Community Byte: HackThisSite Walkthrough, Part 9 - Legal Hacker Training

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Welcome to the ninth Community Byte for coding in Python and completing the challenges presented to us by HackThisSite. 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.

HackThisSite is a free, legal, and safe practice ground for aspiring hackers wanting to test their knowledge on something real. We have full permission to exploit their servers, and we even get point rewards for it. 

Python is an easy-to-learn and fun programming language. It was made with readability and simplicity in mind. This keeps things speedy and simple, which helps novice programmers grasp the concepts and ideas pertaining to programming more easily.

This week's mission on HackThisSite will educate even further on JavaScript. It's been a while since we've done JS, so make sure your mind is sharp with caffeine!

Our Job

Manipulate, crack, or otherwise hack the JavaScript in the mission's source code to exploit how passwords are implemented. This mission isn't something that would likely happen, but it teaches you a bunch of puzzle solving techniques that can be easily applied to anything hacking-related.

Prerequisites

• An IRC client, like XChat
• An account on HackThisSite
• Will to learn basic Unix commands and directory structure
• Gobby, a collaborative code editor (programmers)
• A friendly disposition toward other coders and community members

How Does This Work?

If you're new to IRC, go here to learn how to set it up and use it. I will walk everyone through the mission and give you all of the resources and hints you need to solve it via chat. If none of our users are able to solve the mission, I will walk you through how to complete it and make sure that you learn why the exploit works.

Sol Gates is in charge of community coding (Mondays and Wednesdays), and I am in charge of HTS missions (Fridays).

When Does It Start?

Programming

Every Monday and Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. PST. If you need to convert the time from your time zone, go to the Time Zone Converter.

HackThisSite Missions

Every Friday at 5:00 p.m. PST. If you need to convert the time from your time zone, go to the Time Zone Converter.

PLEASE, arrive on time. You will be left out if you do not arrive on time.

Project Goals

Here are some of my hopes for the community for this week's project:

• Get more people in IRC
• Get more people to learn how to program
• Inspire people to learn on their own time out of free will
• Learn about SSI and how to manipulate web scripts
• Get at least one user to solve the mission on their own (it's been 3 weeks since the last time that's happened, I think)

Follow and Chat with Null Byte!

• Twitter
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• IRC chat

Interested in becoming a moderator? Then, simply ask! Tell me if you are interested and I will keep a close eye on your contributions. Your work will not go unnoticed.

Image via psdgraphics