- This topic has 102 replies, 27 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 11 months ago by
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[align=center:k9a1b0bn]RUaNinja?[/align:k9a1b0bn]
Hey all you eager EH-Netters,
Here’s another contest to test your skills. It’s pretty simple…
1. Visit the Amazon Page for the new pen testing book, “Ninja Hacking,” by Thomas Wilhelm and Jason Andress (Both EH-Netters 8) ). The link can be found in the book review by Ryan Linn.
2. There is a clue embedded somewhere on the Amazon page. That starts your ninja adventure.
3. The only hint we’ll offer is that powers of observation are sometimes more important than L337 5|<1LL5!!
That’s about it. The only other thing to mention is how we choose our winners. There are 3 signed copies of Ninja Hacking up for grabs. 3 names will be randomly chosen from the group of ninjas that finish the challenge by February 28, 2011.
[align=center:k9a1b0bn]3 get signed copies, but EVERYONE gets a discount on Syngress Books!![/align:k9a1b0bn]
[align=center:k9a1b0bn]20% Off Code: 50467
Good at http://www.syngress.com only.[/align:k9a1b0bn]Happy Hacking,
Don[hr:k9a1b0bn][/hr:k9a1b0bn]
[align=center:k9a1b0bn]Special thanks to Syngress Publishing for providing the prizes and the coupon code. They've always been supportive of EH-Net & the entire security community. Kudos to the entire crew.[/align:k9a1b0bn]
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@Grendel wrote:
Ah, come on!…. it’s easy!!
Ok, no it’s not. I got stuck, too. :-
Jason put a good challenge together, I must admit. Serious kudos.
OK, so I’m pretty sure I found the starting point. Now trying to determine what to DO with it… This one has my interest piqued.
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I did one and got a good way with the other but am not sure what to do with it. I think I may have followed a red herring, but since I cannot do with one thing what I want to do and get anywhere, I will keep down the (herring) path.
very difficult challenge. either that or my 1337 observation kung foo is weak
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@dyngnosis wrote:
Anyone else freak out when they thought they were done and you were told to ‘try harder’?
but it was the way he did it. That had style
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@dyngnosis wrote:
Anyone else freak out when they thought they were done and you were told to ‘try harder’?
I got stuck here too “try harder” ???
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@hayabusa wrote:
the extra fun is definitely a challenge, in and of itself, whether intentional or not…
agreed
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@dyngnosis wrote:
Anyone else freak out when they thought they were done and you were told to ‘try harder’?
Same, got stuck there after 30 minutes ;D I did check meta-data too but I didn’t check stenography, too lazy for that really 🙂
The Amazon page is filled with extreme amounts of information so it is quite a lot one can try to look for.
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And we have our first Ninja!!
Let me have your thoughts without giving it away… did the hint in Step #3 help or did you just find it on your own?
We’ve also thought about giving away a little EH-Net love today by offering a hint, but we can’t figure out how to do it without spoonfeeding. Feel free to PM me if you feel you can’t discuss without revealing anything.
Well done,
Don -
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@Pookie wrote:
ok, try harder, been stuck 2 weeks, still am. argh!! ???
I never even found the first clue. So you did way better than I did.
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@chrisj wrote:
@Pookie wrote:
ok, try harder, been stuck 2 weeks, still am. argh!! ???
I never even found the first clue. So you did way better than I did.
Hint: Where could they possibly insert embedded information when they can’t edit the Amazon page itself? (It’s very limited what is possible, and you might be surprised what starts this journey, also how you reach the dead end and then might realise that you forgot to look for something you didn’t anticipate 😉 Thanks Dxxxx
I think the winners has probably already been found by now though 🙂
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@mallaigh wrote:
This an awesome challenge, and I appreciate the challenge. But, I’m stuck on the PDF (probably overlooked something).
I must be really stuck then, as I have not found any PDF that would require getting into……
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As jason noted, the winners are drawn, after February ends, once all successful folks have submitted their answers. So they haven’t been ‘chosen,’ yet. So I wish everyone else luck, who’s trying.
That said, for those who put in the hours and have figured it out, thus far, congratulations for success.
For those who haven’t gotten it, yet, keep trying.
I won’t drop hints, as I don’t want to diminish the chances of others (who’ve worked hard and found the answers) to win the book. After I’d solved it, don and I had discussed on a PM, and decided that since folks WERE then managing to solve this, it was best to ‘keep the playing field level.’ If spoilers are to be handed out, I’m sure the authors will do so, for folks’ learning purposes, after the contest ends.
Suffice to say MaXe’s ‘hint’ is all the more someone should need, to at LEAST get started.
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@mallaigh wrote:
Stuck on the PDF… still… trying to BF it, but can’t figure out what I’m missing.
Me too!!!!! It’s 128 bit AES, it’ll be tough to BF won’t it?
Don, will we get any last minute hints?
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Short answer… no.
Long answer… we have more than 3 ninjas, so there will be winners of the signed copies of the book without having to reward some who had hints and some who didn’t. So for fairness, there willbe no hints before the end of the month.
On March 1, we’ll start giving away little hints to see if some people want to try it without being given the entire thing.
Then we’ll do a write-up… maybe even with the help of the first ninja… so we’ll take you through the whole process.
Hope that helps,
Don -
That’s fair, and thanks for giving us a couple of extra days to still figure it out. It’s been really challenging and I’m enjoying learning along the way. There’s still time for me to figure it out tonight! 🙂
@don wrote:
Short answer… no.
Long answer… we have more than 3 ninjas, so there will be winners of the signed copies of the book without having to reward some who had hints and some who didn’t. So for fairness, there willbe no hints before the end of the month.
On March 1, we’ll start giving away little hints to see if some people want to try it without being given the entire thing.
Then we’ll do a write-up… maybe even with the help of the first ninja… so we’ll take you through the whole process.
Hope that helps,
Don -
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@don wrote:
Then we’ll do a write-up… maybe even with the help of the first ninja… so we’ll take you through the whole process.
If this is a hint, don, I’ll start putting something together from my notes. 😉
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@jwshaw wrote:
Like many, I got stuck at the try harder part, but I made it past that part yesterday, though I’m still trying to figure out how to get the data out of the part that I discovered using my powers of observation.
That part was so cool and I didn’t know you could do what it takes to get that out of the part you discovered. (vague enough to not give spoilers)
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@don wrote:
Stay tuned for 2 more hints then writeups from some (maybe all) of the 6 ninjas.
Don
Wow, I thought there was a lot more who did it! 🙂
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@don wrote:
After hearing from some out there, I guess we’ll have to do a prequel hint. So…
[align=center:1eio8vu2]Hint #.5
With all those newfangled smart phones out there, those dang QR Codes are showing up everywhere![/align:1eio8vu2]
Don
GRRR… Really didn’t think that was part of the challenge. Which is probably why I was never able to start it.
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@WCNA – but isn’t the email address, in and of itself, kind of ‘thought provoking’? As it would certainly appear to be, maybe dropping an email to that address would be worth your time.
@Data_Raid – bwahahahahaha – yeah, I spent plenty of time exploring that, too. (you’re too funny)
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@hayabusa wrote:
For those why don’t have smartphones, there are websites with online QR readers, too…
Learned something new! I had worked a little with those 2D barcodes before, but only using handheld scanners in a warehouse. I didn’t know that there were smartphone apps and websites that decoded those for you too.
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@hayabusa wrote:
but isn’t the email address, in and of itself, kind of ‘thought provoking’? As it would certainly appear to be, maybe dropping an email to that address would be worth your time.
It was. But I’ve seen some pretty good email addresses over the last couple of years. The guys at Sun Microsystems (Before Oracle bought them) had some great ones.
So while my phone scanned and I saw the address. And I thought, yeah maybe… I ended up not doing it because I figured he got a really cool email address.
I observed it, but figured there was NO way it was that easy to start.
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@AndyB wrote:
@chrisj wrote:
I observed it, but figured there was NO way it was that easy to start.
Easy he says… So much for my powers of obvservation!!
I was looking in the right area as it happens but completely missed that damn code ::)
ok, maybe I should have said, the first answer couldn’t be that simple… That was what I thought anyway. kicking myself hard
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@don wrote:
[align=center:2ykdnao9]Hint #2[/align:2ykdnao9]
File: Try Harder
User: Easy for you to say.
File: No need to get snippy. I’m just data.
User: Sorry. Maybe I should get to know you better.Don
This was a frustrating point in the race 🙂
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@lorddicranius wrote:
It didn’t help me, but I’m sure I’m making it out to be harder than it actually is lol
I’m in the same boat tried cracking the PDF analyzed the structure looking for clues and tried manipulating the qscan codes with no success I’m sure its something Ive overlooked but I’m at a loss but I refuse to give up!
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It’s no more precise, actually. And if you think about my hint, it’d have helped on more than just this clue. Works wonders for multiple pieces…
Edit- if you ever do a lot of forensics, you’ll understand the method to my madness, and the reason you might consider going to it more quickly, down the road, especially when analyzing multiple files. 😉
Further… Sorry to ramble. Some of the data we’re referring to was NOT as obvious, using methods which I’m pretty sure you refer to, as it depends on the basics of your OS and default tools. To be frank, I did try the ‘other’ methods, as well, in the event I missed something, but mine was faster, and I could automate multiple task quickly with it. While it meant ‘glancing over’ the output, it was worth it to find multiple pieces of info for verification…
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@ziggy_567 wrote:
When it comes to data analysis, there are no strings attached…
That’s a good one….anyway….the outcome of your hint is exactly what I’ve had for roughly 2 weeks trying to figure out what to do with…. ;D ;D ;D
PM me, off thread, ziggy, if you want someone to sound your thoughts to. Sometimes, I find things come to me as I just tell someone what I’m thinking about. I’m happy to be a sounding board, if it helps you move forward in it. 😉
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@mohaab wrote:
!?!?ton yhw ,niaga nehT .ni ti enohp tsuj t’nac uoY .troffe fo tol a sekat egnellahc sihT
3# tniH
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@mohaab wrote:
who won this contest ??
thanks
I think they’re still drawing randomly, but keep ending up with one or several winners that shouldn’t win ;D If not, no idea. I gave up on following this contest a long time ago to be honest, and I don’t really care any more ;D But congratulations to the winners! 🙂 Whenever they’re announced ;D
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Totally my bad. Here’s another hint to get most of you through until I get the winning answers posted.
Look at the metadata. When you find a code, try typing it out using the numbers on your phone. See what the message reads and act accordingly.
BTW – The 3 winners have been contacted. 2 of 3 have received their books. I’m still waiting to get a secondary address from the 3rd.
No excuses, just having a lame moment on this one,
Don -
@don wrote:
Totally my bad. Here’s another hint to get most of you through until I get the winning answers posted.
Look at the metadata. When you find a code, try typing it out using the numbers on your phone. See what the message reads and act accordingly.
BTW – The 3 winners have been contacted. 2 of 3 have received their books. I’m still waiting to get a secondary address from the 3rd.
No excuses, just having a lame moment on this one,
Doni know the 3rd winner
he lives in far place in egypt 🙂
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