Underground Forum Tutorial Reveals How Cybercriminal Communities Teach Vulnerability Exploitation and Profit-Making

A forum discussion titled “Hacking for Profit. Working method” has provided cybersecurity researchers with a unique look into how underground communities educate aspiring hackers on vulnerability exploitation and monetization. While the original post is neither highly technical nor extensive, its significance lies in presenting a structured, easy-to-follow roadmap that simplifies a complex process.

The post, authored by a threat actor operating under the alias “Hercules,” outlines the stages of identifying, assessing, exploiting, and ultimately profiting from vulnerabilities. Researchers from Flare examined both the original content and the subsequent discussions over several months, finding that the thread sparked considerable engagement among forum members.

The discussion attracted numerous responses from users who expressed appreciation for the guidance, sought private communication with “Hercules,” and identified themselves as beginners hoping to transition from theoretical cybersecurity knowledge to practical application. According to researchers, the thread appeared to serve as more than just an instructional post, functioning as a source of motivation and mentorship for inexperienced individuals.

The popularity of the tutorial extended beyond its original platform, with the same methodology being reposted and debated across four additional underground forums. Through the post, “Hercules” presents a straightforward framework that helps novice threat actors understand vulnerability exploitation and methods of generating revenue from discovered flaws.

The guide begins by advising readers on how to monitor newly disclosed vulnerabilities, particularly high-impact categories such as remote code execution (RCE), authentication bypass, account takeover, insecure direct object references (IDOR), and data exposure vulnerabilities. It then explains how to locate potentially vulnerable systems, verify exposure, and determine whether findings should be reported, sold, or exploited.

Researchers identified three particularly notable aspects of the tutorial. First, it highlights the use of the Nuclei framework developed by ProjectDiscovery, a widely adopted tool among offensive security professionals. Second, it demonstrates an understanding of the difficulties organizations face when patching newly disclosed vulnerabilities. Third, the tutorial is deliberately separated into “legal” and “illegal” paths, allowing readers to choose at which stage they transition from vulnerability disclosure activities into malicious actions.

One of the tutorial’s most effective features is its approachable tone. Rather than relying on technical jargon, “Hercules” explains concepts in simple language and portrays hacking as a skill that can be learned through practical experience.

He argues that many educational resources focus excessively on subjects such as operating systems, programming languages, scanner configurations, and computer science fundamentals, while many newcomers simply want to “hack,” “break in,” and “gain access.”

The author further suggests that aspiring hackers do not need advanced software development expertise to get started. Publicly available tools, community-created templates, automation, and artificial intelligence are presented as resources that lower the entry barrier, while programming knowledge is described as beneficial

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