I've seen numerous tutorials on how to create a "strong" password. This makes me laugh. These titles imply "one" password, which is wrong in and of itself. A person should have many passwords, all different, and all extremely long. People may ask how they're supposed to rememb ...more
There are a lot of things on your computer that can reveal information about you when you are surfing the Internet. If you are like me, then you will do anything to maintain your privacy and prevent those little leaks of information from happening. Here's a list of a few of th ...more
Welcome to another Community Byte announcement! For the past few Community Bytes, we coded an IRC bot, and hacked it. Then, we created a web-based login bruteforcer! This week we are going to start something a bit different. We are going to start going through the missions at ...more
eBooks are an amazing thing, especially with Amazon's Kindle. What's irrtating about eBooks as that you have an infinite selection of books at your fingertips, but they all cost so much! Well, as always, Null Byte has a trick up our sleeves for nabbing free ebooks from Google. ...more
Got a knack for speeding? Like running red lights? Believe or not, the police have better things to be doing than pulling you over, like catching real criminals. That's why more and more cameras are popping up at known speeding zones and on street corners—so the cops can clean ...more
For most thrill-seekers, skydiving alone is an adrenaline rush worth experiencing only once, but for the death-defying, elite skydiver, the wingsuit is the next step in daring midair adventures. But thankfully, we people who like our feet planted on the ground can enjoy the th ...more
By now, many of you may have heard about iPhone tracking and recording your location data, but is there anything else being extracted from cell phones without our knowledge? If you're a Michigan state resident, the answer is an alarming "maybe". Michigan's police department h ...more
Understandably, the tragedy in Japan has substantially risen the level of worldwide radiation-related hysteria. So much so, as an alternative to stampeding health food stores for iodine tablets, crafty individuals and organizations are hacking together personal radiation detec ...more
This past Sunday, a group called Gnosis launched a massive hacker attack on Gawker media, one of the web's most popular blog networks (Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Jezebel, io9, Jalopnik, Kotaku, Deadspin and Fleshbot). 1.3 million registered users' passwords were compromised, and 188 ...more
Cheating ruins everything. Cheating makes game play unfair for others who may be truly competitive and strategic. Cheating makes others disrespect and un-friend you. There can be unforeseen consequences, like getting viruses, trojans or your account hacked from downloading a c ...more
Flash video. It's what all smartphone users have been waiting for. Why has it taken sooo long? And why is Apple still resistant? Here's the scoop, via Wired: "Adobe is releasing Flash Player 10.1 for mobile phones and desktops today. And it is piggy-backing on Google’s fast ...more
To create an elegant WordPress blog or website from scratch without being noticed that you're a complete beginner, you need that drive and pairs of eyes and ears. It may seem difficult at first but it can truly be fun and exciting. In order for you to have a long lasting blog ...more
Have you ever noticed that whenever you setup your voicemail account after getting a new cell phone number, it asks you to create a security pin to access your voicemail from other phone lines? When you call your home or cell number from another phone, after a few rings your ...more
Here's something fun for the Null Byte community to do—a coding competition! This week, I wanted to get everyone involved by offering you all a nice library of possible program types to choose from and try to code. At the end of this competition, all of the submitted programs ...more
Last Friday's mission was to accomplish solving HackThisSite, realistic 2. This second mission in a series of realistic simulation missions was designed to be exactly like situations you may encounter in the real world, requesting we help a friend take down a racist hate-group ...more
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 th ...more
The already robust and ingenious Nmap tool has received a whole slew of new scanning scripts that can be used to do all sorts of naughty endeavors. Notably, the SQLi module, since it is a necessary evil that we must cover here at Null Byte. This major update is going to fuel t ...more
Shortening URLs has become a necessity in this age of Twitter and limited-character status updates. It not only allows us to cram more words into our oh-so-important Twitter statuses, but it also helps us with a few other things. Some Benefits of URL Shorteners We can create ...more
Here at Null Byte, we've spoken a lot about securing and anonymizing traffic. This is a big deal. With all of today's business taking place electronically via computers, we need to be secure when on-the-go. A lot of businesses don't even train their employees to secure their c ...more
Our mission for this week's Community Byte was to create a Python program to crack web-based passwords, like the ones you would see on an email or router login. I wanted it to be universal in the sense that it could be easily modified and adapted to another website just by cha ...more
Your IP (Internet Protocol) address is your unique ID on the internet. It's synonymous with your home address. Anyone in the world can contact your computer through its IP address, and send a retrieve information with it. I'm sure at one time or another you've heard that hack ...more
Nobody could predict the success of Microsoft's Kinect, not even Microsoft themselves. So, it was quite a surprise when it ended up earning a Guinness World Record for fastest-selling consumer electronics device, and an even bigger surprise to see people buying one that didn't ...more
Our hacked Kinect series has demonstrated amply how the Kinect is changing the worlds of business, art, medicine and robotics. But where does it go from here? That will be determined by the thousands of dedicated DIYers out there doing work like you've seen here over the last ...more
Attention all National SCRABBLE Association members: You know that newsletter that you get in your mailbox every month or two? That SCRABBLE News mailing from the NSA? Well, they're axing it. No more printed SCRABBLE News. No more ink on your fingertips. No more surprises in ...more
Hello readers again! Sorry about the long wait (scary computer problems). Today I am going to talk to you about security problems on Wizard101. I have recently encountered many security flaws on Wizard101, including hacking, frauding and other crazy things. Wizard101 is the ta ...more
Oh, LifeHacker, we love you. You've brought us so many handy HowTo's: Hack Wireless Internet, Bypass Blocked Websites, Convert a Laptop Into a Projector, Watch TV & Movies on the Web For Free, 10 Must-Know Google Privacy Settings, and more. And now, another great one: LifeHac ...more
There are so many hackers around these days, and they are becoming very smart. So smart that they have successfully taken down many government websites. The most recent attack was on the Department of Justice (DOJ). To read about the history of these hackers, check out Wikiped ...more
Haven't you ever wanted to live in a futuristic home? I think that homes are headed towards an era where they will be controlled by our computers and smartphones. No longer will you have to find your keys to unlock your door, or wait until you get home to monitor your security ...more
When Apple‘s iTunes was introduced back in 2001, it rekindled my interest and purchasing of music. I was so excited by the program that I immediately started converting all my rather large collection of CDs into MP3 tracks. I then sold off my CDs and remaining vinyl albums, an ...more
What is Google Dorking? Well, simply put, "Google Dorking" is just an efficient way to utilise keywords in order to perform very specific searches on a given subject. In this case, one would look for websites/servers that are vulnerable to attacks or are configured improperly ...more
Welcome to the second Null Byte in a series educating you on Social Engineering awareness and techniques. Today, I'm going to show you how a saavy Social Engineer would trick a friend into unknowingly surrendering their Facebook password. My intent is to warn and demonstrate h ...more
You'll see a lot of Linux action going down here at Null Byte. We use Linux for hacking-related stuff because it provides a more relaxed programming environment, making it easy to write exploits and tools. Linux has many features Windows is lacking, such as full control over t ...more
Today, we're pleased to announce that WonderHowTo is getting a major site-wide update to make it easier to follow the subjects you're passionate about and to share your creations with people who will give you the kudos you deserve! We Built You a New WonderHowTo! In preparat ...more
WonderHowTo is a how-to website made up of niche communities called Worlds, with topics ranging from Minecraft to science experiments to Scrabble and everything in-between. Check in every Wednesday evening for a roundup of user-run activities and how-to projects from the most ...more
WonderHowTo is a how-to website made up of niche communities called Worlds, with topics ranging from Minecraft to science experiments to Scrabble and everything in-between. Check in every Wednesday evening for a roundup of user-run activities and how-to projects from the most ...more
WonderHowTo is a how-to website made up of niche communities called Worlds, with topics ranging from Minecraft to science experiments to Scrabble and everything in-between. Check in every Wednesday evening for a roundup of user-run activities and how-to projects from the most ...more
Injection is an attack vector that involves breaking out of a data context and switching into a programming context through the use of special characters. These characters are significant to the interpreter being used, but not needed for the general user input being asked for. ...more
WonderHowTo is made up of niche communities called Worlds. If you've yet to join one (or create your own), get a taste below of what's going on in the community. Check in every Wednesday for a roundup of new activities and projects. Thanks to all of our active moderators and ...more
If you follow the Anonymous, Occupy, and IT security scenes, you have no doubt heard about a dox release. What is it? How can it hurt you? And most importantly, how can you protect yourself from it? Some of these steps might seem common sense, while others will be an ah-ha! mo ...more
Imagine you're in Paris and you need to get to Versailles. Looking around for directions, you come to a cold realization—you do not speak a lick of French! How are you going to get to Versailles and what happens if there is a detour? It will be a difficult struggle, and you'd ...more
This is a two-part series to locking down the computer to provide maximum protection. Even though this guide will sound intrusive, we are talking about reality here. Extreme measures must be taken to protect our computers, especially when we have confidential documentation or ...more
+Nik Cubrilovic discovered last week that Facebook could track your web activities even after you logged out of your Facebook account. After some blatant denials from Facebook spokespeople, Facebook decided to fix the logout issue, but not before +Michael Arrington, on his new ...more
Anonymity is something that doesn't exist today. Everything you do in the world is tracked, from the purchases you make to surfing the internet—even taking pictures on your iPhone. Everything you have ever said and done on the internet is still there—somewhere. This is called ...more
Kongregate is a site that allows users to upload games. Users must go to the site to download the hack. On the site, select Kongregate. Then select the first topic and click on KBH 2.0.14. Once downloaded, you can extract the files onto your desktop. Open up the file and follo ...more
So you want to be more involved in your community. That's great! It does not have to be super complicated to start being involved. Here are a few easy ways to go about doing so: Check Community Organizations Websites A good place to start is to check any number of fine organ ...more
Welcome back, my greenhorn hackers! Over the years, I have written many articles here on Null Byte chronicling the many the hacks of the NSA, including the recent hack of the Juniper Networks VPN. (By the way, my speculation in that article has proven to be correct. The NSA d ...more
Welcome back, my greenhorn hackers! Although we have focused primarily on technical hacks here, social engineering can sometimes be especially effective. This one requires a bit of technical skill, but not too much. In addition, it's limited by how specific a target you can c ...more
Welcome back, my aspiring hackers! In this series on Linux for aspiring hackers, I'm trying to provide you with the basic skills needed to be capable in Linux as a hacker. One area that's critical that we haven't covered yet is building and managing an Apache web server. Apac ...more
Welcome back, my budding hackers! This is the initial post of a new series on how to hack Facebook. It's important to note here that each hack I'll be covering is very specific. I have said it before, but I feel I need to repeat it again: there is NO SILVER BULLET that works ...more
It only takes a few commands to manipulate a MacBook's secure HTTPS traffic and pluck login passwords out of the encrypted data. Let's take Facebook and Gmail hacking to the next level by intercepting Safari and Google Chrome web traffic in real time. Both Facebook and Gmail ...more
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 ...more
Despite the security concerns that have plagued Facebook for years, most people are sticking around and new members keep on joining. This has led Facebook to break records numbers with over 1.94 billion monthly active users, as of March 2017 — and around 1.28 billion daily act ...more
Welcome back, my greenhorn hackers! In a previous tutorial on hacking databases, I showed you how to find online databases and then how to enumerate the databases, tables, and columns. In this guide, we'll now exfiltrate, extract, remove—whatever term you prefer—the data from ...more
Conducting phishing campaigns and hosting Metasploit sessions from a trusted VPS is important to any professional security researcher, pentester, or white hat hacker. However, the options are quite limited since most providers have zero-tolerance policies for any kind of hacki ...more
On the internet, everything is possible, even if it's not grounded in reality (check no further than anything The Onion publishes). Witty headlines combined with clever photo edits make even the most absurd topic seem like a serious news story. Some of these stories are so con ...more
Auditing websites and discovering vulnerabilities can be a challenge. With RapidScan and UserLAnd combined, anyone with an unrooted Android phone can start hacking websites with a few simple commands. RapidScan does an excellent job of automating the deployment of vulnerabili ...more
Business hours and addresses change, but they're not always updated on Yelp by business owners for the rest of us to see. Showing up when a business is closed or going to the incorrect address is a major annoyance, which is why the company allows us, the customers, to help upd ...more
One of the headlining features in Samsung's One UI update is a new dark mode that turns stock apps and system menus black. But something you may have missed is what this theme does to the Samsung Internet app and all the websites you visit. When the system-wide "Night theme" ...more
Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a great way to add another layer of security to sensitive third-party apps and websites like Venmo. However, before iOS 12, to log into a particular 2FA-secured app or site on your iPhone, you'd have to memorize or copy the SMS code from Mess ...more
When you visit a website in Safari, it's most likely keeping tabs on your browsing activity. It could be keeping track directly, or its third-party content providers and advertisers can be spying on you. All three could happen simultaneously. This enables them to serve you con ...more