Hot Null Byte How-Tos

Hack Like a Pro: Linux Basics for the Aspiring Hacker, Part 21 (GRUB Bootloader)

Welcome back, my aspiring hackers! Many of you have installed Kali Linux as a virtual machine (VM) using VMware or VirtualBox, while others have installed Kali (or BackTrack) in a dual-boot system. The drawback to installing these hacking systems as a VM is that it then requires an external wireless adapter (your wireless adapter is piped through the VM as a wired device, eth0), but it makes for a great place to test your hacks while honing your skills.

Hack Like a Pro: How to Crack Passwords, Part 2 (Cracking Strategy)

Welcome back, my hacker apprentices! Last week, I started off my password cracking series with an introduction on the principles and technologies involved in the art of cracking passwords. In past guides, I showed some specific tools and techniques for cracking Windows, online, Wi-Fi, Linux, and even SNMP passwords. This series is intended to help you hone your skills in each of these areas and expand into some, as yet, untouched areas.

Hack Like a Pro: How to Create a Nearly Undetectable Covert Channel with Tunnelshell

Welcome back, my rookie hackers! Most often, the professional hacker is seeking protected information from the target system or network. This might be credit card numbers, personally identifiable information, or intellectual property (formulas, plans, blueprints, designs, etc.). Most of my Null Byte guides have been focused on getting into the system, but this only begs the question—"what do I do when I get there?"

Hack Like a Pro: How to Remotely Grab Encrypted Passwords from a Compromised Computer

Welcome back, my fledgling hackers! There's an evil dictator hellbent on destroying the world, and in one of our last hacks, we successfully compromised his computer and saved the world from nuclear annihilation. Then, we covered our tracks so no one would know what we did, and developed a hack to capture screenshots of his computer periodically so we could track of what he was up to next.

Hack Like a Pro: How to Cover Your Tracks So You Aren't Detected

Welcome back, my greenhorn hackers! Congratulations on your successful hack that saved the world from nuclear annihilation from our little, bellicose, Twinkie-eating dictator. The rest of world may not know what you did, but I do. Good job! Now that we hacked into the malevolent dictator's computer and temporarily disabled his nuclear launch capability, we have to think about covering our tracks so that he and his minions can't track our good works back to us.

Don't Get Doxed: 5 Steps to Protecting Your Private Information on the Web

If you follow the Anonymous, Occupy, and IT security scenes, you have no doubt heard about a dox release. What is it? How can it hurt you? And most importantly, how can you protect yourself from it? Some of these steps might seem common sense, while others will be an ah-ha! moment. Your private info is both your biggest weakness and your biggest weapon in your battle to remain anonymous. You must learn how to use it as both.

How To: Don't Get Caught! How to Protect Your Hard Drives from Data Forensics

With the mass arrests of 25 anons in Europe and South America, and the rumors of an FBI sweep on the east coast of America floating around, times look dicey for hackers. Over the past few days, a lot of questions have been posed to me about removing sensitive data from hard drives. Ideas seem to range from magnets to microwaves and a lot of things in-between. So, I'd like to explain a little bit about data forensics, how it works, and the steps you can take to be safe.

Tor vs. I2P: The Great Onion Debate

In my recent Darknet series, I attempted to connect the dots on the Deep Web. I covered the two largest anonymity networks on the Internet today, Tor and I2P. While my initial four articles were meant as an introduction, I ended up receiving a lot of interesting comments and messages asking the technical differences between the two. I'd like to thank all of you for letting me know what was on your minds, as you should always!

Know Your Rights: How to Escape Unlawful Stops and Police Searches with Social Engineering

Law enforcement can make a lot of folks cringe. Too often do we hear on the news, and even experience in our own lives, the unjust way that an unacceptable portion of law enforcement treat the very citizens they are supposed to protect. People's rights are violate each and every day by law enforcement, simply because they are timid and uneducated with the laws of society. This dirty trickery shouldn't be played on harmless citizens under any circumstances.

How To: GPU Accelerate Cracking Passwords with Hashcat

How to Crack Passwords Faster by Putting Your GPU to Work with HashcatSecurity on the internet is always changing. Not too long ago, having a 10 character password meant that you were safe from all forms of hash cracking. Hash cracking is when you take a string of characters that have been passed through a cryptographic hash and try to reverse them. The normal processors that are housed inside of our computer cases are general purpose. The processors are not meant for handling complex math an...

How To: Use Wireshark to Steal Your Own Local Passwords

Here at Null Byte, we've spoken a lot about securing and anonymizing traffic. This is a big deal. With all of today's business taking place electronically via computers, we need to be secure when on-the-go. A lot of businesses don't even train their employees to secure their computers to protect from various threats. Here are a few things that should always happen when doing business on computers:

How To: Chain VPNs for Complete Anonymity

Big name individual hackers and hacker groups everywhere in the news are getting caught and thrown in jail. Everytime I see something like this happen, I won't lie, I get a little sad. Then I wonder, how are these guys getting caught? If a group like LulzSec, with all the fame and "1337-ness" can get caught, I think my hacker comrades are doing something wrong.