i want to go to sites where crackers go

im starting to go off freeware and im more interested in learning about security. the only problem is the sites i want to go to most have crackers in their forums. is it safe to use forums with crackers there?. i heard that there was/is a way of expoilting boards. can you help, please?

 

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=55894
But seriously... I don't know.. Is it safe to surf net?
Once I was looking for some cool fonts and got about five dialers, few hijackers, trojan and some viruses..All in popups from site I thought to be "safe"

 

there was a thread here about using pictures in sigs. there were afew reasons given why pictures couldnt be used. also, i think, in the same thread Paul mentioned something about being able to get someone to run a script, by using an exploit that can be found within forum boards.

all id like to know is what are the risks, and dos and donts, when browsing, the same boards as crackers? thanks