Fun stuff

Hacking Skills Challenge Level 1

The other day, I proposed you test out your ethical hacking skills over at HackThisSite. If you didn’t see that post, take a look now: How Are Your Hacking Skills? As promised, I’m publishing my comments and approach to the solution.

Level 1, dubbed “The Idiot Test,” requires that you enter the correct password into a password field in order to continue to the next level. The name itself seemed a giveaway to me, so I started with the obvious, a blank password, and simply clicked the submit button. No joy. Next, I tried ten of the most popular weak passwords in use (take your pick as to which “Top Ten” list you prefer):

password
root
admin
123456
qwerty
abc123
letmein
changeme
password1
asdfjkl;

None of these worked; it appeared as if the test was going beyond the idiot level. If it’s that simple, it should be obvious, so I took another look at the screen and noticed another subtle clue: “If you have no idea what to do, you must learn HTML.” Hmm. Maybe the page source has a clue. I opened the page source and searched for “password.” Bingo! I found this in the code:

<!-- the first few levels are extremely easy: password is 1e79cde6 –>

Did you figure it out? Hit the comments and let me know.

Video: I Go Chop Your Dollar

This video is a good example of how not all the effects of crime are bad. After all, if we didn’t have Nigerian 419 scammers, we wouldn’t have a song about the infamous Nigerian 419 scams that haunt email inboxes these days. Lyrics are a little hard to pick out, but the chorus repeats enough that you’ll eventually get it. It’s a catchy tune. Perfect to lighten things up after a serious month of fighting security threats.

Enjoy!

I Go Chop Your Dollar

Cheers!
Kenny

Panda’s CloudAntivirus Update

When I turned on my laptop this morning, I was greeted with a red X on the Panda icon in my system tray. When I clicked on it, the program informed me that my beta version would expire in 10 days and I should download the latest release. I was ready for a sales pitch; I’m happy to say there wasn’t one. Apparently, CloudAntivirus is still free (it’s also still Beta) and will remain so.

The latest release is dated 6/30/2009, Version 0.08.82. That number seems far removed from V. 1.0. I can’t imagine what more the program needs—it works very well now with no intrusive behavior. I’ve tested it with some real malware and it works as advertised. I trust it enough to recommend it to everyone I know.

If you missed my previous article on this nifty security tool, read Panda’s Cloud Antivirus (Beta) is a Winner! Be sure to watch the video I have linked in that article, too. Besides just being cool, the video will give you a new viewpoint on emerging security technology in the Cloud. While you’re at it, this Panda Security video ad’s also worth a look. (Check out the threat characters—very catchy.): Viruses pwned by Panda Antivirus [HQ].

Anyone interested in seeing a security video of the week (or month) column on this blog?

Win an Xbox for Asking & Answering IT Questions

Hey, fellow Geeks,

Now through the end of April, your tech savvy can earn you the chance to win one of three Xbox 360 game consoles being given away by our favorite tech site, IT Knowledge Exchange. Winners will be the top three community members who have the most Knowledge Points earned and have asked five IT-related questions. You still get points for asking other questions, but only those related to IT will be counted for the contest. Full details are in community manager’s Jenny Mackintosh’s ITKE Community blog posting, so go there for rules, etc.

The three winners will receive:

• First Place: Xbox 360 Elite
• Second Place: Xbox 360
• Third Place: Xbox 360 Arcade

This is a chance to show off your IT guru skills and win a neat prize in the process. Go ahead and ask a tough question (remember, you need to ask five of them) by going to the Ask a Question page.

Good luck and have fun!