the tutorial challenges, they remain available.
notachatbot123 10/27/2025|||
https://www.darkpattern.games/

https://nobsgames.stavros.io/

zwnow 10/27/2025|||
I've watched my grandma play a mobile game a few days ago. It has been a simple word search game. A level takes her about 2-3 minutes to beat. Every single time she beats a level, she is getting 1-2 30 second advertisements that she has to sit through. Its honestly so sad to see. Thankfully she knows that all mobile ads are bullshit and how to close them, but still... This market is shameless.
twostraws 10/27/2025|||
Nothing about Hacktivate is pay-to-win – you can solve every challenge without using a single hint, and even if someone does need hints there are a bunch given away for free. Even more, for people who want the game but don't want micro-transactions, there's a dedicated version of the game (https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/hacktivate-education-edition/i...) that is a one-time purchase with no in-app purchases at all.
fodmap 10/27/2025||
Right, that's absolutely disgusting. The only reason that would be somewhat OK is if that's part of the game, and you can hack it to get tokens for free.
rkozik1989 10/27/2025||
Do you also teach kids about jail time and/or being blackballed by the industry? Because no matter how well-intentioned you are I can see a 13 year old me doing the naughty thing.
twostraws 10/27/2025|
No, but I like the idea – I think it might make for a good screen to add once they complete the game, saying "use your skills responsibly" and similar. Thank you!
Liftyee 10/27/2025||
Neat... Brings memories of the national cybersecurity courses you were talking about.

I never figured out how to do that "cat flag" terminal privilege escalation.

twostraws 10/27/2025|
Those cybersecurity challenges are incredible – I see kids light up when they take part, finding a passion for something they didn't even known existed previously. I don't think the teams who organize them get enough recognition for their incredible work!
werdl 10/27/2025||
"teach kids to hack" "available for iPhone, iPad and Mac"

You need to understand your market better!

brabel 10/27/2025||
As an outsider, are you suggesting OP can make more sales on Android because that’s more hacker friendly? Or what exactly? From what I hear no one makes any money on apps outside the Apple ecosystem and big game platforms.
fainpul 10/28/2025||
OP is Paul Hudson, creator of lots of Swift / SwiftUI tutorials and other resources.

https://www.hackingwithswift.com/

babra1 10/28/2025|
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