Happy Holidays, challenge fans! Ed Skoudis here, with this year’s holiday hacking challenge. Have you ever seen the classic video A Charlie Brown Christmas, and pondered why Charlie Brown is so upset at the start of the video? Also, have you ever wondered why the rest of the Peanuts gang is so focused on the materialism of the Christmas season? Well, this year’s hacking challenge answers these questions. In our tale, you’ll discover that something happened before the start of the Charlie Brown Christmas video that put these characters into such a state. That something is what we like to call…

The Nightmare Before Charlie Brown’s Christmas

These challenges, which are an annual tradition here at EthicalHacker.net, are designed to help people develop their skills, show off their abilities, and have some fun. During past holiday seasons, you got to tangle with the Grinch, Rudolph, that Messy Marvin kid, Frosty, and even Santa himself. And who can forget last year's Miracle on Thirty-Hack Street. Read this challenge, answer the questions, and send your responses in by January 3, 2011 to skillz1210 (at) ethicalhacker.net. We’ll choose three winners, each of whom will get an autographed copy of my Counter Hack Reloaded book. One prize will go to the best technical answer, another to the most creative answer that is technically correct, and the final prize is based on a random draw from every person who submits an answer. Even if you have no idea whatsoever for how to answer the questions, send in your best shot to be entered in the random draw. And now, without further adieu, the curtain rises on our story…