At these gathering places, information is exchanged about what systems have recently been compromised, along with a cookbook for how the compromise occurred. An attacker interested in a specific target can ask others how to attack the target. These gathering places maintain databases, so that the information is available for future attackers. Hackers bulletin boards generally provide system documentation that includes system level accounts and default passwords, known system vulnerabilities, and a variety of other information that facilitates an attack. Bulletin boards also have a variety of tools available that also facilitate an attack.
Different tools have different functionality.
For example, there are some tools that look for known vulnerabilities in systems and other tools that attempt to obtain a user's password. While there are many people that contribute information to these gathering places, only a minority of these people intend to distribute the information for illegal purposes. There is a unique sense of morality among the hacker community. They believe that they are just searching for knowledge, which should be freely available to all. While they understand that some people may use the information for illegal purposes, they assume no responsibility for the results, but state that it is the victim's fault for letting it happen.