Personal Greeting for your mobile phone, using a bash script, Kali Linux and the Raspberry Pi

First of all, this is a quick way for making your Kali Linux speak. I am going to tell about a couple of ways to do text-to-speech on your Linux box. I used this for fun, for having audio alerts embedded to my applications and finally for recording a personal greeting for my phone. 

I started playing with espeak, and experimented with the different voices. The espeak application is fantastic but the different voices/languages it has, are too computerised. They do not sound as natural as you would have expected. However, for some quick tasks like listening to your LAN and/or WAN IP address, it can be useful, and cool.

{ } YARA - The pattern matching swiss knife for malware researchers

This is a blog post about YARA, the pattern matching tool which allows malware researchers to identify and classify malware samples. It is a very interesting tool and fairly easy to get the hand of it. In a few lines of code you can create descriptions of malware families (or anything else you would like to describe) based on textual or binary patters. 

You can create simple rules or more complex ones, depending on what you trying to do. It supports wild-cards, case-insensitive strings, regular expressions, special operators and has a number of additional features to play with. 

YARA is also multi-platform! It can be run on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. It can be used through its command-line interface or from your own Python scripts with the yara-python extension.

Download recursively all files from a certain directory listing using wget

This is going to be a quick blog post about wget which I believe it is very interesting for you to know how to do this. From your Linux box you can use wget to recursively download all the files listed in a directory listing. 

If you have seen something similar to Figure 1, then this is what directory listing looks like. If someone wants you to have access to their files on the web server through HTTP then it is a quick and easy way of doing it, but most of the time is a misconfiguration allowing the hosted files to be publicly available to unauthorised users. 

Figure 1 - Directory Listing

Things you should know about the Opera browser (Presto) and its features

For me, the ultimate browser is the Opera Web Browser. I have been using Opera as my default browser under Windows since 2001 (Mozilla under Linux) where I had the luxury of having multiple tabs open while I was enjoying the amazing speed of the fastest browser at the time. Due to the fact most viruses were being written at the time to affect Internet Explorer, Opera was unaffected by malicious scripts and viruses hosted on web servers/portals. Also, one of the most life saving features of Opera was that whatever happened to the OS (the OS used to hang and crash a lot back then) you would never loose your work! All my tabs, with all the things I was reading/researching were kept as they were, no matter what e.g. power failure. 

Many "experts" at the time were claiming that a multi-tab browser is a pointless feature because you are always going to be using one tab in front of you at any time anyway. Today the answer to these people seems obvious, but back then it was a nightmare to convince these "opinionated experts"  that multi-tab browsing is the future. 

Download videos from online resources, such as YouTube, Dailymotion, etc..

Among the most popular video hosting resource on the web is YouTube, being the third most popular website in the world. Sometimes we find ourselves in need to download a video in order to be able to watch it offline. 

There are several online services which allow us to save a copy of our favourite videos but not all of them allows you the option of downloading in different qualities and formats.

How to quick split an .mp3 file using Linux

Sometimes you just need to split an .mp3 file and it is convenient to know how to do this under Linux. When you simply need to split (cut) an .mp3 file there is no need for advance editing and/or transcoding tools. 

Using my Kali distribution, I installed the mp3splt application.

$ apt-get install mp3splt

After that, everything was easy enough. Just run the following command. As you can see I wanted to split the file and get the chunk from the beginning (00.00.00) until the 3 minutes and 43 seconds (03.43) into the song. The original file was the live.mp3 and the new file to output is the live_new.mp3 but all that is straight forward to the trained eye. 

$ mp3splt live.mp3 00.00.00 03.43 -o live_new.mp3

Beat in mind that mp3splt is powerful tool and can do many things for you if you want to play around with mp3 files. Find out more at its on-line man page here.

If you want to play your .mp3 file from the command line one of the tools you can is mplayer. You can find a list of short-cuts this tool supports here.

How to quick split an .mp4 file using Linux

I recently wanted to split an .mp4 file in order to use it in one of my presentations. I used to have all the necessary software installed for editing and transcoding video files, but not any more. I was looking for an off-line, quick and reliable solution using only what I had in my disposal. 

Using my Kali distribution, I installed the ffmpeg package. 

apt-get install ffmpeg

After that, everything was easy. Lets assume the name of the video is CyberSecurity.mp4 and its length is 04 minutes and 37 seconds. Also, lets assume that you want the chunk of the video needs to start from the beginning until the 03 minutes and 18 seconds mark.

In order to split this video from the beginning (00:00:00) until the 03 minutes and 18 seconds mark (00:03:18), you will need to run the following command. 

ffmpeg -acodec copy -vcodec copy -ss 0 -t 00:03:18 -i CyberSecurity.mp4 CyberSecurity_new.mp4

Or, you can use the exact "start time" by specifying it: 

ffmpeg -acodec copy -vcodec copy -ss 00:01:00 -t 00:03:18 -i CyberSecurity.mp4 CyberSecurity_new.mp4

In case you need a script to automate the splitting of a video file in equal chunks, you may find this link very useful.

I hope this post was helpful to you as it was for me.

Raspberry Pi 2 Model B and Kali Linux - quick setup

The new Raspberry Pi 2 Model B is approximately 6 times faster that its predecessor. It comes with:

• QUAD Core Broadcom BCM2836 CPU
• 1 GB RAM
•  40 pin extended GPIO
• Micro SD slot
• 4x USB ports
• HDMI
• 4 pole Stereo output and Composite video port
• CSI camera port & DSI display port
• Micro USB power source

In order to install Kali Linux on the new Raspberry Pi you will need to download the new image for Raspberry Pi 2 (0.48G) version 1.1.0  from https://www.offensive-security.com/kali-linux-vmware-arm-image-download/ (filename: kali-1.1.0-rpi2.img.xz). 

Private IPv4 and IPv6 address spaces

In the Internet addressing architecture, a private network is a network that uses private IP address space, following the standards set by RFC 1918 for Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), and RFC 4193 for Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6). These addresses are commonly used for home, office, and enterprise local area networks (LANs), when globally routable addresses are not mandatory, or are not available for the intended network applications. Under IPv4, the private IP address spaces were originally defined in an effort to delay IPv4 address exhaustion, but they are also a feature of IPv6, the next generation Internet Protocol.

These addresses are characterized as private because they are not globally delegated, meaning that they are not allocated to any specific organization, and IP packets addressed with them cannot be transmitted through the public Internet.

The Bug Bounty List - Bug Hunting

I started finding serious security issues and vulnerabilities back in 1998. Back then the community was so immature that I was getting so much grief every time I was trying to explain what I had found. The common response was "why did you check our system/application", "who told you to alter the input", "this was not suppose to happen, you broke it", "the others don't know to do this; why did you do it" and all sort of similar discussions. Unfortunately, back then they weren't any bug bounty or recognition programs for the poor security enthusiast like myself.

I am glad to see that the community starts becoming more mature and understands how valuable can be for a business the discovery of a security issue or a vulnerability by a "white hacker". I am also glad there are bug bounty programs out there which reward security researcher and security enthusiasts who discover security issues.

Vulnerability Scanners you should know about

The discovery and patching of security vulnerabilities can be a very difficult and a time-consuming task, especially without the use of a proper vulnerability scanner. 

The following, is a list of the most well-known vulnerability scanners currently available in the market. A security consultant should spend some time to familiarise himself/herself with these scanners. Find the scanner that is most suitable for your needs and use it to scan your network infrastructure for security vulnerabilities. Go through the reports these scanners generate and engage in remediating the vulnerabilities discovered. This can be an invaluable experience when it comes to becoming able to understand security issues affecting large network infrastructures. 

Some of these scanner can be used under a free license for personal use. 

01) Nessus - http://bit.ly/1prtrZ3

02) Nexpose - http://bit.ly/1NHBSML

03) CORE Impact Pro - http://bit.ly/19e7dWC

04) OpenVAS - http://bit.ly/1NHCdPy

05) QualysGuard - http://bit.ly/1MUn52l

06) MBSA (Microsoft Baseline Security Analyser) - http://bit.ly/1MJ2NCE

07) Secunia PSI - http://bit.ly/1iiTjGR

08) Retina - http://bit.ly/1MBNHzo

09) Acunetix - http://bit.ly/1PA8rfA

10) SAINTscanner - http://bit.ly/1RLtB9A

11) GFI Lan Guard - http://bit.ly/1RLt8V2

If you know of a vulnerability scanner that you have used and it is worth mentioning here, let me know and I will add it to the list. 

Backdoors on Web Applications

There are different types of backdoors being used and deployed, depending on what kind of system/service is being targeted, how stealth it needs to be and how persistent. In this instance, we are discussing backdoors being uploaded through Web Applications to your Web Server, in order to provide access to unauthorised third-parties. 

Using On-line Services for Reconnaissance

Ever wanted to use only existing online services to do reconnaissance without having to install or use any other tools. Well, the following URLs will give you a nice starting point. This list is to be expanded and updated with more links. If you believe you know of an online service which can be useful for this purpose do not hesitate to share it with the rest of us. Let me know and I will add it to the list! :)

Garmin GPS nuvi 2597LTM, 5" - How to..

I recently purchased a Garmin GPS and more specifically the nuvi 2597LTM, 5" screen. Compared to other makes, I find Garmin to be the best GPS devices out there for all sort of reasons. I have used different models of Garmin GPS over the years and I was fully satisfied with them every time.

However, my recent purchase put me off a little bit and the reason was that I was expecting more from Garmin. What I mean is that I purchased one of the latest models in 2014 and I was expecting to see the graphics to be a bit more smooth, without any delays in drawing/redrawing the map. It feels like they haven't upgraded the processor over the years and its performing exactly like a GPS bought at least 6-8 years ago. Also, it would be really nice if the screen had better resolution. We have retina displays now, I don't think increasing just a little bit the screen resolution would make such a bit difference to the final price. Despite the above the GPS is picking up the satellites very fast, the antenna picks up the satellites in semi-covered places as well, the real directions are very nice and useful, and of course the bluetooth allows you to take calls on the GPS which are loud and clear! 

The issue I had to face though, came a couple of months after during a trip. The GPS decided that the auto-brightness feature will start working as it pleases. More specifically, during the trip, it decided to switch from bright to 10% brightness. Every time I set it back to 70%-100%, after a random number of seconds/minutes it switched back to 10% for no reason. 

UnPHP - The PHP decoder

UnPHP is a free service for analysing obfuscated and potentially malicious PHP code. 

Test your PHP code online

For various reasons you might want to test your PHP code (or code written by others) and see if it works or check what it does. If this is something you would like to do, then you can use a couple of websites which will do this for you. 

Outbox.. have you heard???

Outbox apparently is a "novel" service in the US. It is refereed as a "disruptive innovation". Basically, their innovation is that they will open the mail that it was post to you (read it maybe), scan it, and email it to you.
Effectively, the idea behind this is to have your mail delivered to you through email, wherever you are. Of course there is a monthly fee that you need to pay in order to use this service.
There is a huge debate between the founders of Outbox and the postal service in the US regarding this "disruption of the postal service". The following article summarises pretty well the views from both sides [1] and give you a nice inside on what is going on.

This blog post is about the security/privacy of the contents of the postal mail, by also taking under consideration is it is ethical as well, looking into the recipient's and the sender's perspective. It is not intended to discuss/debate if the Outbox idea is an innovation or a disruption of the postal service.

Electromagnetic Field 2014 - EMF Camp

Electromagnetic Field [1] is a UK camping festival for those with an inquisitive mind or an interest in making things: hackers, artists, geeks, crafters, scientists, and engineers.

This is actually the first day out here for this year (Fri 29th - Sun 31st Aug 2014). It is a lovely site with power to your tent (if you remembered to bring an extension) and Wi-Fi. Tickets are approximately £100 and if you are thinking of driving down, you need to purchase in advance a parking ticket for £15. 

As a side note; as it is not clear on the website, the parking area is a field. Also, to get there you will have to drive through mud, dirt, grass and about 500 yards of rocks which seem pretty sharp. So, be prepared before you decide to drive to EMF. I suggest renting a car for the weekend if you don't wanna risk getting your car out here!

Outlook 365 Full Reset

I tried to set up Outlook 365 but I entered the wrong credentials. For some reason, which there is no point investigating further at this stage, I managed to crash Outlook 365. I was stuck with the forever loading splash screen of Outlook. There was no way for me to change the values from that loading interface. On top of that I believe the profile data file was corrupted, so there was no way to start Outlook at this stage. 

So, I had to reset Outlook 365 like it was the first time it was being used:

Windows 8.0/8.1 Start Button

I don't know how useful this can be for you but for those of us who needed to buy a new laptop and had Windows 8.0/8.1 this little application may be use. Classic Shell brings back the Start Button [1]. 

[1] http://www.classicshell.net/gallery/