Create and Us

Ringing and vibrating alerts on your smartphone can be a bit distracting when you're at work or school, but silent alerts can be a little too subtle if you want to know when you get a notification. Even the tiny LED alerts can be easily missed. So, is there's something in-betw ...more

Gaining access to a system is always exciting, but where do you go from there? Root or bust. Sure, a compromised host is a great way to run a botnet, or do some other boring, nefarious thing—but as hackers, we want root. We also want to take the easiest path possible, search o ...more

Over the past month, we've spent significant time covering Samsung's Oreo Beta program, and the detailed list of features in Oreo is extensive for the Galaxy S8 and S8+. Many of you were upset when the Galaxy Note 8 was left out of the official Oreo beta program entirely, but ...more

Once you jailbreak, there are hundreds of options available for you to fully customize your boring stock iPhone into something more efficient and fun. We've already shown you a bunch, like how to beautify app icons and change battery icons, but now it's time for a badge alert ...more

Android 6.0 Marshmallow added a new permissions system that can make your digital life much more secure. Unlike previous versions, apps now have to ask for your consent before they can access certain data, which puts you firmly in the driver's seat. As if that weren't enough, ...more

A couple of days ago, I had some questions regarding the mighty tentacled beast of our oceans— the octopus. Actually, I was just curious as to what an octopus was, and I found the answer, which was a cephalopod mollusk in the order Octopoda. But that's not all I came across. ...more

The desktop layout in Mac OS X Yosemite is undeniably beautiful—it's sleek, simple, and easy to admire. Thing is, I do too much on my Mac to install a developer preview as my main OS (even though I can make a bootable install drive and dual-boot it), but I do want the aestheti ...more

While change is good, it isn't always welcomed. All software updates with radical redesigns and brand-new features bring at least a few complaints from those accustomed to previous versions. iOS 7 got a lot of flak from iOS 6 users, as did iOS 8 from iOS 7 users. When it come ...more

Man-in-the-Middle attacks can prove to be very useful, they allow us to do many things, such as monitoring, injection, and recon. What Is a Man-in-the-Middle Attack? Essentially, a man-in-the-middle attack is when an attacker places them self between two parties. This passes ...more

Welcome back, my greenhorn hackers! As expected with Null Byte's dramatic growth over the last year, we have added many new aspiring hackers who are still lacking in the basics of networking. In addition, with the new "White Hat" certifications coming out shortly, the exam wi ...more

At its core, the Chromecast is essentially a web browser on a stick. When you cast content from your computer or smartphone, all you're really doing is telling the Chromecast which website to load. So if you're experiencing lag or issues casting content, the root cause is gen ...more

Dating websites allow you to see a person in a very intimate context, framing their successes and accomplishments in life to an important audience. The information contained in these profiles often can't be found elsewhere, offering a unique look into the personal life of the ...more

Welcome back, my fledgling hackers! The database is the hacker's "pot-of-gold," as it contains information that is very valuable to both the business and the hacker. In this, the second of my series on hacking databases, we're on the "hunt" for Microsoft's SQL Server. Althoug ...more

Hangouts is a great cross-platform messaging service from Google that works with almost any device, making it one of the few messengers that can be installed on Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android gadgets alike. With its many useful features, one of the few debatable downsides is i ...more

No summer season would be complete without potato salad, an essential side dish. The flavors and textures of a simple potato salad can be totally satisfying as is, but add in a few items and you can have a dish that is absolutely extraordinary. Here, we'll cover the basics of ...more

Rooting a mobile device may not be a big deal these days, but not being able to root definitely is. Even the Library of Congress, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and White House can agree on that. Since the release of the Samsung Galaxy S3, the int ...more

A new coat of paint is an easy, cheap way to make your home look instantly better, but dealing with paint fumes for days afterward isn't so fun, especially if you have kids or pets. Most household paints have VOCs (volatile organic compounds) in them that release fumes as the ...more

Google debuted YouTube Music Key in November, and for $10 a month, this essentially turned YouTube into a music streaming service. With ad-free music videos and background audio playback, YouTube serves as a viable alternative to Spotify or Pandora for Music Key subscribers. ...more

Normally, it's good to automatically update your apps to the latest version, but sometimes those updates take away features that you've grown to love. Google Maps used to track your bus route and alert you to whenever your stop was approaching, but not anymore. Every Snapchat ...more

Remember what life was like before your iPhone? Before there were palm-sized smartphones with seemingly endless features, there were phones like Motorola's RAZR that peaked with its embedded camera. Before that, there were simple flip phones with texting capabilities, bulky tw ...more

If you have some photos, videos, and documents that you want to keep completely hidden and encrypted on your Android device, Andrognito is the app you need. We showcased this app in the past, but since then, CODEX has rebuilt it from the ground up with new and improved feature ...more

Tossing an old Android smartphone with a decent battery into your hacking kit can let you quickly map hundreds of vulnerable networks in your area just by walking or driving by them. The practice of wardriving uses a Wi-Fi network card and GPS receiver to stealthily discover a ...more

If you want to take your iPhone or Android photos to the next level, Snapseed is one of the best options. When it comes time to share pictures with friends and family, you want them to look as good as possible, so a little post-processing is in order. The problem is that Snaps ...more

With beta testing coming to a close, it's quite likely we will see the stable Android Oreo OTA roll out for the Galaxy S8 in late January. Yesterday, a Reddit user posted a link to an official Oreo OTA build for the Galaxy S8. We've already detailed everything that's new in th ...more

Since version 4.4 (KitKat), Android has taken the album artwork for any song that's currently playing, as well as videos, podcasts, and other media, then used it as the background image for your lock screen. While many users have enjoyed this little tweak, others aren't quite ...more

Android version 5.0 Lollipop introduced a ton of changes to the OS—and of course with new features, there's always a new set of bugs. One of the biggest bugs of all was a massive memory leak caused by the new screen-off animation, which loaded its assets into memory but never ...more

With a slab-style touchscreen device, butt dialing is always going to be a problem. While you're moving about, your phone can unlock itself and give your most recent contact a ring, leading to an awkward one-sided conversation where the other person gets to eavesdrop on everyt ...more

AMOLED display panels like the one found in most Samsung Galaxy devices, including the Galaxy S6 models, are known for their deep blacks and vivid colors. The downside here is that the colors tend to be over-saturated and not very realistic. Samsung countered this issue by of ...more

Welcome back, my budding hackers! I began this series on Linux basics because several of you have expressed befuddlement at working with BackTrack on Linux. As a hacker, there is no substitute for Linux skills. Linux beginners are often faced with the issue of how to find fi ...more

Samsung has a long-standing reputation for packing their devices with lots of added functionality, and the Galaxy S6 Edge is no exception. It comes with a nifty feature called "Information stream," which allows you to get quick, at-a-glance information by swiping the edge of y ...more

If you're concerned about your privacy, TikTok might not be the app for you. Its shady practices with user data have been the subject of concern, criticism, and even legal action by the US government. Then again, it's just so addicting. If, like me, you're not going to stop us ...more

Customization is one of Android's popular selling points, and going hand-in-hand with that is being able to set default apps for different actions. Whether you want to play a song, navigate somewhere, or send a text, you can set a go-to app for each of those tasks. Upon setti ...more

I'm a pretty nice person, so when someone asks me to take a group picture of their friends or family, I can't easily say "no," even if I have somewhere else to be. Even worse—sometimes I'm the one asking, fully knowing just how annoying it can be. Maybe you've been told "no" b ...more

There are songs that we love, songs that make us sad, and songs that change the way we view the world—and that's something that Steve Jobs knew all too well. "I was very lucky to grow up in a time when music really mattered. It wasn't just something in the background; it real ...more

Netmarble's Lineage 2 Revolution has finally soft launched in the Philippines, giving mobile gamers hope that a worldwide release isn't too far off. What many don't realize, however, is that this game can be had for free right now — with a little digital elbow grease, that is. ...more

Welcome back, my nascent hackers! Although my favorite TV show, Mr. Robot, had completed its first season already, I have not completed demonstrating the hacks that Elliot used in the show. (By the way, I can't wait for season 2!) In several episodes, Elliot was seen sending ...more

Applying for jobs can be a truly miserable experience. Sending out endless résumés, filling out those janky online applications, and creating cover letters can really wear a person down. So, any suggestions that make that process easier are always welcome. If you suspect your ...more

When attempting to gain access to a server, there may come a point when you need to get around file upload restrictions to upload something. If we can find a way to get around the restrictions, then we can upload anything we want to the server, effectively compromising it. Tha ...more

When surfing the web in Safari, you can double-tap the status bar to quickly scroll back up to the top any webpage. In other iOS apps that have the shortcut enabled, you can get the job done even faster by tapping the status bar only once. The only bad thing about this feature ...more

Thanks to Verizon Wireless, I pay over $220 a month for my phone bill. It's just me on the plan—no family members, and it's not even unlimited data. So, when I receive that data alert message telling me that I've used up 90% of my plan and that I've still got a few more week u ...more

If you want to get started sniffing Wi-Fi networks, you usually need to start with a wireless network adapter. But thanks to a Wi-Fi sniffing library written in Arduino and the ultra-cheap ESP8266 chip, you might not need one. For less than $10 in electronics, you can build a ...more

Every summer my husband and I plant a tomato plant. We do this to enjoy the plump red tomatoes right off of the vine. This summer we have had a problem, which is that SOMETHING IS EATING OUR TOMATOES AND IT IS NOT US! The Beginning Let me start from the beginning. Purchase ...more

Unlike the Galaxy S4 and other Samsung devices, the Nexus 7 doesn't have a Clear All option in the recent apps menu. It's a highly requested feature, as it cuts down the time required to go one-by-one swiping each individual app (you can't swipe away multiple ones at the same ...more

The Nexus 6 is one of the few devices on the market that sports a 1440p "QHD" display. This means that the amount of pixels displayed is higher than almost any other smartphone, which sounds great on the surface, but is not without its drawbacks. For one, most apps and games ...more

Welcome back my fellow hackers! In my last few articles, I've concentrated on what is called a listener, which is basically the same thing as backdoor and rootkit, only "listener" sounds much less malevolent than the other two terms. First, I covered embedding a listener in ...more

Welcome back, my hacker novitiates! When we are trying to find vulnerabilities in a website to attack, we need a solid web server vulnerability scanner. Internet-facing web apps can open enormous opportunities for us as they are often riven with vulnerabilities and can often ...more

In this instruction, you will find out how to use the hidden Skype smileys and emoticons. You can not find this smileys in the standard Skype smiley menu. To use these smileys you need to memorize some words and put them in parentheses (). These words you can find in table bel ...more

Welcome back, my hacker novitiates! In previous guides, we have used one of the most powerful hacking platforms on the planet, Metasploit, to perform numerous hacks. They ranged from exploiting Windows XP and Windows 7/8 vulnerabilities, to installing a keylogger and turning ...more

The new Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ phones were announced on March 29 at the Samsung UNPACKED 2017 event. Preorders start on March 30 for the Korean tech giant's latest flagships, and sales officially begin in the US on April 21. Samsung will need a smooth release to win ...more

While the USB Rubber Ducky is well known by hackers as a tool for quick in-person keystroke injection attacks, one of the original uses for it was automation. In this guide, I'll be going the latter, explaining how we can use it to automate Wi-Fi handshake harvesting on the Ra ...more

The Operative Framework is a powerful Python-based open-source intelligence (OSINT) tool that can be used to find domains registered by the same email address, as well as many other investigative functions. This reconnaissance tool provides insight about your target through ex ...more

Being in a band, I exposed myself to years of extremely high volumes, so I can't hear as well as I once did. I'm not concerned about going deaf or anything, but I tend to have the volume raised to the max, beyond the "high volume" warning, whenever listening to music on my One ...more

Now that we've talked about encryption and managing your passwords, let's continue this series on getting your Mac ready for hacking by turning our attention to the terminal. The terminal is a key component of any pentester's setup. We're going to be spending a lot of time wo ...more

Disneyland may be the happiest place on Earth, but there are definitely a few flaws that only small kids could overlook. The lines are extravagantly long, everything is overpriced, and there are tons of grumpy people and crazy children running around as if they just found out ...more

The Nexus 6 uses an Ambient Display notification system that was heavily inspired by the Active Display feature on the Moto X. Essentially, the device shows a black-and-white version of the lock screen whenever you receive a new notification or pick the phone up. This is all m ...more

You may already know that you can build a functional circuit on a sheet of paper with the graphite from a pencil, but you'd probably never think of using it to fix an electronic device. This same principle can be used to bring back a bricked phone, but can also repair a damage ...more

Practically every smartphone comes with a built-in camera app, but these apps are generally created by the device's manufacturer. And let's face it, manufacturers are hardware companies first and foremost, so they don't always produce the best software. Luckily, though, Andro ...more

Welcome back, my greenhorn hackers! In recent weeks, the Heartbleed vulnerability of OpenSSL has been dominating the information security headlines. This vulnerability enables an attacker to extract data from the server's memory that may contain authentication credentials, co ...more

Most of the free apps you'll find on the Play Store have ads. These ads are personalized — in other words, they're for products and services Google believes you might be interested in. The way Google knows about your interests is by collecting data from your smartphone, includ ...more