Null Byte How-Tos

How To: Create a Bump Key to Open Any Door

Lockpicking is a skill that takes years upon years to master. Locks come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but have common ground in how they work. Most cylinder locks have "tumblers," which are metallic cylindrical objects that sit vertically to the actual locking mechanism. Tumblers have five or six holes with rounded key pins of various height in them, each needing to meet an exact height or the cylinder in the center (the lock itself) will not be allowed to turn. This is the reason why yo...

How To: Stream Media to a PS3 or Xbox 360 from Mac & Linux Computers

One of the main reasons I was held back from fully switching over to Linux was the fact that media streaming is nearly impossible. You have two choices in Windows: either you use file sharing with Windows Media Player, or you can just use the Windows Media Center. But both of these softwares are not for Linux or Mac. Microsoft doesn't like to make open source software because they believe in making a profit, instead of allowing others to innovate it.

How To: Share Your Laptop's Wireless Internet with Ethernet Devices

Sharing a laptop's wireless Internet connection with other computers connected to its Ethernet port is a great skill to know. It can be good for a number of reasons; Your computer may not have proper hardware to have a standard setup, or you may have an awkward network topology where sharing your wireless Internet via Ethernet would just be a better option.

How To: Get Free Wi-Fi from Hotels & More

Often times when staying at a hotel or anywhere for that matter, you'll whip out your laptop and check the local area for Wi-Fi. I know you've all been in my shoes when you find an unsecured network that appears to be public Wi-Fi belonging to the hotel or airport, and you connect to it. You connect fast and perfectly, only to find that when you open your browser, it says you don't have an account, and are filtered from accessing the web. This is because the owners of the network want to keep...

How To: Carve Saved Passwords Using Cain

I've previously mentioned how saving browser passwords is a bad idea, but I never went into much detail as to why. Passwords that are saved in your browser can be carved out and stolen very easily. In fact, even passwords you save for instant messaging and Wi-Fi are vulnerable. Windows is very inefficient with the way it stores passwords—it doesn't store them in key-vaults, nor does it encrypt them. You're left with passwords residing in memory and filespace that's unencrypted.

How To: Run Windows from Inside Linux

Something that can shy a user away from making the switch to Linux is not having the option to go back to Windows. Luckily, there are solutions like dual-booting, where you can have both OS's installed right next to each other. However, Windows 8 appears as if it will block dual-boots with its neo-space BIOS that have been developed. Sneaky-sneaky. Windows users could still throw in a Linux live CD to try out Linux, but what does a Linux user do when they need something from Windows?

How To: Mine Bitcoin and Make Money

Bitcoin is a new currency built off "Satoshi Nakamoto's" (alias) 2008 Bitcoin white-paper. Bitcoin provides its users with a way to make peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions without having to use a bank as a mediator. There is no middle man, no corporation backing it, and no one has access to your money, except you. It's decentralized from government, run by the people, for the people.

How To: Defeat SSL in Practice with SSL Strip

SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer. It's an encryption standard used on most sites' login pages to avoid their users' passwords being packet sniffed in simple plain-text format. This keeps the users safe by having all of that traffic encrypted over an "https" connection. So, whenever you see "https://" in front of the URL in your browser, you know you're safe... or are you?

How To: Create an SSH Tunnel Server and Client in Linux

SSH is what is referred to as the Secure SHell protocol. SSH allows you to do a plethora of great things over a network, all while being heavily encrypted. You can make a remote accessible shell on your home computer that gives you access to all your files at home, and you can even tunnel all of your traffic to keep you anonymous and protected on public Wi-Fi. It has many great uses and is a must have tool for your arsenal. It was designed to replace the insecure Telnet protocol, which sends ...

Social Engineering, Part 2: Hacking a Friend's Facebook Password

Welcome to the second Null Byte in a series educating you on Social Engineering awareness and techniques. Today, I'm going to show you how a saavy Social Engineer would trick a friend into unknowingly surrendering their Facebook password. My intent is to warn and demonstrate how easy it is to succumb to phishing via Social Engineering, and therefore expose yourself.

How To: Get Packet Injection Capable Drivers in Linux

In this Null Byte, we are going to be installing Packet Injection capable drivers in Linux. These are the open-source drivers required to sniff wireless traffic, inject packets to crack a wireless access point, and go into "monitor-mode". These drivers are superior because they are the fastest available drivers.

How To: Use Cygwin to Run Linux Apps on Windows

You'll see a lot of Linux action going down here at Null Byte. We use Linux for hacking-related stuff because it provides a more relaxed programming environment, making it easy to write exploits and tools. Linux has many features Windows is lacking, such as full control over the OS right down to the Kernel and massive availability of mature, open source (read: free & tweakable) tools & projects.

How To: Bypass Windows and Linux Passwords

If you're interested in bypassing Windows and Linux passwords, there is a great tool from the good people at Kryptoslogic. Have you ever forgotten your administrator password? Have you ever bought a used computer with a password on it? Well, Kryptoslogic have created a boot-disc call 'Kon-Boot', which allows you to bypass any Windows 32 or 64 bit OS, as well as Linux passwords. There is both a paid and freeware version available.

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