<s>
HackThisSite.org,	O
commonly	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
HTS	O
,	O
is	O
an	O
online	O
hacking	O
and	O
security	O
website	O
founded	O
by	O
Jeremy	O
Hammond	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HackThisSite	B-Application
involves	O
a	O
small	O
,	O
loose	O
team	O
of	O
developers	B-Application
and	O
moderators	O
who	O
maintain	O
its	O
website	O
,	O
IRC	B-Protocol
server	O
,	O
and	O
related	O
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
has	O
a	O
short	O
news/blog	O
section	O
run	O
by	O
developers	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
HackThisSite	B-Application
is	O
known	O
for	O
its	O
IRC	B-Protocol
network	I-Protocol
,	O
where	O
many	O
users	O
converse	O
on	O
a	O
plethora	O
of	O
topics	O
ranging	O
from	O
current	O
events	O
to	O
technical	O
issues	O
with	O
programming	B-General_Concept
and	O
Unix-based	O
operating	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mostly	O
,	O
the	O
HackThisSite	B-Application
IRC	B-Protocol
network	I-Protocol
serves	O
as	O
a	O
social	O
gathering	O
of	O
like-minded	O
people	O
to	O
discuss	O
anything	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
there	O
are	O
many	O
channels	O
on	O
the	O
IRC	B-Protocol
network	I-Protocol
,	O
the	O
main	O
channel	O
,	O
#hackthissite	O
,	O
has	O
a	O
+R	O
flag	O
which	O
requires	O
users	O
to	O
register	O
their	O
nick	O
before	O
they	O
may	O
join	O
the	O
channel	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
the	O
split	O
from	O
its	O
former	O
sister	O
site	O
CriticalSecurity.Net	O
,	O
HackThisSite	B-Application
retained	O
one	O
main	O
set	O
of	O
forums	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Hackbloc	O
forums	B-Application
also	O
had	O
many	O
HackThisSite	B-Application
users	O
involved	O
,	O
but	O
they	O
were	O
taken	O
down	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Before	O
the	O
split	O
,	O
the	O
CriticalSecurity.net	O
forums	B-Application
had	O
most	O
HTS	O
discussion	O
,	O
specifically	O
related	O
to	O
help	O
with	O
the	O
challenges	O
on	O
the	O
site	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
basic	O
hacking	O
questions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Hackbloc	O
forums	B-Application
were	O
more	O
for	O
focused	O
hacktivist	O
discussion	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
place	O
for	O
people	O
to	O
discuss	O
news	O
and	O
plan	O
future	O
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
people	O
criticize	O
the	O
forums	B-Application
as	O
being	O
too	O
beginner-focused	O
compared	O
to	O
IRC	B-Protocol
,	O
most	O
likely	O
because	O
many	O
new	O
users	O
visit	O
the	O
forums	B-Application
to	O
ask	O
for	O
help	O
with	O
the	O
challenges	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HackThisSite	B-Application
is	O
taking	O
steps	O
to	O
try	O
to	O
attract	O
more	O
qualified	O
users	O
to	O
its	O
forums	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Topics	O
range	O
from	O
walkthroughs	O
for	O
the	O
missions	O
provided	O
by	O
HackThisSite	B-Application
,	O
to	O
articles	O
regarding	O
advanced	O
techniques	O
in	O
a	O
plethora	O
of	O
programming	B-General_Concept
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
HackThisSite	B-Application
is	O
also	O
host	O
to	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
"	O
missions	O
"	O
aimed	O
at	O
simulating	O
real	O
world	O
hacks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
range	O
from	O
ten	O
basic	O
missions	O
where	O
one	O
attempts	O
to	O
exploit	O
relatively	O
simple	O
server-side	B-Language
scripting	I-Language
errors	O
,	O
to	O
difficult	O
programming	B-General_Concept
and	O
application	B-Application
cracking	O
missions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Programming	B-General_Concept
Challenges	O
section	O
also	O
exists	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
programming	B-General_Concept
challenges	O
range	O
from	O
simple	O
missions	O
such	O
as	O
parsing	O
the	O
contents	O
,	O
to	O
reverse-engineering	O
an	O
encryption	O
algorithm	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
help	O
users	O
develop	O
and	O
practice	O
on-the-go	O
programming	B-General_Concept
skills	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
goal	O
of	O
application	B-Application
challenges	O
is	O
generally	O
to	O
extract	O
a	O
key	O
from	O
an	O
application	B-Application
,	O
which	O
usually	O
involves	O
some	O
form	O
of	O
reverse-engineering	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Developers	B-Application
later	O
decided	O
to	O
remove	O
HTS	O
easter	O
eggs	O
,	O
as	O
some	O
allowed	O
XSS	O
and	O
SQL	O
exploits	O
and	O
many	O
members	O
submitted	O
false	O
bug	O
reports	O
as	O
a	O
result	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
has	O
been	O
criticism	O
that	O
HackThisSite	B-Application
's	O
self-description	O
as	O
a	O
"	O
hacker	O
training	O
ground	O
"	O
encourages	O
people	O
to	O
break	O
the	O
law	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
people	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
site	O
state	O
that	O
although	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
skills	O
taught	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
illegal	O
activities	O
,	O
HackThisSite	B-Application
does	O
not	O
participate	O
in	O
or	O
support	O
such	O
activities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
this	O
,	O
several	O
individual	O
members	O
have	O
been	O
arrested	O
and	O
convicted	O
for	O
illegal	O
activity	O
(	O
most	O
notably	O
Jeremy	O
Hammond	O
,	O
founder	O
of	O
HackThisSite	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2004	O
the	O
(	O
now	O
defunct	O
)	O
HackThisSite-based	O
HowDark	O
Security	O
Group	O
notified	O
the	O
phpBB	O
Group	O
,	O
makers	O
of	O
the	O
phpBB	O
bulletin	O
software	O
,	O
of	O
a	O
serious	O
vulnerability	O
in	O
the	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
17	O
,	O
2005	O
,	O
Jeremy	O
Hammond	O
,	O
the	O
founder	O
of	O
HackThisSite	B-Application
,	O
was	O
arrested	O
following	O
an	O
FBI	O
investigation	O
into	O
an	O
alleged	O
hacking	O
of	O
conservative	O
political	O
activist	O
group	O
Protest	O
Warrior	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
federal	O
government	O
claimed	O
that	O
a	O
select	O
group	O
of	O
HackThisSite	B-Application
hackers	O
gained	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
Protest	O
Warrior	O
user	O
database	O
,	O
procured	O
user	O
credit-card	O
information	O
and	O
conspired	O
to	O
run	O
scripts	O
that	O
would	O
automatically	O
wire	O
money	O
to	O
a	O
slew	O
of	O
non-profit	O
organizations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Administrators	O
,	O
developers	B-Application
,	O
and	O
moderators	O
on	O
HackThisSite	B-Application
are	O
arranged	O
in	O
a	O
democratic	O
but	O
highly	O
anarchical	O
fashion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Therefore	O
,	O
HackThisSite	B-Application
has	O
had	O
a	O
long	O
history	O
of	O
administrators	O
,	O
developers	B-Application
,	O
and	O
moderators	O
turning	O
darkside	O
or	O
severely	O
impairing	O
or	O
completely	O
taking	O
down	O
the	O
site	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
last	O
major	O
attack	O
to	O
occur	O
,	O
several	O
blackhat	O
dissidents	O
gained	O
root-level	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
website	O
and	O
proceeded	O
to	O
"	O
rm	B-Application
-rf	I-Application
"	O
the	O
entire	O
site	O
.	O
</s>
