Everything Else
How To: Inject Coinhive Miners into Public Wi-Fi Hotspots
Coinhive, a JavaScript cryptocurrency miner, was reportedly discovered on the BlackBerry Mobile website. It was placed there by hackers who exploited a vulnerability in the site's e-commerce software that allowed them to anonymously mine cryptocurrency every time the website was viewed. There's no doubt Coinhive, an innovative mining method, is being abused and exploited by hackers in the wild.
How To: Easily Detect CVEs with Nmap Scripts
Nmap is possibly the most widely used security scanner of its kind, in part because of its appearances in films such as The Matrix Reloaded and Live Free or Die Hard. Still, most of Nmap's best features are under-appreciated by hackers and pentesters, one of which will improve one's abilities to quickly identify exploits and vulnerabilities when scanning servers.
How To: Configure Port Forwarding to Create Internet-Connected Services
Ports allow network and internet-connected devices to interact using specified channels. While servers with dedicated IP addresses can connect directly to the internet and make ports publicly available, a system behind a router on a local network may not be open to the rest of the web. To overcome the issue, port forwarding can be used to make these devices publicly accessible.
How To: Use the Koadic Command & Control Remote Access Toolkit for Windows Post-Exploitation
Koadic allows hackers to monitor and control exploited Windows systems remotely. The tool facilitates remote access to Windows devices via the Windows Script Host, working with practically every version of Windows. Koadic is capable of sitting entirely in memory to evade detection and is able to cryptographically secure its own web command-and-control communications.
How To: Exploring Kali Linux Alternatives: Set Up the Ultimate Beginner Arch Linux Hacking Distro with Manjaro & BlackArch
There's no doubt Kali has established itself as the most popular penetration distribution available. However, just because it's the fan favorite of beginners and security researchers doesn't make it right for everyone. Manjaro Linux is a beginner-friendly Arch-based distribution which can be easily weaponized with the Black Arch expansion, creating a friendlier first-time Arch experience.
How To: Use the Cowrie SSH Honeypot to Catch Attackers on Your Network
The internet is constantly under siege by bots searching for vulnerabilities to attack and exploit. While conventional wisdom is to prevent these attacks, there are ways to deliberately lure hackers into a trap in order to spy on them, study their behavior, and capture samples of malware. In this tutorial, we'll be creating a Cowrie honeypot, an alluring target to attract and trap hackers.
How To: How Hackers Use Hidden Data on Airline Boarding Passes to Hack Flights
Millions of travelers pass through airports each day without understanding how powerful and insecure a boarding pass can be. Anyone can scan the boarding pass barcode with a mobile app, allowing access to frequent-flyer accounts and even a passenger's temporary airline account. In this guide, we will explore how hackers scan and decode the information contained in a boarding pass barcode and why.
How To: Use the Chrome Browser Secure Shell App to SSH into Remote Devices
Many guides on Null Byte require using the Secure Shell (SSH) to connect to a remote server. Unfortunately for beginners, learning to use SSH can become a confusing mix of third-party programs and native OS support. For Chrome OS users, using SSH is even more difficult. We'll fix this by using the Chrome Secure Shell to establish an SSH connection from any device that can run a Chrome browser.
Exploit Development: How to Read & Write to a Program's Memory Using a Format String Vulnerability
Format strings are a handy way for programmers to whip up a string from several variables. They are designed to save the programmer time and allow their code to look much cleaner. Unbeknownst to some programmers, format strings can also be used by an attacker to compromise their entire program. In this guide, we are going to look at just how we can use a format string to exploit a running program.
How To: Enable the New Native SSH Client on Windows 10
For years, PuTTy has reigned supreme as the way to establish a Secure Shell (SSH) connection. However, those days are numbered with the addition of the OpenSSH server and client in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, which brings Windows up to par with macOS and Linux's ability to use SSH natively.
How To: Create a Native SSH Server on Your Windows 10 System
With the addition of the OpenSSH client and server in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you no longer have to rely on third-party programs to open an SSH server and connect to a Windows machine. While still a beta feature, this represents a long-overdue update fulfilling a promise made back in 2015.
Exploit Development: How to Manipulate Code Execution with the Instruction Pointer
The one thing that separates a script kiddy from a legitimate hacker or security professional is the ability to program. Script kiddies use other people's tools, while hackers and security pros write their own tools. To that end, we're going to see how a stack overflow vulnerability allows us to flood a variable with enough input to overwrite the instruction pointer with our own commands.
How To: Use VNC to Remotely Access Your Raspberry Pi from Other Devices
With Virtual Network Computing, you don't need to carry a spare keyboard, mouse, or monitor to use your headless computer's full graphical user interface (GUI). Instead, you can connect remotely to it through any available computer or smartphone.
How To: Use SSH Local Port Forwarding to Pivot into Restricted Networks
SSH is a powerful tool with more uses than simply logging into a server. This protocol, which stands for Secure Shell, provides X11 forwarding, port forwarding, secure file transfer, and more. Using SSH port forwarding on a compromised host with access to a restricted network can allow an attacker to access hosts within the restricted network or pivot into the network.
How to Use PowerShell Empire: Generating Stagers for Post Exploitation of Windows Hosts
PowerShell Empire is an amazing framework that is widely used by penetration testers for exploiting Microsoft Windows hosts. In our previous guide, we discussed why and when it's important to use, as well as some general info on listeners, stagers, agents, and modules. Now, we will actually explore setting up listeners and generating a stager.
How To: Install & Use the Ultra-Secure Operating System OpenBSD in VirtualBox
OpenBSD implements security in its development in a way that no other operating system on the planet does. Learning to use the Unix-like operating system can help a hacker understand secure development, create better servers, and improve their understanding of the BSD operating system. Using VirtualBox, the OS can be installed within a host to create a full-featured test environment.
How To: Use SHA-256 Hash to Verify Your Downloads Haven't Been Modified
Any internet user will need to download files eventually, and most simply have faith that what they are downloading is trustworthy. This doesn't give much clarity into the contents of the file, but if the file's author published the original checksum, comparing it to the SHA-256 hash of the downloaded file can ensure nothing was tampered with.
How To: Create an Evil Access Point with MitmAP
The threat of an evil access point has been around for a long time, and with the rise of open public Wi-Fi, that threat is often overshadowed by how comfortable we are using third-party Wi-Fi hotspots at coffee shops and public spaces. While we've shown an evil twin attack using the Aircrack-ng suite of tools, MitmAP is a Python tool to configure custom APs for many types of wireless attacks.
How To: Discover Computers Vulnerable to EternalBlue & EternalRomance Zero-Days
The public leaks of NSA tools and information have led to the release of previously secret zero-day exploits such as EternalBlue, which was used in the notorious WannaCry ransomware attack. Despite multiple patches being released, many users have failed to update their systems, so many devices are still vulnerable to these now-public attacks.
Exploit Development: How to Learn Binary Exploitation with Protostar
Being able to write your own hacking tools is what separates the script kiddies from the legendary hackers. While this can take many forms, one of the most coveted skills in hacking is the ability to dig through the binary files of a program and identify vulnerabilities at the lowest level. This is referred to as binary exploitation, and today we're going to check out a tool known as Protostar.
How To: Easily Bypass macOS High Sierra's Login Screen & Get Root (No Password Hacking Required)
It looks like there is a fatal flaw in the current macOS High Sierra 10.13.1, even straight from the login menu when you first start up the computer. This severe vulnerability lets hackers — or anyone with malicious intentions — do anything they want as root users as long as they have physical access to the computer.
How To: How Hackers Cover Their Tracks on an Exploited Linux Server with Shell Scripting
An attacker with shell access to a Linux server can manipulate, or perhaps even ruin, anything they have access to. While many more subtle attacks could provide significant value to a hacker, most attacks also leave traces. These traces, of course, can also be manipulated and avoided through methods such as shell scripting.
How To: Hide Your IP Address with a Proxy Server
Proxies can be quicker to use than a VPN for specific applications, like web browsers or torrent clients. Both services will hide your true IP address, but a VPN is slowed down because it encrypts all data through a VPN network, while a proxy just acts as a middleman for fetching and returning requests from a server on your behalf. When speed is needed, go proxy.
How To: Write an XSS Cookie Stealer in JavaScript to Steal Passwords
JavaScript is one of the most common languages used on the web. It can automate and animate website components, manage website content, and carry out many other useful functions from within a webpage. The scripting language also has many functions which can be used for malicious purposes, including stealing a user's cookies containing passwords and other information.
Steganography: How to Hide Secret Data Inside an Image or Audio File in Seconds
Steganography is the art of hiding information in plain sight, and in this tutorial, I'll show you how to use Steghide — a very simple command line tool to do just that. In addition, I'll go over a bit of conceptual background to help you understand what's going on behind the scenes. This is a tool that's simple, configurable, and only takes a few seconds to hide information in many file types.
How To: Gain Complete Control of Any Android Phone with the AhMyth RAT
There are more than 2 billion Android devices active each month, any of which can be hacked with the use of a remote administration tool, more commonly known as a RAT. AhMyth, one of these powerful tools, can help outsiders monitor a device's location, see SMS messages, take camera snapshots, and even record with the microphone without the user knowing.
Video: How to Use Maltego to Research & Mine Data Like an Analyst
So much information exists online that it's easy to get lost in data while researching. Understanding the bigger picture can take a lot of time and energy, but narrowing the question to one that's easy to answer is the first step of any investigation. That's why analysts use open-source intelligence (OSINT) tools like Maltego — to help refine raw data into a complete understanding of a situation.
How To: Extract Windows Usernames, Passwords, Wi-Fi Keys & Other User Credentials with LaZagne
After exploiting a vulnerable target, scooping up a victim's credentials is a high priority for hackers, since most people reuse passwords. Those credentials can get hackers deeper into a network or other accounts, but digging through the system by hand to find them is difficult. A missed stored password could mean missing a big opportunity. But the process can largely be automated with LaZagne.
How To: Simplify Payload Creation with MSFPC (MSFvenom Payload Creator)
The default tool for payload generation is MSFvenom, a Metasploit standalone payload generator as well as encoder. This tool is an incredibly powerful tool for payload generation, but it can be difficult and requires a bit of reading for newer users.
How To: Hide DDE-Based Attacks in MS Word
In a previous article, we learned how to take advantage of a feature, Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE), to run malicious code when a Microsoft Word document is opened. The biggest challenge of this attack is that it requires getting the user to agree to a pop-up prompt. Fortunately, since I posted that article, many new obfuscation techniques have been discovered to make this easier. Today, we explore and combine some of them to make the ultimate hidden DDE attack.
How To: Take Control of the Mouse & Keyboard in Python
While hackers adore the command line, working with the GUI (graphical user interface) of an operating system has some advantages. This is especially true when it comes to post-exploitation. When we can control the mouse and keyboard of a remote computer, we can truly say we have complete control over the device. Today, I'm going to introduce to you the PyAutoGUI module, which does just that, and just how much fun you can have with it!
How To: Exploit DDE in Microsoft Office & Defend Against DDE-Based Attacks
In our previous article, we learned how to take advantage of a feature, Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE), to run malicious code when an MS Word document is opened. Because Microsoft built DDE into all of its Office products as a way to transfer data one time or continuously between applications, we can do the same thing in Excel to create a spreadsheet that runs malicious code when opened. The best part is, it will do so without requiring macros to be enabled.
How To: Use the USB Rubber Ducky to Disable Antivirus Software & Install Ransomware
Ransomware is software that encrypts a victim's entire hard drive, blocking access to their files unless they pay a ransom to the attacker to get the decryption key. In this tutorial, you'll learn how easy it is to use the USB Rubber Ducky, which is disguised as an ordinary flash drive, to deploy ransomware on a victim's computer within seconds. With an attack that only takes a moment, you'll need to know how to defend yourself.
How To: Select a Field-Tested Kali Linux Compatible Wireless Adapter
When hacking Wi-Fi networks, having the right wireless adapter is essential. But hunting online for one can be a frustrating experience. To see how the handful of Kali-compatible adapters on the market measure up, I ran a series of tests to benchmark and compare their range, signal strength, and ability to enter monitor mode and perform packet injection. This should help you determine which adapter is right for your own hacking needs.
How To: Turn Any Phone into a Hacking Super Weapon with the Sonic
The Watch Dogs video game series came out in 2014, enamoring audiences with the idea of a seemingly magical smartphone that could change traffic signals, hack web cameras, and even remotely control forklifts. This may sound like science fiction, but The Sonic uses a customized flavor of Kali Linux to allow you to unleash the power of Kali from any smartphone — all without the need to create a hotspot to control it.
How To: Protect Yourself from the KRACK Attacks WPA2 Wi-Fi Vulnerability
In October of 2017, Mathy Vanhoef released "Key Reinstallation Attacks: Forcing Nonce Reuse in WPA2." This paper demonstrates a way to decrypt traffic on practically any WPA2 network, the most commonly used form of wireless security (seeing as all other forms of Wi-Fi encryption have already been broken). Practically all of the network-connected devices we use will need to be updated in some way in order to protect against this vulnerability, each of them in a different way.
How To: Generate Private Encryption Keys with the Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange
When we are building programs that communicate over a network, how can we keep our data private? The last thing we want is some other lousy hacker sniffing our packets, so how do we stop them? The easy answer: encryption. However, this is a very wide-ranging answer. Today we're going to look specifically at how to encrypt data in Python with dynamically generated encryption keys using what is known as the Diffie-Hellman key exchange.
How To: Use Dorkbot for Automated Vulnerability Discovery
If you need to scan a large number of domains for a specific web app vulnerability, Dorkbot may be the tool for you. Dorkbot uses search engines to locate dorks and then scan potentially vulnerable apps with a scanner module.
How To: Detect BlueBorne Vulnerable Devices & What It Means
Armis Labs has revealed eight vulnerabilities, called "BlueBorne", which put 5.3 billion Android, iOS, Windows, and Linux devices that use Bluetooth at risk. With it, hackers can control devices, access data, and spread malware to other vulnerable devices through networks. In this post, we will learn about the vulnerabilities, then look at how to find devices that have them.
How To: Execute Code in a Microsoft Word Document Without Security Warnings
Code execution in Microsoft Word is easier than ever, thanks to recent research done by Etienne Stalmans and Saif El-Sherei. Executing code in MS Word can be complicated, in some cases requiring the use of Macros or memory corruption. Fortunately, Microsoft has a built in a feature that we can abuse to have the same effect. The best part, it does so without raising any User Account Control security warnings. Let's look at how it's done.