Andy's Blog

Uninstalling an application doesn’t erase the evidence that it was ever used

2026-02-05T11:59:00.002+02:00

Did you know that uninstalling an application doesn’t erase the evidence that it was ever used?
Windows maintains a hidden record for programs you run to improve startup performance. This mechanism is called Prefetch.

Stored in C:\Windows\Prefetch, these .pf files record details such as:

The exact date and time the program was executed

The file path it was launched from

How many times it was run

In order to discover these files, you can use WinPrefetchView - free to download here.

Because of this, digital forensics investigators can demonstrate that a program like CCleaner or Malware.exe was executed—even after the application has been removed or the system has been “cleaned.”

My first (intentional) self-infection

2025-01-15T15:58:00.007+02:00

Back in 2004, Sasser, one of the most "famous" computer worms ever made was creating havoc through to world of Windows based PC's. During the summer of that year, I was based (although temporarily) in my home-town Bucharest. Just started studying for the CCNA exam that I've planned to take at the end of July.

Incoming long nights, studying, playing a bit of video games (Max Payne) and drinking unhealthy amounts of Coke/Pepsi. During that period, a lot of days were spent on a (new defunct) technology forum: www.chip.ro.

I was an avid poster and replier in their security sub-forum. On one of the latest posts I've notice "the rise" of Sasser. People were complaining of not being able to get rid of it, continues restarts and basically having a useless Windows PC.

I've started checking solutions on the international forums. In order to understand what this worm did to your computer, here is a quick brief:

"Sasser is a computer worm that affects computers running vulnerable versions of the Microsoft operating systems Windows XP and Windows 2000. Sasser spreads by exploiting the system through a vulnerable port. The most characteristic experience of the worm is the shutdown timer that appears due to the worm crashing LSASS."

The damage it has done internationally was even bigger:

"The effects of Sasser included the news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) having all its satellite communications blocked for hours and the U.S. flight company Delta Air Lines having to cancel several trans-atlantic flights because its computer systems had been swamped by the worm. The Nordic insurance company If and their Finnish owners Sampo Bank came to a complete halt and had to close their 130 offices in Finland. The British Coastguard had its electronic mapping service disabled for a few hours, and Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Post, and the European Commission also had issues with the worm. The X-ray department at Lund University Hospital had all their four layer X-ray machines disabled for several hours and had to redirect emergency X-ray patients to a nearby hospital."

The solution to disinfect yourself was pretty simple:

"The worm may be removed by running regedit.exe and navigating to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. There, the user must remove the avserve2.exe string. Next, the user must terminate avserve2.exe in task manager. Next, the user must navigate to C:\ and delete win2.log. Finally, the user must navigate to C:\Windows and delete avserve2.exe and reboot. After a reboot, the user's PC will no longer be infected with Sasser."

Now, I knew the solution and managed to help-out some of the forum users but I was also curios to test the worm on "myself". Yes, self infection as it is called. Managed to grab a copy of the worm from VX Heaven.

In a couple of seconds I've started the see the famous LSASS.exe crash with the countdown:

Quickly accessed the run command, typed cmd and entered shutdown /a. The shutdown counter stopped and everything was back to "normal". I was still infected with the virus, but as long as I didn't reboot the PC, I could move on and disinfect myself:

"The worm may be removed by running regedit.exe and navigating to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. There, the user must remove the avserve2.exe string. Next, the user must terminate avserve2.exe in task manager. Next, the user must navigate to C:\ and delete win2.log. Finally, the user must navigate to C:\Windows and delete avserve2.exe and reboot. After a reboot, the user's PC will no longer be infected with Sasser."

Bottom line, it was a nice experience to have :). From then on, I've started creating my own "lab" in order to test viruses and worms, but that's a story for another blog post.

How to install the latest video card drivers in Linux Mint

2021-01-10T13:33:00.001+02:00

Ok, since I moved to Linux Mint, after completing the installation and the update + upgrade stuff, my video card was still making shitload of noise. In order to calm it down, you need the latest drivers. Below is a short tutorial on how to install the latest drivers for your (nVidia) video card in Linux Mint.

Open the terminal and type:

ubuntu-drivers devices

This way, we can figure out what driver we have installed and available from the default installation. In my case, it's nvidia-340:

Since my nVidia card should have the recommended driver (nvidia-340), we need to install those by typing in the terminal:

sudo apt install nvidia-340

Replace "340" with the correct version for your nVidia or AMD video card.
That's all, folks.

How to fix "An installation step failed - Kali Linux 2020" in VirtualBox installation

2021-01-06T21:18:00.001+02:00

Even though I switched to Ubuntu a while ago, I decided to expand my home-lab and also add Kali Linux into VirtualBox.

The installation process went smooth, up to one point, and then boom. Fuc*** error pop-up:

"An installation step failed. You can try to run the failing item again from the menu, or skip it and choose something else. The failing step is: select and install software"

The fix for me was quite easy: I left the default HDD space to 8GB instead of at least the recommended 35GB or even more. So, I decided to delete my previous Kali Linux VM and create it from scratch again.

Bottom line, don't be an idiot and remember to change the default partition size.

There's also another fix which I didn't had to try out, you can find it here.

How to locate and extract the "RockYou" wordlist in Kali Linux

2020-10-07T16:44:00.004+03:00

RockYou is one of the most popular wordlists that contains common used passwords. The history of rockyou was best explained in the Darknet Diaries episode 33. This is a great podcast and you can listen to it the episode here.

As mentioned in the episode, the list is part of the default Kali Linux installation. Then again, it's archived and you have to extract it. How're we gonna do that? In a couple of simple steps.

First, run the below command:

cd /usr/share/wordlists

This will change your current working directory to the directory where the rockyou wordlist archive is located - in this case the path will be usr > share > wordlists folder.

Now, you can "list" the contents of the wordlists directory by using:

ls

We can see the .gz archive named rockyou.txt.gz. In order to extract it, use the following command:

gunzip rockyou.txt.gz

Now, if you use the "ls" command again, you'll see the extracted rockyou.txt file.

How to install Tor in Kali Linux 2020 and fix "run Tor as root" error

2020-09-30T14:21:00.000+03:00

In order to install Tor Browser on your Kali Linux, open your terminal and type:

apt update

Once this is complete, run*:

apt-get install tor torbrowser-launcher

Now, try and open Tor, either form the terminal of from your Applications menu:

torbrowser-launcher

In case you'll get the same error I got, “The Tor Browser Bundle should not be run as root. Exiting”, you'll need to follow the bellow step:

You will need to edit the "start-tor-browser" file. In my case, this one is located in:

.local > share > torbrowser > tbb > x86_64 > tor-browser_en-US > Browser

Right click this file and edit the following code, from:

if [ "`id -u`" -eq 0 ]; then
complain "The Tor Browser Bundle should not be run as root. Exiting."
exit 1
fi

into

#if [ "`id -u`" -eq 0 ]; then
#complain "The Tor Browser Bundle should not be run as root. Exiting."
#exit 1
#fi

Basically, you'll just add the sharp (hashtag) # symbol in front of those 4 lines. Click save and exit the text editor. Boom, your "Click Connect to connect to Tor" window should be up and running.

I had to make this tutorial because the other so-called fixes I've found were either outdated or sh1t. This worked for me in the latest kali linux 2020 version. Enjoy and feel free to share.

*depending if you already run Tor a root or not. In case you're not running commands as root, add sudo in front of your commands (eg: sudo apt-get install tor torbrowser-launcher).

Your first basic Kali Linux commands - you should actually know

2020-08-13T20:14:00.000+03:00

Back in the years when I started messing around with Linux distro's, my first choices were Mandriva, Suse and Ubuntu. Since then, Mandriva became Mandrake. Otherwise, the rest of the distributions I used to work on, kept their names - btw, I loved Suse and Ubuntu. In the office, we managed to find out the admin passwords and we were able to install games on our office computers. Yeah, the early 200' were a pain in the ass if you had to work in an office that used only Linux distro's as their main and only OS. Anyways, we kinda derailed from the main topic, let's get back to our stuff.

After the "rocky" 2000's, I was curios enough to start my own journey into Linux. As for a security distro, I chose Backtrack. Since then, Backtrack became Kali Linux, and the rest is history. Still, the below commands are still one of the firsts I managed to learn:

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
apt-get dist-upgrade

I know, it's not much but I still remembers these commands. Now, get a pen and paper and let's see the first Kali Linux commands you should learn.

pwd - The pwd stands for print working directory – it displays the name of the folder you’re currently in.

cd - Stands for Change Directory – move to another folder/file. Linux is Case Sensitive – you should type cd Desktop and not cd desktop.

cd .. - The cd .. command will help you go back to the previous directory.

ls - The ls (list) command will list whatever is in the directory you’re at that specific moment. You can use ls Desktop, ls Downloads and so on from any folder that you’re in.

ls -la - The ls -la command will also list/show your hidden files and folders. The ls -la is a very important command if you’re pentesting an environment and you want too also see hidden files and folders.

mkdir - The mkdir command stands for make directory – create a new directory. It’ll create a new file or directory in the folder you’re actually in. Example: cd into Desktop and type mkdir new. This will create a folder named “new” on your desktop.

rmdir - The rmdir command stands for remove directory – rmdir always comes with rmdir nameofthedirectory. So, in order to remove our previous created folder named new from the desktop, we need to cd into Desktop and type rmdir new. This command will remove our folder from the desktop, named new.

passwd - Change your Kali Linux password. The command passwd can only be used once you’re already logged in Kali. The command will only change your password and not reset it.

dpkg - This is an important command in Kali Linux. Dpkg is a command (tool) that can help you install, build, remove and manage Debian based packages. If you want to install a dpkg "package" using this command, you need to also use the -i command line option. As an example, let’s say we try to install the latest Nessus version in Kali. After you’ve downloaded and followed the steps mentioned in my blog post, all you need to do is run the following command: dpkg -i Nessus-8.11.0-debian6_amd64.deb.

apt-get (followed by update, upgrade and/or dist-upgrade) - This will help you update and upgrade your current Kali Linux installation – in my case, it’s the main OS that I use, so this is kinda important. In order to skip typing all three commands one by one into your terminal, take a look at my latest tutorial - Update and upgrade your Kali Linux installation with a script - second version.

Recommended reading should be "The Linux Command Line from A to Z". Don't just read. Practice. Practice good, because practice doesn't make it perfect, it makes it permanent.

Update and upgrade your Kali Linux installation with a script - second version

2020-08-03T21:38:00.003+03:00

Howdy, pirates! In my previous (very old) tutorial, I tried to show you how to create a script that will automatically update and upgrade your Kali Linux installation. Since this post is from 2015, you might guess it's actually not working with the current version of Kali.

So, I had to figure out something else. In case you're lazy enough to click on the link above that points to my previous article, I will take the opportunity to quote myself:

Creating scripts is easy in Linux distributions, you just need access to any text editor - Linux has plenty available (gedit or gvim, to name just a few examples) and to some available neurons. In this example we'll use the update and upgrade commands and we'll create ourselves a script that once executed will automatically run the commands for us - this is the easiest example I came-up with.

Open your text editor. At the first line write or feel free to copy and paste:

#!/bin/bash

Press enter and below this line type:

apt-get clean && apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y && apt-get dist-upgrade -y

Save the text file as "update.sh" - or any other name you would prefer. Once the script is created/made, add it to your "Home" folder - or a folder to your likin':

Now, in order to run the script, all you need to do is type into the console:

sh update.sh

Remember, this depends on the name you gave to your script - and the location (otherwise you might cd into that location).

*In this example, the script will only work if it's placed in your "home" folder. Otherwise, you will most likely get an error.

Since I've already run my script, the results will be as following:

This is a much better way than running all three commands one by one. At least you can type only one command into your console, instead of three. For sure there are easier ways to do this, I just didn't figure them out (yet).

How to Install Nessus in Kali Linux

2020-07-30T16:50:00.000+03:00

Nessus is a proprietary vulnerability scanner developed by Tenable, Inc. For more information you can visit their website here.

Nessus should be a must-have for any penetration tester. Below are the steps on how to install Nessus in Kali Linux.

Download the latest version from here - look for the Debian version (amd64.deb). At the time of writing this tutorial, the latest version was Nessus-8.11.0-debian6_amd64.deb.

https://www.tenable.com/downloads/nessus?loginAttempted=true

Once downloaded, you'll need to "unpack" or, how the command looks like, "depackage" your software. In case you're new to the "dpkg" command, you should read more about it here. Assuming that you are well accustomed with basic linux commands like dpkg, you should "move" (cd) your way into the folder where Nessus has been downloaded. In my case, this is the Downloads folder.

root@kali:~# cd Downloads
root@kali:~/Downloads# ls

The cd command, also known as chdir (change directory), is a command-line shell command used to change the current working directory in various operating systems. It can be used in shell scripts and batch files.

Once you're in the folder where you've downloaded Nessus, run the following command:

root@kali:~/Downloads# sudo dpkg -i Nessus-8.11.0-debian6_amd64.deb

Remember to replace the version number with the latest version of Nessus. Otherwise, you'll most likely get an error and the installation won't work.

After the package installation, you need to enable and start the service required for operating Nessus. Run the following two commands:

sudo systemctl enable nessusd
sudo systemctl start nessusd

Once done, all we need is to do is to confirm that the Nessus service is running. For this, type the following command:

systemctl status nessusd.service

Visit your Nessus web interface on your server IP or hostname port 8834 to finish Nessus installation and activation. In my case this is https://192.168.1.8:8834/ - even though it might change at times.
Don't know how to find out your IP address in Kali Linux? You just need to go to settings > network and click on the settings "wheel" icon. You can also click on your wired/wireless connection in Kali > Settings.

Once the page opened, select the Nessus product to use. Since I chose Nessus Essentials installation, I’ll provide personal information to receive an email with a free Nessus Essentials activation code.

Now register Nessus by entering the activation code received through your email address and create a Nessus Administrator account in the next page.

After you registered, wait for the plugins downloads to finish. Nessus default homepage should look something like this:

There you go, you have successfully installed Nessus Vulnerability Scanner on Kali Linux.

How to install a torrent client on Kali Linux

2020-07-24T21:49:00.002+03:00

Personally, I'm a big fan of μTorrent on Windows but, since I switched from Windows to Linux, I struggled to find a good torrent client. Mostly on Kali Linux, it used to be a pain in the a**. Enter, qBittorrent. Even though, on the whole market, it's just on the 6th place on the torrent clients market, for me, on Kali Linux, it does the job.

Ok, enough "marketing for free". How to easily install torrent client in Kali linux? Easy as 1, 2, 3 - almost.

First step, open your console and type or copy/paste:

apt-get install qbittorrent -y

If your Kali repositories are in good shape, you should see a screen like this:

Once installed, you can run it either through typing qbittorrent in the console or through the applications menu.

Why I chose qBittorrent for my Kali Linux installation? Even though it only reached the 6th place on the market usage (this includes Windows, Linux OS's and other operating systems), it is one of your best choices for a torrent client on Linux - especially Kali.

Enjoy and have fun using your torrent client on Linux.

How to increase the sound volume above 100% in Kali Linux

2020-07-19T12:50:00.002+03:00

I have an older laptop, 15" display, good sound volume in Windows 10, but whenever I boot into Kali, the sound wasn't that good. So, how can you increase the sound volume above 100% in Kali Linux? Follow the tutorial below and you're good to go.

Once in Kali Linux, open your console and type the code below:

sudo apt-get install pulseaudio pavucontrol

In my case, I already had it installed. So, the next option available for me would be to run the "pavucontrol" command. For this, type in your console:

pavucontrol

Once you've typed in this command, the GUI should come-up. From here you can increase your volume above 100% in Kali Linux:

And, this is how you can increase your volume above 100% in Kali Linux.

My first computer

2020-02-24T18:27:00.001+02:00

You'll see this in many books, movies, documentaries, etc. What was your first computer and how you got into InfoSec and/or IT?

I was an anti-tech person. I used to make comics, paint and spend most of my time playing acoustic/classical guitar. I was into classical music & books. Then, in the autumn of 2003, I got my first computer: a Pentium 1, 600 Mhz, with 32MB of RAM and a HDD of 8GB, running Windows 98. The desktop computer still had a CRT monitor attached to it. Both the desktop PC and the monitor had stickers on them, something related to Dublin, Ireland. Most likely, this PC belonged to a local institution in Ireland, before being thrown away.

This computer, since I got it, never worked properly. It was infected with a virus that forced it to work under a low/pixelated video resolution. The computer stood under my home desk for more than 4 months before I finally decided to touch it. My first problem was, I had no clue to navigate through the operating system - don't even mention installing applications or games onto it. So, the first trip was to the local library, where I bought Windows 98 Second Edition for dummies/beginners - no, it wasn't a "complete idiot's guide" series. That book was thick as hell, it was like a bible and it took me some time before I started reading it. Usually, I read it late at night, when everyone else in the house was asleep.

I took it step by step. First, I've learned how to create a new folder, how to move it, how to delete & copy&paste. The final chapters concerned installing a clean version of windows 98 SE. So, once I finished the book, before installing the clean version of a new operating system (in my case, windows 98SE) I had to remove the virus on it, the one that made the OS work under a less video resolution than it was supposed to. Since I had no access to the Internet - only dial-up, which was fuckin' expensive and slow as hell - my only other option was to buy magazines which used to have a CD attached to them. Those CD's contained AV programs, OS cleaning programs, tutorials and PC games.
Thus, I managed in two or three years to have a huge collection of magazines & CD's.

As far as I can remember, the antivirus that I installed and that helped me get rid of the virus was called RAV. RAV used to be very popular back then, it was made by a Romanian company and was finally bought by Microsoft. Once the virus was gone, I kept installing software and games - as long as my HDD space allowed me.
Then again, if something works, why fix it? Because, otherwise, I'll never learn. So, I had to "break" it in order to learn how to fix it. I became so good at it, that people used to call me in order to fix their computers. I've upgraded my EdoDRAM memory capacity, my HDD and my video card. I kept that computer for another 2 years before being able to buy my first "modern" PC and switch to the (back then) latest operating system - good old Windows XP.

That was it: my first contact with a computer involved a virus, an "antic" PC and a book.

How to check your current version of Kali Linux - or any other Linux system

2020-02-02T13:50:00.001+02:00

Since Kali Linux rolled out their newest version (as of last night/yesterday - yeah, local time is a bitch), many people wondered if they're using the latest version (or not!) of the operating system.
Since the Kali Version I use is a "rolling" version, this means that if you update & upgrade, you're good to go. What is a "rolling" version?

You install the rolling version, and from now on you receive incremental updates, both for security patches and new versions of applications.

Now, getting back to our subject. The easy way to find out you current version of Kali is to open a terminal session and type:

lsb_release -a

The result should look something like the one below:

Now, as you can see from the screenshot, I'm using the latest Kali Linux distro - since I've (remember that line?) updated my distro lately. But, what does "lsb_release -a" stands for?
The lsb_release command provides certain LSB (Linux Standard Base) and distribution-specific information.
Sidenote: many people pointed-out that the kali-undercover is new to this distribution. It seems that it isn't new at all and (drum rolls) it only works if you're using Xfce desktop environment. If you're using a Gnome desktop environment (like myself), it won't work.

How to change your desktop environment in Kali Linux and switch from Gnome (or whatever) to Xfce?

Once the system boots-up, just after you've entered your password, click on the gear drop down (see picture below) and switch from Gnome or the desktop environment you're currently using to Xfce.

Now, you can test and use kali-undercover.

How to edit Kali Linux Repositories/Sources (apt sources.list) using Gedit or Leafpad

2020-01-28T13:28:00.002+02:00

How many times have you messed-up your Kali Linux repositories/sources list? How many times you forgot how to edit the list using a text editor (available in Kali Linux)? It happened a lot of times to me so, I'll just keep this as a note for myself.
My repositories list contains only two lines of text. In case you've changed it and need to get it back to the "original" version, below is a small tutorial on how to edit your sources.list file. I'll cover both Gedit and Leafpad options.

In order to open your sources.list file with gedit, type the below command in the console:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Once the sources.list file is opened, make sure that you have these two lines in it:

deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main non-free contrib
deb-src http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main non-free contrib

If these two lines are not present, feel free to copy & paste them - don't forget to save your file before closing it.

In order to open your sources.list file with leafpad, type the below command in the console:

sudo leafpad /etc/apt/sources.list

Once the sources.list file is opened, make sure that you have these two lines in it:

deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main non-free contrib
deb-src http://http.kali.org/kali kali-rolling main non-free contrib

That’s it, you should now have access to most of the packages. Once you save the file, don't forget to execute the following commands:

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
apt-get dist-upgrade

And you’re good to go. For more information & sources, please visit: https://www.kali.org/docs/general-use/kali-linux-sources-list-repositories/.

There are no secrets better kept than the secrets everybody guesses

2015-09-01T11:40:00.001+03:00

Below is the updated list of websites which have been informed about their security flaws - per email, social media profiles, etc. At the time of this post, the list contained 237 websites.
No user data has been compromised and the security flaws were ethically disclosed. The list will be updated on a monthly basis.

7thsensedesign.com
addcar.ro
aeonevents.co.uk
afpm.ro
africa-travel-service.com
agrimoney.com
agropower.at
ahrradhaus-wagner.de
airsoft.ro
airsoft.ro
alexandrasevents.ro
all4you-pr.de
amoyachts.com
ampbusiness.co.uk
angelplatz.at
anpcc.ro
antaloexpeditions.ro
arcub.ro
asii-curateniei.ro
asociatiait.ro
astrosail.com
autorizatieconstruire.ro
avocat-ionescubogdan.ro
azlp.org
bcrc.eu
bewlwater.co.uk
bishop-reparatii-termopane.ro
bluebellhair.com
bmmt.ro
bnp-ciucasiasociatii.ro
bohle-group.com
bossemployment.co.uk
bradleysmasterlocksmiths.co.uk
brokerfarm.ro
brucknerhaus.at
btldesign.ro
buildcorp.ro
businessmediapromotion.ro
c2-europe.eu
cabana-ranca.ro
cadmando.co.uk
calidus.ro
cannonkirk.co.uk
carbonsystems.ro
carclean.ro
carhs.de
cart.shoppingtechnology.com
casa-maria.ro
casanuntiisighet.com
castlescoventry.com
cazare-pensiune-parndorf.ro
cfonetwork.ro
cfonetwork.ro
chems.ro
ciautomart.com
city-event.ro
cnpcluj.ro
concordiatravel.ro
core-trade.eu
cristinnecosmetics.com.ro
criticalnetwork.co.uk
cropfertil.ro
czga.ro
dcoilinvest.com
decofurniture.ro
deliascanarycatering.com
delimanjoo.ro
designit.ro
designsmells.com
destglobal.ro
dgaspcgr.ro
dgaspcgr.ro
diamond-inco.ro
diamondcut.de
dijv.de
disyl.ro
dvb.de/de
e-flights.de
eastsomersetrailway.com
ed-info.de
ehl.de
energy-cosmetic.ro
englishrural.org.uk
etiquettestore.ro
etiquettestore.ro
europro-concept.ro
eurotv.ca
evanwijk.ro
fabricareclame.ro
farbsucht.de
fc-utd.co.uk
fic.ro
fideminvest.eu
flagmycab.com
flexiva.ro
flixfacilities.com
fmv.or.at
fotofunk.ro
fresenius.ro
gah-bayern.de
gamesymbol.com
gcsproperty.com
gendernow.at
gesellschaft-harmonie.de
goldenes-rad.de
goodweave.org
greenideas.com.ro
gvz.co.at
gwyneddconfectioners.co.uk
hammerplc.com
happycity.ro
harrisinteractive.com
heathrowtransfersandpackages.com
herotire.com
hotel-regal.com
hyundaiconstanta.ro
i-management.ro
i-nutritie.ro
i-spa.ro
iankingimaging.com
ibm.stillco.ro
idylle-salon.ro
ilsc.ro
ingbert-liebing.de
ingeniousbritain.biz
ingrijimbatrani.ro
Inm-lex.ro
investigatii.md
isidev.de
itexclusiv.ro
jawntee.com
jhrecruitment.co.uk
jocuridetop.ro
kcuk.org
knectit.com
kronect.ro
lincsheritage.org
link2ec.ro
littleparachutes.com
macscientific.co.uk
mercadia.de
mhc.ro
mondial-congress.com
mongolrestaurant.ro
mutari-mtrans.ro
narcisvirgiliu.ro
natradinghouse.com
nbtrade.ro
new-tricks.co.uk
nfv-de
nicepps.ro
norfolkadmirals.com
novacescu.ro
oms-chaumont.com
orifswedencosmetics.ro
ottawayconsultants.com
ovi.at
oxxygene.ro
pakemb.de
papillon.ro
parts-express.ro
pdqcoldcall.co.uk
pentruvin.ro
perfecthomemedia.ro
petroservices.de
pony-park-cheia.ro
portalroman.com
power-events.ro
primusrentacar.ro
proconsult-ing.ro
profiset.ro
projectboxonline.com
qbs.ro
qulit.co.uk
ralcolor.ro
receca.com
redwheelweiser.com
reformiert-online.net
regussurgical.ro
restaurantulmirador.ro
ronps.ro
rosenloecher.de
rosialconcept.ro
rtmodels.ro
rubinian.com
rulouriexterioare-jaluzele.ro
rvb-books.com
sansage.eu
scoalapsi.ro
scoalaturism.ro
scolmore.com
scottish-building.co.uk
scs-service.ro
secretsocietyballroom.ro
serazo.ro
sexromanesc.com
shopping-24.at
singinherts.co.uk
slspares.co.uk
soldateluldeplumb.ro
sonorizaredj.ro
sprint15.com
st-andrews.ac.uk
steadfasttrust.org.uk
stomatologie-iuliabratu.ro
strategiessl.qc.ca
sunglass-elite.co.uk
sweet-dreams.ro
sweetgarden.ro
tehnopress.ro
tehnopress.ro
telefunken.com
theaterpubinlight.ro
themarketer.ro
thestyleseries.com
thornbridgebrewery.co.uk
toobigforthat.com
top-foto.de
totalbhakti.com
traam.com
transact.de
tvnoe.at
ukgraffiti.com
underground-bucharest.com
utilaje-alexandria.ro
vclegaluk.com
vclegaluk.com
vcm.ro
venom-business.ro
versuripenet.ro
vhs-austria.com
video-photo.ro
vritikaherbotech.com
webro.ro
werthe.de
wolfpublishers.com
wordsworldwide.co.uk

How to set a custom page not found on blogger - and redirect it to your homepage

2015-08-11T15:46:00.002+03:00

Blogger has the option to set a custom page not found message and redirect (if needed). For my personal blog I decided not to only add a small message whenever a user misspells any links (or if I delete older posts) but also to redirect them to my blog's homepage.

Follow the below easy steps and you're good to go:
Access your blogger draft and go to "Search preferences". Under "Error and redirections" you'll see the "Custom Page Not Found" option > click on Edit.
Copy and paste the below code:

<style type="text/css"> #error-404 { border: 20px solid #1B1B1B; border-radius: 240px 240px 240px 240px; height: 240px; margin: 0 auto 40px; text-align: center; transition: all 0.8s ease 0s; width: 240px; } #error-404:hover { border-color: #333; } #error-404 span { color: #FA4C29; font-size: 100px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 240px; } .large-heading { font-size: 48px; line-height: 1.2em; } .light-heading { font-weight: 400; } .status-msg-bg { background-color: transparent; } .sidebar-wrapper, .page-header { display: none; } .main-wrapper { margin-right: 0; } .outer-wrapper { min-height: 0; } .status-msg-border { border: 0 none; } </style> <div id="error-404"> <span>404</span>
</div> <h2 class="large-heading" style="text-align: center;">Page not found.</h2>
<h3 class="light-heading" style="text-align: center;">Sorry, the page you were looking for on this blog does not exist.<br>You will be redirected shortly to the homepage.</h3>
<script type = "text/javascript">
BSPNF_redirect = setTimeout(function() {
location.pathname= "/"
}, 5000);
</script>

The user will be presented with the above message and he will be automatically redirected to your homepage - after a 5 seconds delay time. Feel free to change the code as you wish.

How to add HTML Meta tags - title, description and keywords - to your blog

2015-08-11T15:45:00.003+03:00

Before explaining how to add Meta-tags to your blog, let us remember what these tags are all about. HTML Meta tags will not make you rank number 1 in 2 seconds, but they are a very important part since they help search engines and users to understand what your site's all about - if implemented correctly. Below is a small breakdown of the most important tags.

Title Tag
Even though the "Title-Tag" isn't actually a meta-tag, this tag is displaying the page title in the header of the browser window (or tabs) like in the example you see below:

The title tag is meant to be an accurate and concise description of a web-page's content. Keep it between 50-60 characters long.

Description tag
Represents a short description of the page's content, used also by search-engines to categorize your website pages. Meta descriptions are commonly used on search engine result pages (SERPs) to display preview snippets for a given page.

Write a good description, keep it between 150-160 characters long and above all, avoid duplicate descriptions.

Keywords tag
Couple of years ago, the keyword tag was one of the important elements - as with anything else, people abused it. These days relevance of keywords meta-tags is close to 0 so you can totally ignore this tag - most important: if you need/want to use it, do not use it in a "spammy" way.
Keyword tags represent short keywords separated by commas that are (were) used for search engines to accurately categorize a web-page.

The use 5 to 10 keywords should be enough. Do not use keywords that are not visible on the page (content) itself.

Language tag
The language attribute helps search engines to understand in what natural language your website content is written.

In order to add HTML tags to your blog template, access your blogger settings, go to Template > click on Edit HTML. Find the </head> section - you can search for it through CTRL+F.

After editing the below code, copy and paste it there:


<meta content='Your Blog Description' name='description'/>
<meta content='Keyword1,Keyword2,Keyword3' name='keywords'/>
<meta content='Author Name' name='Author'/>
<meta content='Author Email Address' name='Email'/>
<meta content='all' name='robots'/>
<meta content='index, follow' name='robots'/>
<meta content='Language Name' name='language'/>
<meta content='Country Name' name='country'/>
<meta content='blogger' name='generator'/>


Change the data marked in bold orange text to accurately fit your needs. Remember to save your template afterwards. Below is an example on how my blog uses the HTML Meta-tags:

Kali tutorial: How to install Virtualbox on Kali Linux

2015-01-30T19:35:00.000+02:00

If you want to play around with different systems through the help of virtual machines or if you simply want to create your own pentesting virtual-lab for free, installing virtualbox is one of the best options for linux. Before installing virtualbox, you'll need to make sure that the below dependencies are added to your sources.list file:

## Regular repositories
deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali main non-free contrib
deb http://security.kali.org/kali-security kali/updates main contrib non-free
## Source repositories
deb-src http://http.kali.org/kali kali main non-free contrib
deb-src http://security.kali.org/kali-security kali/updates main contrib non-free

These can be added manually through editing the sources.list file or by running the following command:

leafpad /etc/apt/sources.list

The above command will open one of the available text editors, LeafPad, and will edit your sources file that can be found in the /etc/apt/ location. Save the file after editing and close it. Now, open a terminal window and run:

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
apt-get dist-upgrade

Once these commands are completed run the following command:

apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)

And then:

wget download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.2.14/virtualbox-4.2_4.2.14-86644~Debian~wheezy_i386.deb

dpkg -i virtualbox-4.2_4.2.14-86644~Debian~wheezy_i386.deb

wget will download the mentioned version of virtualbox to your home/user folder and dpkg –i will unzip (de-package) your file and install it (through the use of the –i command).

If you need to test the successful installation simply type virtualbox in the terminal.

Now you can easily create your own pentesting lab in Kali Linux, but this will be covered in another post.

Sources:
How to add official Kali Linux Repositories.
Installing Virtualbox on Kali Linux.

Create your first script - automatically update and upgrade your Kali Linux installation

2015-01-15T18:32:00.003+02:00

Creating scripts is easy in Linux distributions, you just need access to any text editor - Linux has plenty available (gedit or gvim, to name just a few examples) and to some available neurons. In this example we'll use the update and upgrade commands and we'll create ourselves a script that once executed will automatically run the commands for us - this is the easiest example I came-up with.

Open your text editor. At the first line write

#!/bin/bash

Press enter and below this line type:

apt-get clean && apt-get update && apt-get upgrade -y && apt-get dist-upgrade -y

Save it as "update.sh" - or any other name you would prefer.

Right click your script and on the "Permissions" tab set a checkmark near Execute - allow executing file as a program.

Now every time you boot-up your Kali, instead of typing the whole thing into a terminal, just run your script.

SQL Injection attacks with Havij - the adventures of lil' Bob in the SLQi wonderland

2014-05-24T13:04:00.000+03:00

This is a fictional adventure with fictional characters that have fictional (non)skills based on true events. This post was created for informational purposes only and no admins lost their job during the writing of this story. It was inspired by Troy Hunt's "Hacking is child's play" article.

Bob, a 20-something year old boy, never considered himself a computer “guru”. He started using computers around the age of 18, late compared to his friends. What he lacked in experience, he gathered through patience.

Saturday morning news, July 2012: Yahoo voices was breached, half a million emails and passwords were leaked. The attack was made possible due to a SQL injection flaw on their servers.

SQL injection? Sound like a medical term. Bob moves to his computer and starts typing:

sql injection attacks

He goes through the results, reads various topics and his eyes fall on:

Havij - an automated SQL Injection tool that helps penetration testers to find and exploit SQL Injection vulnerabilities on a web page.

He was never very tech-savvy so this might be what he was looking for. Another search follows:

havij torrent

Bam, first results, his beloved piratebay. The torrent is small in its size so it should be ready soon enough. In the meantime he'll grab a coffee, smoke a cigarette or two and wait.

Minutes later when he returns, the download session is complete. He registers – by using the all-too-easy provided steps - and fires-up the application.

But, he remembers that he needs some websites to test it on. Opens Firefox again, set's the homepage to google.uk and enters:

inurl:newsitem.php?num=

This is the google “dork” he choose from a list. It's an example of “advanced search string operators” - termed by some people as “dorking”. Since Bob is inexperienced, he doesn't really care what these are or why they're named “dorks”.

He starts copying and pasting the available results into Havij. First site doesn't work, Havij returns:

MySQL error based injection method cant be used!

MySQL time based injection method can't be used!

He moves on to the other results. Finally, one site seems to be vulnerable, he pressed “Analyze” and in less than 5 seconds:

This is getting interesting. From all the tables, only one seems to have the data he's looking for: labeled_user. He selects the table and clicks on “Get columns”. The important columns are there:

☐ forename

☐ surname

☐ username

☐ password

☐ email

He selects three of them: email, username and password, then presses on “Get data”. Finally, he has access to the admins usernames and passwords. But the passwords are encrypted so he needs to dig-on.

Havij has an MD5 decryption option available, let's try that one. He tries with the first encrypted password - Havij is using online resources to decrypt passwords.

Success! The results came in seconds and the password has been revealed: johnC1980 – it's a combination between the name of the web admin and his birthday dates - common password combination. Bob moves to the “Find admin” tab and clicks on start. The program found something like nameofthesite.co.uk/admin . He pastes the link into his browser and tries the username and password combination:

admin

John121980

He's in. It was easier than he thought and now he has access to admin panels of this recruitment agency from the UK. He'll dig more into it tomorrow but for now he's done. He wants to celebrate his script-kiddie success.

Bob's back early in the morning. What if those five users are “recycling” their passwords? This was usually the cause for many famous successful break-ins in the past.

People are lazy and they don't want to remember 12 passwords used on 12 different websites: what they do instead? They use the same password for all sites. You got access to one, you have access to all of them.

After two hours, Bob was able to access John's Gemail, Linked-in, Facebook and twitter account. He used the same password on all of them: John121980.

Worse yet: John creates and administrates websites for other companies also. Obviously he's using the same password. From here on, Bob can get access to a huge amount of login details.

If you're curios enough, the sky is the limit.

How to create a website offline copy with wget in Kali Linux

2014-05-10T19:09:00.004+03:00

During the "Reconnaissance" phase we might need to frequently access the targeted website and this can trigger some alarms. I used to rely on Httrack – or WebHttrack – for making one-on-one offline copies for a given web-page, but for some odd reasons it doesn't work on my current Kali installation. For those who want to give WEBHTTRACK a chance, one thing you need to remember: it's not included by default in Kali. In order to install webhttrack type the following:

apt-get update
apt-get install webhttrack

to get the full GUI version, or

apt-get update
apt-get install httrack

to get the command-line version only.

Searching for alternative easy ways to do it, I've found this tutorial from kossboss – all the credit goes there.
Open a terminal and type mkdir /mywebsitedownloads/ and then
cd / mywebsitedownloads – you can name the folder in any way you wish.
Now (copy and paste):

wget --limit-rate=200k --no-clobber --convert-links --random-wait -r -p -E -e robots=off -U mozilla http://www.nameofthesiteyouwanttocopy.com

Replace the nameofthesiteyouwanttocopy.com with the actual name of your targeted web-page. Below is the explanation of each command:

--limit-rate=200k: Limit the download to 200 Kb/sec – higher download rates might seem suspicious.
--no-clobber: don't overwrite any existing files (used in case the download is interrupted and
resumed).
--convert-links: convert links so that they work locally, off-line, instead of pointing to a website online.
--random-wait: Random waits between download – same reason as for the limit-rate.
-r: Recursive - downloads full website
-p: downloads everything, including pictures.
-E: gets the right extension of the file.
-e robots=off: prevent the website from considering your session as a robot/crawler.
-U mozilla: pretends to be just like a web-browser.

Once the download is completed you can find the offline copy in /nameofthefolder you used for saving your downloaded page – look for the home/index.html page.

You'll notice that it is an identical copy – it preserves the link structure, pictures, code and other formatting. Remember that anytime you interact directly with any online resources owned by the 'target', there's a chance you'll leave your digital fingerprint behind.

Kali Linux tutorial II - remove Iceweasel and install Firefox

2014-02-02T22:51:00.002+02:00

The default browser in Kali Linux is Iceweasel - in comparison, the default browser in previous backtrack installations has been Firefox, but this also comes from one main difference: Kali is Debian based and Backtrack was based on Ubuntu. Iceweasel is only a rebranded version of Firefox.

If you have whatever reasons and you need to install Firefox in Kali, follow the below steps.
Note: You might want to copy and paste-it into another document - since it involves removing your default browser first.

apt-get remove iceweasel

This will remove iceweasel from the system.

echo -e "\ndeb http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/ubuntuzilla/mozilla/apt all main" | tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list > /dev/null

apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com C1289A29

apt-get update

apt-get install firefox-mozilla-build

Once Firefox has been installed, you might need flash player and some other add-ons.

To install flash-player addon, open a terminal window and type:

apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree

and then

update-flashplugin-nonfree --install

Personally I also install adblock plus and noscript add-ons.
At the end, we will add Firefox to the application panel: press ALT+right click on the panel and select add to panel. From the menu, click on "Application Launcher".

Expand the "Internet" menu and select Firefox.

Kali Linux tutorial I - unmute volume at start-up

2014-01-22T21:11:00.000+02:00

You might have noticed that , by default, the volume is muted on system startup in Kali Linux – this is more annoying then helpful sometimes. If you want to get rid of adjusting your volume every time your system boots-up, here's how you can fix this.

First, install alsa utils: open a console window (for windows users it's the older brother of "command prompt") and type:

apt-get install alsa-utils -y

Once installed, type in the same console window:

alsamixer

You'll see a screen like the one below:

Set your volume as high as you like by using the up or down directional keys.

Press F6, and from the list of available sound-cards choose the default card you have installed on your system – in my case it's the HDA Intel.

By using the directional keys (up-down-left-right arrows), move to the Auto-Mute menu.

Set it from the default “Enabled” to "Disabled". Press “Esc” to exit the alsamixer menu, reboot Kali and afterwards you'll notice that the system volume will retain it's volume control, no more “default mute at start-up”.