It's Been A Wild Ride...
Hey guys. Sorry it's been so long since my last update. To be completely honest, I kind of stopped doing OFM and focused all my time on ethical hacking(bug bounty). There's alot of reasons why I stopped OFM, but mainly I began to see the amount of time and effort required to scale and it just wasn't worth it. As many of you know, to reach an elite level in any business you need to be willing to sacrifice almost all of your time+energy. I've been making some really nice progress with bug bounty especially with AI, and in my opinion I see more long-term value in web security vs learning how to sell titties with grey/blackhat marketing methods. I'm not hating on OFM, I'll tell any one of you that it is one of the greatest business models ever created to make some quick, low-investment cash. It just isn't suitable for my goals/lifestyle nowadays.
I could go on with some more personal reasons, however the bottom line is I am more interested in learning a real skill where I don't have to be worried about waking up to some algorithm update and my income disappearing overnight. Or a wave of account bans etc... Sure the cash might not be quite as fast initially, but at least it will be somewhat guaranteed. I am finding vulnerabilities more frequently now too. At first it was one every six months, then it become 1 every 3 months, and now with AI, I am finding them on an almost weekly basis. With the increased frequency of my findings, it become apparent that I need to go all-in on this, and that is what I have done.
I remember with OFM, I seriously dreaded every single minute I had to look at my computer. I procrastinated, put things off, and overall just hated the monotonous and robotic workflows it required. My intellect wasn't challenged, I wasn't gaining any skills, all I was doing was figuring out how to get around algorithms and whenever they changed, it demanded HOURS of testing and figuring out what happened else you go hungry. That is not a lifestyle I am interested in anymore especially with a house, car payment, and goals of having a family. My heart just wasn't in the game anymore.
When I'm hacking (ethically), each morning I am literally sprinting over to my computer to dive headfirst into the rabbit hole from the night before. I could sit all day at the keyboard. I now feel challenged, and more importantly
I FEEL FULFILLED. Everyday when I wake up I have a purpose that I feel good about. That I feel
PASSIONATE about. I'm making measurable progress all the while helping secure people's personal information while doing something that in any other scenario would put you in federal prison.
This has been one hell of a journey and we've came so far not just financially but mentally as well. At the beginning of this journey I was in total rock bottom. I had just moved back in with my parents. Lost my apartment in Miami, lost the girlfriend, business failed, sold my dream truck, had suffocating debt, and it is almost making me tear up as I type this, but I lost myself man... I had become just an empty shell of the vibrant personality I used to be. We've came SO damn far and I just wanted to thank EVERYONE who has been following and supporting this journey.
Your guys' kind words and outpouring of support meant so much to me in a time when I needed it most and I genuinely don't think I would've pushed as hard if it wasn't for all of you. Actually I am sure of it. Big special shoutout to the following people:
@outrage666 ,
@irishengteacher ,
@ok888 ,
@t4nk78 ,
@Kukiezi , and also Ying Ying.
Apologies if I missed anybody.
What's Next For Me?
I think this journey thread is officially over, however I am thinking about starting a journey for my ethical hacking adventures. I am finding some absolutely wild shit like recently I found some admin creds hardcoded in the javascript, used that to forge my own admin account, and took over the entire site + access to 37K+ employee PII. I also found a live in-store queue for every business' store location in the US that leaked physical location and personal information. Pretty gnarly stuff all reported ethically.
I know BHW has some rules against hacking content, however I would not be sharing any exploits, no guides, and 100% not offering any services. Just documenting my progress and findings in a redacted and ethical manner.
Let me know if you guys would be interested in this type of journey and maybe I'll reach out to a mod and see if I get a green light.
In the meantime, thanks everyone for following along, and I would like to encourage anyone beginning their venture into something to start a journey thread. The support, encouragement, and accountability is invaluable and you'll meet so many helpful and cool people along the way that genuinely want to see you win. This thread was one of the most impactful and important moments of my entire life and I thank you all.
As for me, I am signing off now, however do not think for a second that my journey is over. I may be done with this thread, I may be done with OFM, but in life if you want to achieve the maximum of your potential, the journey can never be over... We must keep pushing onward. Keep raising the bar. Keep setting those goals. The journey never ends until the lights turn off...
And to all of you keeping your heads down trying to improve your life. Keep going... Push through those daily battles fought silently and alone. Push through that voice in your head that doubts your capabilities/choices. Push through the setbacks where you just can't possibly see how this can end well. Push through EVERYTHING and forge an iron-clad mentality of unbreakable will that NOBODY can ever take away from you. All of you can f*cking do this... And I see you.
God-speed my friends... Onwards we must go.
