The Windows Environment

Today, Microsoft announced its Windows 10 Creators Update, adding the ability to scan objects in your world and bring them into the computer. With newly-announced inexpensive VR headsets and the HoloLens, you can enjoy those transplanted 3D objects in mixed and virtual reality ...more

If you have never heard of a Virtual Machine (VM) before you might think it to be some new kind of gamers virtual reality system, and that would be incorrect. A virtual machine is a Virtually a real computer that exists inside of your own computer. You can run Kali inside of a ...more

Keeping your operating system up to date is essential to keeping it bug-free and running properly. Windows regularly pushes out patches and security fixes through Windows Update, so making sure to turn on Automatic Updates or checking at least once a week is strongly advised. ...more

This is my first contribution in an ongoing series on detailing the best free, open source hacking and penetration tools available. My goal is to show you some of the quality tools that IT security experts are using every day in their jobs as network security and pen-testing p ...more

Note: The article assumes that the reader has a fundamental understanding of at least one other programming language, and that this is intended serve as a quick reference for Perl's basic syntax & behavior in regards to Variables, Control Structures, & Functions. Learning to ...more

Welcome back, my tenderfoot hackers! One key area on the minds of all hackers is how to evade security devices such as an intrusion detection system (IDS) or antivirus (AV) software. This is not an issue if you create your own zero-day exploit, or capture someone else's zero- ...more

Now that we have our payload hosted on our VPS, as well as Metasploit installed, we can begin developing the webpage which will trick our "John Smith" target into opening our malicious file. Once he has, we can take over his computer. This part is more involved, but the first ...more

I love cryptography. It is like a great gigantic puzzle for me to solve. However, it is more important than that. It is also how we keep secrets safe. Not just sorta safe either, but really safe. Until recently, if you wanted to use strong encryption you had to either learn d ...more

PowerShell is an essential component of any Windows environment and can be a powerful tool in the hands of a hacker. During post-exploitation, PowerShell scripts can make privilege escalation and pivoting a breeze, but its execution policy can put a damper on even the best-lai ...more

Whether it's the new iPad Killer or not, one thing's for sure—the Motorola XOOM is hackable. Just hours after its release last week, Verizon's new Android-based tablet (running Honeycomb) was rooted by hacker Koushik Dutta, which seems easy enough. "Since it’s another Google ...more

Kill with skill. That's the motto of the newly released Bulletstorm, available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows. It may sound ridiculous and somewhat obnoxious by itself, but it's actually in regards to its many "ridiculous skillshots" that a player can perform. And yes, ...more

Over the years, I have enjoyed playing with Asterisk. I have found Asterisk to be extremely powerful and fun to play with. There are several books and many scattered how to articles out there, but most are outdated and the information required to build Asterisk from beginning ...more

Antivirus programs usually aim to prevent malicious software from crashing your system, not ARE malicious software that crashes your system. Except, that was the case with AVG Anti-Virus yesterday when they released a software update that rendered 64-Bit Windows 7 systems usel ...more

Painting your car's interior is a great way to enhance your driving surroundings and give you a new plush look. In most cases it can even increase the value of your car when you trade it in or sell it. You could spend hundreds, even thousands for changing or replacing your in ...more

Some people are what is labeled a power user. I am one of these people. No matter how fast I get my system, or how quick of programs I have, it is never good enough. There is always at least one program that I could swap out for a more advanced, text-based counterpart that inc ...more

When you first become interested in learning how to program, it can be difficult to find a place to start. A lot of questions come up, especially if you're new to the idea of programming entirely. After you pick which language you want to learn, you have to worry about how you ...more

It's been a long time coming, but Microsoft has finally released a software development kit (SDK) for the Kinect on Windows 7 PCs. The word "hacking" is no longer needed, thanks to the free beta download available at Microsoft Research that allows anyone with a Windows compute ...more

Looking to go "Green" When I'm looking to do new remodeling projects around the house, I find myself asking, is this Eco-Friendly? Is this main stream America brain-washing me into a "Greener Tomorrow?" I doubt it! Embracing Eco-minded products is not just good for preserving ...more

Some people might check their activation status of Windows XP by simply right-clicking on the My Computer icon on their desktop, then clicking on Properties. It opens up a new window with General tab showing some basic information about your PC, like system info, registered to ...more

Coming soon to an Android device near you: Diminished Reality! What's Diminished Reality? A lot like Augmented Reality, really, but with one big difference: Where AR giveth, insinuating virtual elements into a live representation of the real world, Diminished Reality taketh aw ...more

With the plethora of programming that we promote at Null Byte, I figured a lot of you newbies that stop by IRC will need a big boost in the right direction to make your dive into programming a lot easier. A hot question that has been thrown around in IRC a lot when making the ...more

Back when I was a Windows user, I know I'm not the only one who has experienced password loss—that moment where you just can't remember your password. Sometimes it happens to the best of us. So, how can we get into the system without paying a local geek or geeksquad to do it? ...more

File recovery on Linux is a bit different than Windows. It requires different software than the Windows counterparts because every OS has their own file system. Windows uses NTFS, or FAT file systems, while on the other hand, Linux uses ext-based file systems. I personally use ...more

Microsoft recently released the first sneak peak of their new operating system, Windows 8, and it's a pretty big departure from the last few major updates. The new Windows 8 was built from the ground up, and is designed primarily as a touchscreen interface, which is perfect fo ...more

Microsoft office 2010 is the successor version of office 2007 and is code named as office 14. It is the first 64 bit version of office which is only compatible with Microsoft service pack 3, Windows vista and windows 7. It was released on April 15, 2010. It is the first Micros ...more

Technology: The Less You Know the Better? I'm sure everyone is now aware of GPS technologies and tracking techniques these days, with the release of numerous documents (even lawsuits) on big name companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Google. Yes, 2011 was a good year for eye-o ...more

If you have made the switch from Windows to Linux, I want to congratulate you in advance. I'm sure you have noticed a huge performance increase when using Linux over other operating systems. This is only half the battle, though! Most users who are new to Linux end up using Ubu ...more

Welcome to the second part of the Arch Linux installation tutorial! We are installing Arch because of the amount of users who want to learn how to get into Linux. Arch is a simple, minimalistic distro, designed not to hold the users hand, but to push them to know their system ...more

Linux can have the most beautiful interface in the world, because it is simply what you make of it. You can change every little detail with relative ease because that's what Linux is all about: Freedom and OpenSource. I posted pictures of my desktop on the corkboard a few wee ...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

Let’s say you have a MOOG keyboard you want to send into Logic. To set this up, there’s a few things to do in Logic. Make a new project in Logic, create an audio track. Open the environment (apple+8) In the environment, click NEW/INSTRUMENT In the track inspector on the left ...more

Hey, hackers! Now that you've hacked/owned your first "box" in my last article, let's look a little closer at another great feature of Metasploit, the Meterpreter, and then let’s move on to hacking a Linux system and using the Meterpreter to control and own it. Why Meterprete ...more

Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our advanced tutorials and come play with us on our free server. In the past, we've gone over how to improve the architecture of windows, doors, walls and other such structures. In last Saturday's workshop, we looked into some specific te ...more

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. First off, you need a base for your search. Picking a Base Right now, there ...more

There's an epidemic on the Internet, and the disease—Facebook. It's an addiction comparable to a hot cup of coffee in the morning or a soothing cigarette throughout the day—in worse case scenarios, a hit from the crack pipe. If you're on Facebook, you know what I'm talking abo ...more

Many windows users, if not all, run into a virus infection once in a while. This is unavoidable when using Microsoft's operating system. Without digressing too much, the fact that Windows is such a popular OS with no controlled software sources makes it easy for viruses and ma ...more