I'm like, a complete beginner at this, and I'm looking to practice.

Are crack-me's good for practicing on?
And, if so, can they be trusted not to contain malicious code?
And, if they should not be trusted, where could I possibly go to apprehend some of these?



And forgive me if crack-me's were in the FAQ, but I didn't see anything concerning asking for the location of crack-me's, only concerning asking for tools.

EDIT:

Nevermind, I found a place to get some. Quite a few as a matter of fact. Would it be alright if I posted a link? I think they would be beneficial for new people like me. Also, the FAQ only says no direct links, and links to tools.. Would Crack-Me's be considered a tool? Cause they're a tool for Practicing...

Quite a dilly of a pickle.

uhmm...
1) yes.
2) depending where you download them, who makes them etc etc. mostly yes (*cough*)
3) use crackmes already solved by someone. If they are solved, the solver knows what they do... and the solution might help you if you got struck with no way out.

For added safety, you can:
1) run them in a limited user context.
2) run them in an admin account with reduced privileges.
3) run them in a Virtual Machine.
4) unpack them (once you understood how) and examine their disasm when you can, instead of debugging

a good place for crackmes:
hxxp://www.crackmes.de/

Regards,
Maximus

Oh wow, thanks. lol.

Howdy,

Try to find projects that include the target. This way you will not be stuck trying to find an older program that is no longer available.

Woodmann

Adding on to Maximus's safety list... it doesn't hurt to have up-to-date antivirus software installed.

Usually, crackmes from the more reputable cracking groups can be trusted.

well who are the more reputable groups?

From my little experience crackmes made by groups are, in general, not for beginners.
If you want to learn something working on crackmes you can try one of the projects we have inside our 'Mini project area' or taking a look at crackmes.de, as suggested by Maximus.

ok then. i was just asking for future reference