Hot Null Byte News Stories

News: The Right Linux Distro

As many of you Null Byters may know, I was planning on writing this article a week or two ago. Better late than never! So, let's get right to it then—choosing the right Linux distro for your needs.

Farewell Byte: Goodbye Alex, Welcome Allen

Hello, fellow Null Byters. Today, with mixed feelings, I want to let you know that this is my last official post as the admin of Null Byte. I've come to the decision that I need to spend more time focusing on my studies. Over the past 5 months, I have enjoyed building this community and teaching people unorthodox methods of doing things, creating things, and hacking them. But I'm also excited to be delving deeper into the studies that brought me here in the first place.

News: Art Meets Information Liberation with the Transparency Grenade

Julian Oliver created the Transparency Grenade in January 2012 for the Studio Weise7 exhibition at Labor 8. It's a transparent device with a "payload" built from an ARM Chip, an Arduino Nano, a mic, and a strong Wi-Fi antenna. It taps into wireless networks and logs emails, webpages, images, and voice to a publicly available online map showing its "detonation" location. Apparently, development for an Android version (sans the pretty plastic shell) is under way thanks to interested donors. See...

News: Catch Creeps and Thieves in Action: Set Up a Motion-Activated Webcam DVR in Linux

When it comes to webcams these days, most people are using their laptops over desktops. The cameras are centered, integrated, and require no configuring. They're a cinch and usually have great resolution. So, then what do we do with all of those old wired desktop webcams that we've accrued over the years? Even if you still use an external USB one, chances are you're not using it daily, so why not come up with a better use for it?

News: Awesome Trick with Prepaid "GoPhones" Nabs You Free Text Messaging for Life

You might be sitting there thinking that I'm crazy, but the truth is you're only partially right. You can get free text messaging for life, all for a cheap, one-time fee. But, how can that be possible? An exploit in AT&T's prepaid GoPhones is the culprit behind this sweet, oh-so rare opportunity for exploitation. The exploit grants a lifetime of free texting, assuming that the company stays afloat from now until the end of time.

Community Byte: HackThisSite, Realistic 4 - Real Hacking Simulations

We'd like this to be one of the last HTS mission announcements, at least for now. As soon as Null Byte finds a server to play with (anyone want to donate one?), we are going to start doing root the box competitions, which is like king of the hill, except you have to hack a server and maintain access. Each server will have numerous known security holes. But for now, back to the normal flow of things...

Community Byte: HackThisSite, Realistic 3 - Real Hacking Simulations

We're aiming for this to be one of the last HTS mission announcements, at least for now. As soon as Null Byte finds a server to play with, we are going to start doing root the box competitions, which is like king of the hill, except you have to hack a server and maintain access. Each server will have numerous known security holes. But, for now, back to the normal flow of things...

Community Byte: HackThisSite, Realistic 2 - Real Hacking Simulations

The community tore up the first realistic mission last week. You've applied the techniques learned in the basic missions to a real scenario, so I'm pretty content. The realistic missions are where the learning gets intense and where we can apply real knowledge to extremely realistic situations. We will also be continuing the normal Python coding and hacking sessions. These sessions are created to bring our community together, to learn from each other, and grow together. Everyone is welcome, f...

Goodnight Byte: HackThisSite, Realistic 1 - Real Hacking Simulations

Last Friday's mission was to accomplish solving HackThisSite, realistic 1. This is the first in a series of realistic simulation missions designed to be exactly like situations you may encounter in the real world. This first mission, we are asked to help a friend manipulate the website voting system for a Battle of the Bands vote count in his favor.

News: Advanced Cracking Techniques, Part 2: Intelligent Bruteforcing

Following the first part in this series on advanced cracking techniques, we are going to go over how we can intelligently crack passwords using the old-fashioned bruteforce method. These unique cracking techniques aren't widely used, because most crackers are Script Kiddies who have no idea what the concepts are behind cracking passwords, thus, word won't get around too quickly.

News: SOPA and PIPA Blackout!

As of today (January 18, 2012) many websites have "blacked" out their content for the day, one of the more notable websites is Wikipedia.org. As this can be a small compromise as an act of protesting against the heinous bills going through the United States' Congress. A lot of these websites are using a type of Java-Script or JS for short, and others are using simple little Pop-Ups to block the sites. Through the use of some clever addons everyone that cares about their online security should...

News: Flaw in Facebook & Google Allows Phishing, Spam & More

Here's a nasty little Null Byte. An open redirect vulnerability was found in both Facebook and Google that could allow hackers to steal user credentials via phishing. This also potentially allows redirects to malicious sites that exploit other vulnerabilities in your OS or browser. This could even get your computer flooded with spam, and these holes have been known about for over a month.

Community Byte: HackThisSite, Realistic 1 - Real Hacking Simulations

Community byters, it's time to get serious. We are finally moving on to the realistic missions in HackThisSite. This is where the learning gets intense and where we can apply real knowledge to extremely realistic situations. We will also be continuing the normal Python coding and hacking sessions. These sessions are created to bring our community together, to learn from each other, and grow together. Everyone is welcome, from novice programmers to aspiring hackers.

News: Null Byte Is Calling for Contributors!

We're officially seeking Null Byters interested in teaching others! Contributors will write tutorials, which will be featured on the Null Byte blog, as well as the front page of WonderHowTo (if up to par, of course). This is a job meant for anyone with the will to share knowledge. There is no need to be intimidated if you fear you lack the writing skills. I will edit your drafts if necessary and get them looking top-notch! You can write tutorials of any skill level, and anything you feel like...