The Start menu has definitely seen many changes over the years—from the traditional menu that was present from Windows XP to 7, to the Start screen in Windows 8, to the hybrid of the two in Windows 10. And while the return of the Start "menu" has received near-universal praise ...more
Welcome back, my tenderfoot hackers! A short while ago, I started a new series called "How to Spy on Anyone." The idea behind this series is that computer hacking is increasingly being used in espionage and cyber warfare, as well as by private detectives and law enforcement t ...more
Welcome back, my fledgling hackers! Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, we can only get a command shell on our target system. For instance, with Metasploit, it's not always possible to get the all powerful Meterpreter on our target system. In other cases, we may be able to c ...more
Welcome back, my greenhorn hackers! After the disaster that was Windows Vista and the limited and reluctant adoption of Windows 8 and 8.1, Windows 7 has become the de facto standard operating system on the desktop/client. Although the most valuable information to the hacker ...more
You can easily lock any folder on your Windows computer with a simple Notepad hack. By creating a batch file, you can hide a folder and require a password be entered before it becomes visible and accessible. This is a great tool for locking sensitive information, like pictures ...more
Welcome back, my fledgling hackers! If you're like most aspiring hackers, at one time or another you've probably spent too much time playing Call of Duty and not enough time preparing for your final exams. So for today, we'll look at how to break into your school's server to ...more
While playing Fortnite Battle Royale, you may have noticed a few players wearing different outfits or using fancy dance moves. These are cosmetic items that can only be obtained by unlocking them. However, unlocking items in Fortnite is a little different than many free-to-pla ...more
From the first moments of booting up Harry Potter: Wizards Unite to the hours of walking you're bound to experience, one thing is clear — encountering Foundables and defeating their Confoundables is a significant plot point of the AR game. While you receive rewards each time y ...more
The dock in Mac OS X is intuitive, customizable, and aesthetically pleasing, which is a stark difference from its clunky Windows alternative. In fact, in Windows, it takes both the Start menu and taskbar to accomplish what Apple's dock does—but it doesn't have to be like that. ...more
This is the first installment in a new series that I am calling "Hacker Hurdles." These are things, methods, techniques that make our job as hackers more challenging and difficult. Don't misunderstand me, these items don't make our task impossible, but rather more challenging ...more
You may not have thought of dorks as powerful, but with the right dorks, you can hack devices just by Googling the password to log in. Because Google is fantastic at indexing everything connected to the internet, it's possible to find files that are exposed accidentally and co ...more
Sometimes you need a password to gain access to an older running Windows system. Maybe it's a machine in your basement you forgot about or a locked machine that belonged to a disgruntled employee. Maybe you just want to try out your pentesting skills. When you need to access ...more
Welcome back, my aspiring hackers! In this series, we continue to examine digital forensics, both to develop your skills as a forensic investigator and to avoid the pitfalls of being tracked by a forensic investigator. In earlier posts in this series, we examined registry fi ...more
Welcome back, my neophyte hackers! I have already done a few tutorials on password cracking, including ones for Linux and Windows, WEP and WPA2, and even online passwords using THC Hydra. Now, I thought it might be worthwhile to begin a series on password cracking in general. ...more
A powered-off Windows 10 laptop can be compromised in less than three minutes. With just a few keystrokes, it's possible for a hacker to remove all antivirus software, create a backdoor, and capture webcam images and passwords, among other highly sensitive personal data. The ...more
Welcome back, my fledgling hackers! Hacking has a long and storied history in the U.S. and around the world. It did not begin yesterday, or even at the advent of the 21st century, but rather dates back at least 40 years. Of course, once the internet migrated to commercial use ...more
Step 1: What Exploit Development Is and Why Should I Be Interested on About This Topic An exploit is a piece of software, a chunk of data, or a sequence of commands that takes advantage of a bug or vulnerability in order to cause unintended or unanticipated behavior to occur ...more
Windows 95, which introduced the Start menu to the world, recently celebrated its 20th birthday! The feature was an instant hit, becoming a core component of Windows operating systems. Well, it was removed in the mistake that was Windows 8, but you should know by now that the ...more
Welcome back, my fledgling hackers! A short while ago, I did a tutorial on conducting passive OS fingerprinting with p0f. As you remember, p0f is different from other operating system fingerprinting tools as it does not send any packets to the target, instead it simply takes ...more
The older I get, the more my Friday nights involve watching Netflix at home with a bottle of Maker's Mark and a box of Oreos. Netflix is a big part of my life, and I'm not alone. YouTube and Netflix make up over 50% of all activity on the Internet, so it might be worth your ti ...more