With the release of the Mirai source code, botnets are back in a big way. In the early days of botnets, zombies (infected hosts) would report to IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channels for CNC (command and control) instructions. Modern botnets have evolved, but they continue to use the same concepts as their predecessors.
Codenamed "Nougat" after the sugary stuff that fills your Snickers bar, Android 7.0 is living up to its name with tons of sweet features. There's almost too many changes over Marshmallow to cover in one go, with new functionality ranging from a revamped Doze Mode for battery saving, to split-screen apps, and even an easier update process. All told, the Nougat update has a lot in store for your phone or tablet.
Let's say you're with friends at a sporting event, music festival, lounge, or some other fun venue, and you want to create a fun split-screen compilation from all the videos you took independently. It's not an easy task, because someone has to get all the video footage and then use a video-editing program that supports split screens. It's a daunting task most people will just skip.
With each update, Apple Music continues to become a bigger part of iOS. It's gotten to the point where you have to fend off multiple requests to subscribe to the streaming music service before you can listen to your own songs on an iPad or iPhone, but as it stands in iOS 10, maintaining your own MP3 library is still possible. Just barely.
Welcome back, my hacker novitiates! If you have been following this new Snort series, you know that Snort is the world's most widely used intrusion detection/protection system. Now a part of the world's largest network equipment company, Cisco, it is likely to be found everywhere in one form or another. This makes a compelling argument for learning how to use it, as it will likely be a necessity in any security-related position.
One of the best uses for an old Android device is to turn it into a security webcam that can be accessed over the internet. But most of the time, this is a rather difficult process, because existing apps usually require you to mess around with network settings and configure a personal web server.
After months of speculation and sifting through rumors, Samsung finally unveiled its Galaxy S7 and S7 edge flagships, and they're pretty much what we had been anticipating. But just because there weren't any major surprises doesn't mean that it's not still exciting. Let's have a look.
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-day. However, if you are using someone else's exploit or payload, such as one from Metasploit or Exploit-DB, the security devices are likely to detect it and spoil all your fun.
Considering that nearly half a million brand new apps were published to the Google Play Store in 2015, you can definitely call it a banner year for Android development. In fact, it's getting to the point where we're a bit spoiled as end users, since we've grown to expect something new and exciting practically every week.
Welcome back, my budding hackers! In this series, we are trying to understand how AV software works so that we can learn to evade it. To that end, we are working with the open-source AV software, ClamAV. I had previously introduced ClamAV in Part 2 of this series. If you have not installed it yet, go back to that and install it.
Welcome back, my novice hackers! One of the most common questions that Null Byte readers ask is: "How can I evade detection by antivirus software on the target?" I have already talked about how AV software works, but to obtain a deeper understanding, what better way is there than opening up and dissecting some AV software?
Newer gaming systems like the PlayStation 4 have a nice, subtle feature that goes a long way towards helping create a more immersive experience. Any time you're on the main menu or home screen, an ambient background music track is playing, which adds an aural appeal to an experience that would otherwise be all about the visuals.
Welcome back, my hacker novitiates! In an earlier Linux Basics tutorial, I had demonstrated the basics of the Apache web server. Since Apache is the world's most widely used web server on the Internet (as of July 2015, Apache was 38%, IIS was 26%, and Nginx is 15%), the more you know about it and understand it, the more success you are likely to have hacking it.
For most of us, the primary reason we capture videos on our iPhones is to post on one of the various social media platforms out there, like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or Twitter, providing instant gratification by receiving a proverbial nod from our followers.
Apple's latest update to Mac OS X, 10.11 El Capitan, is currently available in the Mac App Store for everyone to download and install at no cost. The new OS features Split View mode for better multitasking, a cleaner Mission Control, smarter Spotlight, a way to mute Safari tabs playing audio, enhanced Mail and Notes apps, and more.
Welcome back, my greenhorn hackers!
Welcome back, my hacker novitiates! A short while ago, I introduced you to regular expressions. Regular expressions are a language that is particularly useful for finding complex text patterns in streams of data.
If you're using iOS 10 or lower, there is no built-in way to record an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch screen, and Apple doesn't allow any third-party apps to screen record either. If malicious, an app could theoretically continue recording even after you think it's off, allowing it to capture account and password information that you enter on your device. This changes in iOS 11, which introduces native screen recording, but what do you do if you're still running iOS 10 or lower?
In the Apple's iOS beta 3, we were introduced to a new iCloud Drive feature, an option to disable QuickType, time indicators for Recently Deleted pics, and a way to keep "self-destructing" media.
This year's I/O was all about bringing Android into the future and onto new devices. On top of announcing the upcoming "L" release of its mobile OS, Google showcased Android Wear, Android Auto, and Android TV.
Welcome back, my aspiring hackers and those who want to catch my aspiring hackers! As most of you know, this series on digital forensics is inspired by the motivation to keep all of you all out of custody. The more you know about the techniques used by law enforcement and forensic investigators, the better you can evade them.
HTC's Sense 6 has been out for over a month now with the One M8, and most of you have probably played around with its better known features, like the new Camera app and Harman Kardon audio.
Welcome back, my aspiring hackers! In previous tutorials, I have shown you how to scan the globe for vulnerable servers and write simple scripts in BASH and Perl to perform other reconnaissance tasks. In a very recent guide, I taught how to scan vulnerable servers for Heartbleed.
Whether it's spotty data coverage, bad customer service, or a high monthly bill, at some point many of us consider changing carriers. The problem is, we often don't want or need to change our devices. Since it's now legal to unlock devices to bring to new carriers, getting devices switched over is doable, but it's pain going into carrier stores and dealing with their constant upselling.
In today's dog-eat-dog world, every minute matters. Whether you're in school or working for the Man, a huge amount of your day is consumed by tasks, assignments, and other kinds of work. Then there's the time you spend playing video games, watching TV, or screwing around on your Samsung Galaxy S3.
Welcome back, my novice hackers! There are SOOOO many ways to hack a system or network, which means you need to think creatively in order to be successful.
Welcome back, my apprentice hackers! As many of you know, I have been hesitant to adopt the new Kali hacking system from Offensive Security. This hesitancy has been based upon a number of bugs in the original release back in March of 2013 and my belief that BackTrack was easier for the novice to work with.
Welcome back, my neophyte hackers! There are innumerable ways to hack a system. We must not overlook any of the possibilities if we want to "own" the system. As systems become more and more secure, we need to be vigilant in our search for weaknesses. In this hack, we'll look at abusing the trust that a user innately has for software updates to install our own listener/rootkit on their system.
One of the coolest features of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is Group Play, which lets you connect other Samsung Galaxy S4s up to yours so you can use them as extra speakers to create a surround-sound stereo of sorts.
Welcome back, my novice hackers! My recent tutorials have been focused upon ways to NOT get caught. Some people call this anti-forensics—the ability to not leave evidence that can be tracked to you or your hack by the system administrator or law enforcement.
Welcome back, my tenderfoot hackers! This is the third installment of my series on basic Linux skills that every hacker should know. Although some hacking tools are available for Windows and Mac, every real hacker uses Linux—for good reason.
When the power goes out, having the ability to contact others becomes extremely important, and your cell phone can be one of the most important tools to have. But if the power is out for an extended period of time, battery life becomes a constant problem.
If you're dressing up as someone iconic for Halloween, having the right voice can make or break your costume. Think about it—having a Darth Vader lookalike walk up to you and start talking like Alvin the Chipmunk would probably ruin the effect (and possibly be a little creepy).
Want to find out if your neighbors are talking about you? You could always hack their webcam or turn your iPhone into a secret spy camera, but unless you have a key to their house, that could be tricky to do without getting caught.
There are lots of people who want to stay anonymous online, and lots of reasons they want to do this. Staying anonymous on the internet isn't easy, and it's probably possible to trace almost anyone with enough time and resources. A lot of people think that they're completely secure with just one method of cover. For example, a lot of people thought anyone using the Tor network was nearly untraceable, but then things like this often cast doubt on just how secure these networks are. Unless you ...
Accents are not only fun but attractive too, when done properly, at least. Work on your Irish accent, practicing the inflection and sound of consonants and vowels. Impress your friends with your new accent.
Create beats with the music program Dr. Dre and Kanye West use to write songs! Learn how to make beats with the Logic Pro 8 Ultrabeat drum machine in this free music production tool tutorial from a professional audio engineer.
Effects can add excitement to your FL Studio tracks. Learn how to master your tracks and use FL Studio effects in this free digital audio workstation tutorial from our music recording expert.
Creating drum beats is a crucial part of making a great song. Learn how to use Logic Pro 8 Ultrabeat drum machine feature to create and mix your recordings in this free music production tool tutorial from a professional audio engineer.
Create your own mix with the music software program used by Dr. Dre and Kanye West! Learn how to use Logic Pro 8 plug-ins to make music in this free music production tool from a professional audio engineer.