A CAPTCHA is a type of challenge-response test used in computing to ensure that the response is not generated by a computer. The process usually involves one computer (a server) asking a user to complete a simple test which the computer is able to generate and grade. Because other computers are unable to solve the CAPTCHA, any user entering a correct solution is presumed to be human. Thus, it is sometimes described as a reverse Turing test, because it is administered by a machine and targeted to a human, in contrast to the standard Turing test that is typically administered by a human and targeted to a machine. A common type of CAPTCHA requires that the user type the letters or digits of a distorted image that appears on the screen.

One such tool called Xrumer is widely used so as to crack CAPTCHA’s automatically. This time they released their new version Xrumer 5.0a which can easily solve the CAPTCHA we see on Google’s services.

This can enable people easily post automatically to forums , register 1000s of fake IDs, or launch a DDoS attack on a blog by filling up its database.

Meanwhile if you’re interested in knowing how the science behind cracking CAPTCHAs work, you may read this research document titled “Breaking a Visual CAPTCHA” by Prof. Greg Mori and Prof. Jitendra Malik.

List of changes in the new version

• The success rate on new database is increased by 3 times (on trafficget on forums is increased more than 20 times)
• Report “Profiles” (Profiles id*.txt) was added - contains direct links on earlier registered profiles.
• Verification of successful registration 100% unfailing was achieved.
• Now works with gmail.com: auto-registering mailboxes, downloading letters (yes - we’ve “fuked” Google Captcha
  
• Implemented a correct processing forms “multipart/form-data”
• Created intellectual proxy/socks manager
• Worked out submitting on phpBB 3, BMForum, Web Wiz Forums, Ukoz, VBulletin 3;
• Made adjustments to proxy checker
• Corrected errors in “Converter links” tool
• Module proxyc/engine.php improved
• Critical sections optimized
• The share of saved links in RLinsList and ELinksList increased
• Corrected error in databases analyzer; also added the possibility of sorting forums basing on real popularity;
• Added option “Log in, if nickname is used”
• In debug mode (if you click “Test”) is also saved a log of text association and types of links
• At refspam UserAgent is randomized
• In xblack.txt (black list) now is possible to use masks: *.domain.com
• Interface was modified
• Reduced restrictions on login (you can use spaces, Cyrillic, etc. - but it can reduce success rate)
• Optimized several critical parts of programming code
• Accuracy of checking for active links is increased. Now at checking links from signature are taken into account
• Average speed added on display
• Now in aggressive mode, text and titles sent on same site will vary
• Added the ability to recognize the captcha type as “click on image with the cat”
• If the forum displays the error “Required field … is not filled,” and this field is unknown for program - it will be automatically recognized and filled by additional algorithm
• Macros is improved; in macros # file_links now is possible to use macros in the file name
• Only registration mode is fixed
• Schedule was improved. Now schedule file can be saved as XML

You may download it here

ADDUSERS Helps Add or list users to/from a CSV file
ARP Address Resolution Protocol
ASSOC Change file extension associations
ASSOCIAT One step file association
AT Schedule a command to run at a later time
ATTRIB Change file attributes

BOOTCFG Edit Windows boot settings
BROWSTAT Get domain, browser and PDC info

CACLS Change file permissions
CALL Call one batch program from another
CD Change Directory - move to a specific Folder
CHANGE Change Terminal Server Session properties
CHKDSK Check Disk - check and repair disk problems
CHKNTFS Check the NTFS file system
CHOICE Accept keyboard input to a batch file
CIPHER Encrypt or Decrypt files/folders *
CleanMgr Automated cleanup of Temp files, recycle bin
CLEARMEM Clear memory leaks
CLIP Copy STDIN to the Windows clipboard.
CLS Clear the screen
CLUSTER Windows Clustering
CMD Start a new CMD shell
COLOR Change colors of the CMD window
COMP Compare the contents of two files or sets of files
COMPACT Compress files or folders on an NTFS partition
COMPRESS Compress individual files on an NTFS partition
CON2PRT Connect or disconnect a Printer
CONVERT Convert a FAT drive to NTFS.
COPY Copy one or more files to another location
CSVDE Import or Export Active Directory data

DATE Display or set the date
Dcomcnfg DCOM Configuration Utility
DEFRAG Defragment hard drive
DEL Delete one or more files
DELPROF Delete NT user profiles
DELTREE Delete a folder and all subfolders
DevCon Device Manager Command Line Utility
DIR Display a list of files and folders
DIRUSE Display disk usage
DISKCOMP Compare the contents of two floppy disks
DISKCOPY Copy the contents of one floppy disk to another
DNSSTAT DNS Statistics
DOSKEY Edit command line, recall commands, and create macros
DSADD Add user (computer, group..) to active directory
DSQUERY List items in active directory
DSMOD Modify user (computer, group..) in active directory

ECHO Display message on screen
ENDLOCAL End localisation of environment changes in a batch file
ERASE Delete one or more files
EXIT Quit the CMD shell
EXPAND Uncompress files
EXTRACT Uncompress CAB files

FC Compare two files
FDISK Disk Format and partition
FIND Search for a text string in a file
FINDSTR Search for strings in files
FOR Loop command: all options Files, Directory, List
FORFILES Batch process multiple files
FORMAT Format a disk
FREEDISK Check free disk space (in bytes)
FSUTIL File and Volume utilities
FTP File Transfer Protocol
FTYPE Display or modify file types used in file extension associations

GLOBAL Display membership of global groups
GOTO Direct a batch program to jump to a labelled line

HELP Online Help
HFNETCHK Network Security Hotfix Checker

IF Conditionally perform a command
IFMEMBER Is the current user in an NT Workgroup
IPCONFIG Configure IP

KILL Remove a program from memory

LABEL Edit a disk label
LOCAL Display membership of local groups
LOGEVENT Write text to the NT event viewer.
LOGOFF Log a user off
LOGTIME Log the date and time in a file

MEM Display memory usage
MD Create new folders
MODE Configure a system device
MORE Display output, one screen at a time
MOUNTVOL Manage a volume mount point
MOVE Move files from one folder to another
MOVEUSER Move a user from one domain to another
MSG Send a message
MSIEXEC Microsoft Windows Installer
MSINFO Windows NT diagnostics
MSTSC Terminal Server Connection (Remote Desktop Protocol)
MUNGE Find and Replace text within file(s)
MV Copy in-use files

NET Manage network resources
NETDOM Domain Manager
NETSH Configure network protocols
NETSVC Command-line Service Controller
NBTSTAT Display networking statistics (NetBIOS over TCP/IP)
NETSTAT Display networking statistics (TCP/IP)
NOW Display the current Date and Time
NSLOOKUP Name server lookup
NTBACKUP Backup folders to tape
NTRIGHTS Edit user account rights

PATH Display or set a search path for executable files
PATHPING Trace route plus network latency and packet loss
PAUSE Suspend processing of a batch file and display a message
PERMS Show permissions for a user
PERFMON Performance Monitor
PING Test a network connection
POPD Restore the previous value of the current directory saved by PUSHD
PORTQRY Display the status of ports and services
PRINT Print a text file
PRNCNFG Display, configure or rename a printer
PRNMNGR Add, delete, list printers set the default printer
PROMPT Change the command prompt
PsExec Execute process remotely
PsFile Show files opened remotely
PsGetSid Display the SID of a computer or a user
PsInfo List information about a system
PsKill Kill processes by name or process ID
PsList List detailed information about processes
PsLoggedOn Who’s logged on (locally or via resource sharing)
PsLogList Event log records
PsPasswd Change account password
PsService View and control services
PsShutdown Shutdown or reboot a computer
PsSuspend Suspend processes
PUSHD Save and then change the current directory

QGREP Search file(s) for lines that match a given pattern.

RASDIAL Manage RAS connections
RASPHONE Manage RAS connections
RECOVER Recover a damaged file from a defective disk.
REG Read, Set or Delete registry keys and values
REGEDIT Import or export registry settings
REGSVR32 Register or unregister a DLL
REGINI Change Registry Permissions
REM Record comments (remarks) in a batch file
REN Rename a file or files.
REPLACE Replace or update one file with another
RD Delete folder(s)
RDISK Create a Recovery Disk
RMTSHARE Share a folder or a printer
ROBOCOPY Robust File and Folder Copy
ROUTE Manipulate network routing tables
RUNAS Execute a program under a different user account
RUNDLL32 Run a DLL command (add/remove print connections)

SC Service Control
SCHTASKS Create or Edit Scheduled Tasks
SCLIST Display NT Services
ScriptIt Control GUI applications
SET Display, set, or remove environment variables
SETLOCAL Control the visibility of environment variables
SETX Set environment variables permanently
SHARE List or edit a file share or print share
SHIFT Shift the position of replaceable parameters in a batch file
SHORTCUT Create a windows shortcut (.LNK file)
SHOWGRPS List the NT Workgroups a user has joined
SHOWMBRS List the Users who are members of a Workgroup
SHUTDOWN Shutdown the computer
SLEEP Wait for x seconds
SOON Schedule a command to run in the near future
SORT Sort input
START Start a separate window to run a specified program or command
SU Switch User
SUBINACL Edit file and folder Permissions, Ownership and Domain
SUBST Associate a path with a drive letter
SYSTEMINFO List system configuration

TASKLIST List running applications and services
TIME Display or set the system time
TIMEOUT Delay processing of a batch file
TITLE Set the window title for a CMD.EXE session
TOUCH Change file timestamps
TRACERT Trace route to a remote host
TREE Graphical display of folder structure
TYPE Display the contents of a text file

USRSTAT List domain usernames and last login

VER Display version information
VERIFY Verify that files have been saved
VOL Display a disk label

WHERE Locate and display files in a directory tree
WHOAMI Output the current UserName and domain
WINDIFF Compare the contents of two files or sets of files
WINMSD Windows system diagnostics
WINMSDP Windows system diagnostics II
WMIC WMI Commands

XCACLS Change file permissions
XCOPY Copy files and folders

This list is not exhaustive . Most commands will work well, however please don’t fume up as some of these might not work on your machine due to version dependencies

While it a test drive. So far, I’ve got to say I’m a bit impressed. It’s fast, Mind-blowingly fast.

Other than that, it’s pretty featureless. It seems like Google decided to mix up Firefox with Safari. It has Firefox’s amazing rendering speeds, and Safari’s text field stretching. Besides that, Chrome doesn’t offer a

• As of right now, there’s no form of addon support. No way to block ads. Scrolling (at least on my laptop) is still kinda buggy, unless Google considers flying through pages at a billion lines per second with a single flick of the scroll wheel to be a feature.

• The tabbed browsing is pretty nice, actually. It’s really smooth moving tabs around and switching between them. The animations are really slick.

One thing that actually gets me a bit is that I’m pretty sure that this is based largely on Firefox. It’s got full support for keyword searching, and IP Chicken even reports back browser information as Mozilla.

One thing that really worries me, though, is Google’s Terms of Service for Chrome. Essentially, everything you type in Chrome and send - email, web forums, or chat - is your property, but Google reserves the right to use this information however they please. Also, your browsing history is all saved and logged on Google’s servers.

• However, they also threw in a “In Cognito” mode. Or a “porn mode”, as it’s going to be more appropriately used. When in Porn Mode, your browsing history isn’t saved and cookies are cleared. Whether or not this is still stored on Google’s servers, I’m not sure.

Basically, if you’re going to browse anything that you wouldn’t want anybody to find out, I’d advise against using Chrome. However, if you need something small, lightweight, and really fast, Chrome is pretty damn good.

Google software engineer Ben Goodger introduces Chrome

Until this thing supports ad blocking and more customization, I won’t be switching from Firefox as a permanent solution any time soon, but it’s still nice for very quick browsing.

While we’re using the in cognito mode, something better strikes back with the OpenSource.

You can download chrome here

Developers, students, hackers can visit here

The act of creating secret messages has probably been around for as far back as humans have existed and communicated, secret codes have been used in wartime, in business and in personal affairs to conceal everything from battle plans and assassination plots to dodgy deals and illicit love affairs.

The process of cracking these codes has caused major headaches for intelligence officers and cryptologists throughout the ages, even turning some people insane whilst trying to do so. Indeed, a code maker may believe that their code is unbreakable, but some of the most complex of coding systems have in fact been deciphered, changing the course of mankind in the process.

The following are 10 of the most badass secret codes in history.

1. The Caesar Cipher

One of the easiest codes to crack has to be the Caesar Cipher, which was used by Julius Ceasar whenever he wanted to send a secret message about his military plans and intentions. In reality, it didn’t really have to be particularly complex back then as most people couldn’t read anyway but nevertheless, he still found it necessary to take precautions.

The Caesar Cipher is basically a simple system whereby each letter of the alphabet is shifted by three places. For example:

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
DEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABC

So if we wanted to encode the words “secret message” we would transpose each letter and come up with “vhfuhw phvvdkh”. The recipient, who obviously had to be aware of the code, would simply transpose the letters back to read the message. The Caesar Cipher or Caesar Shift has since been used to describe any method of encryption where there is this kind of displacement of the alphabet.

2. Cardan Grilles

A Cardan Grille was a method of hiding messages first used by Gerolamo Cardano back in 1550. Rather than an encrypted message, which actually looks like a code, by using a Cardan Grille you can create a secret message that doesn’t stand out in any way so no one realises there is a hidden message at all, except of course the sender and the intended recipient. Sir Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626) and Cardinal Richelieu (1585 – 1642) are just two prominent figures in history who were known to be fond of using Cardan Grilles. So how does it work?

You can easily create a Cardan Grille yourself using a simple piece of cardboard where you then cut out squares and rectangles at intervals so that they can act as a stencil in which you can write letters or words that make up your secret message. By placing the cardboard over a piece of paper you can then write your secret message in the spaces. When you lift the cardboard off you simply make up the rest of the text so that it doesn’t look like a secret message, more like an innocent note or letter. All the decoder has to do is have an identical bit of cardboard, or grille, which they then place over the text and all will be revealed.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:CardanGrille.png

The skill in creating a secret message using this method is in how well you can make the whole text flow so that it doesn’t look like a coded message or out of place in any way. An obvious disadvantage is if the grille itself is lost, stolen, or falls into the wrong hands.

3. Mary Queen of Scots and the Babington Plot

One example of using coded messages which had drastic implications for the course of history was the Babington Plot concerning Queen Elizabeth. The cracking of the code used in this plot is what led to the beheading of Mary Queen of Scots in February 1587. So what happened?

Mary and her conspirators wrote letters to each other using a system of substituted letters and symbols in place of the real letters of the alphabet with a few red herrings thrown in where some symbols and letters had no meaning at all and were put there just to throw people trying to decipher the code off the track.

Mary was already held captive by Queen Elizabeth when she received a coded letter from Sir Anthony Babington basically asking her to condone the assassination of Elizabeth. She replied using the secret code and her letters were smuggled out in barrels of beer.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brostad/

Unbeknown to Mary, there was a double agent at work who had connections with both Mary’s secretary who helped encode the letters and Sir Francis Walsingham, head of an intelligence operation who had enlisted the services of Thomas Phelippes, a master code breaker who was also fluent in many languages.

All of Mary’s letters were passed straight to Phelippes who not only deciphered Mary’s code, he also added to her letters asking for the names of all the supporters of the plot before sending the letters on. Each person involved in the plot was then captured and dealt with. The letters were damning for Mary as they provided irrefutable proof that she was plotting to assassinate Elizabeth. Mary’s death warrant was signed on 1st February 1587 and she was executed a week later. Who knows what might have happened if her code hadn’t been cracked.

4. The Vigenère Cipher

Now we come to a code that is a little more difficult to crack. The Vigenère Cipher was invented by Frenchman Blaise de Vigenère in the 16th Century using a polyalphabetic system of encryption. This means the code cannot be cracked using frequency analysis as the same letter appearing in the message can be encrypted with a different letter each time it appears.

First of all the alphabet is placed in a grid and in each subsequent row the alphabet shifts one place across, much like the Ceasar Cipher except that this time it happens over and over again so we have many alphabets. A key word is used, which is written across the top of the grid as many times as necessary. You can then use the first letter of your key word to look down the grid to find the corresponding letter of the alphabet for the first letter of your message and then look across for the encrypted letter.

The Vigenère Cipher took over 200 years to crack, a feat that was finally accomplished by British cryptographer Charles Babbage in 1854.

5. ADFGX Cipher

This is possibly one of the most famous ciphers of all, invented by Colonel Fritz Nebel in the early part of the 20th Century. It was used by the Germans during World War 1. Initially only the letters ADFGX but later the letter V was added to enable full use of the alphabet. These particular letters were used simply because they sounded very different to each other when used in Morse code.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mwichary/

First of all the letters ADFGX are placed in a Polybius square along the top row and down the first column. The remaining squares are randomly filled in with the letters of the alphabet. The code could be made even more complex by the additional use of key words to transpose the letters and then these key words could be changed on a daily basis. Despite the difficulty involved in cracking this code, it was indeed unscrambled by Captain Georges-Jean Painvin enabling the French to foil a planned attack by the Germans in June 1918.

6. The Navajo “code talkers”

During world war 2 when Japan was basically cracking every code the Americans came up with, a more elaborate coding system was needed if important secret messages were to get passed on to the right people without being intercepted and unscrambled by the enemy. The answer came in the form of the Navajo code talkers.

Philip Johnston, son of a missionary, had grown up on a Navajo Indian reservation and came up with the idea that if these Native Americans were enlisted as code talkers, no one would be able to decode the messages. Not only were there no words in the Navajo language for military terms, the language was unwritten and less than 30 people outside of the Navajo reservations could even speak it and not one of them was Japanese.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfgangstaudt/

Around 450 Military terms were associated with words already existing in the Navajo language such as the Navajo word for Hummingbird which became a code for fighter plane and iron fish for submarine. For other words, the code talker would translate the Navajo word into the English equivalent using the memorised Navajo code talker’s dictionary and then use the first letter to spell an English word. In this way, the Navajos were able to transmit and receive radio and telephone messages that confounded anyone who happened to be eavesdropping.

Initially only a handful of Navajo Indians were recruited but the whole operation was so successful that by the end of the war more than 400 Navajo Indians were working as code talkers, helping to win battles such as the ones at Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal.

7. Enigma

During World War 2 the Germans had their best weapon against the allied forces in the form of a machine that looked a lot like a typewriter, or the Enigma as it was known. Rotating wheels basically replaced every letter with another letter so the same letter did not have the same substitution letter as the wheels moved again before the next letter was encoded. This meant for example that the letter A would not have the same substituted letter throughout the text and neither would B, C and so on. This is just a very simple explanation as the mechanisms of the machine were much more complicated than what can be explained here.

In order to decipher a message sent using Enigma, the receiver had to have their machine set up in exactly the same way that the message sender had set up theirs using the same settings for the rotors, which of course changed all the time. The ability to crack the Enigma code was thought to be impossible. But it was cracked and here’s how.

First of all the Polish who were stuck between the Germans and the Russians were gathering as much intelligence as they could and several brilliant Polish mathematicians managed to create a machine that could decipher three quarters of what the Germans were saying. That was until the Germans changed the way they used Enigma. Now the Polish were stuck. They decided to pass on what they knew to British and French intelligence who were in a word, flabbergasted, at what the Poles had already managed to do on their own.

This new information along with some captured enigma machines finally enabled the British at Bletchley Park in the UK to build a new machine altogether known as the “Bombe” that was finally able to crack the Enigma code. Consequently they found out what the Germans were doing, where they planned to attack and how they were going to do it. There is no doubt that the breaking of the Enigma code changed the course of history and what was learned at Bletchley Park became instrumental in the creation of computers that would later transform the way we live our lives on a day to day basis.

8. The Da Vinci Code

Now for something a little different. Many believe that Leonardo Da Vinci left messages and secret signs hidden in his paintings, the basis of which inspired the best selling book by Dan Brown and subsequent blockbuster film The Da Vinci Code, which has sparked a renewed interest in Da Vinci and what he might have been trying to say. But was he really trying to tell us anything?

Take the famous Mona Lisa smile as an example, this simple smile has been analysed, contemplated and written about by some of the most famous scholars in the art world. It seems the edges of the mouth might have been deliberately smudged to look out of focus so that depending on which way you look at Mona Lisa, her smile will change. What is that about? Some go as far as to say the Mona Lisa is actually a self portrait of Da Vinci, obscured to hide the truth to all but the most probing of eyes and of course minds.

No one can really be sure if Da Vinci was revealing the truth by hiding it but one thing is certain, Da Vinci wrote all his notes backwards in mirror style, which would indicate that he was no stranger to the concept of obscuring messages, not in such a way as to make them undecipherable of course as anyone could hold up backward writing to a mirror and read it clearly, but maybe that in itself is a clue.

What about Da Vinci’s painting of the last supper? The person sitting on the right side of Jesus is commonly thought to be John the Baptist, however, many believe it is actually Mary Magdalane and not John, and anyone who looks at it could hardly deny the feminine characteristics that make Mary the more plausible candidate. Do we have Da Vinci suggesting that Mary Magdalane meant much more and played a much greater part in the life of Jesus than the history books would suggest?

Perhaps one way to get an insight into Da Vinci is through one of his most famous drawings ever, that of the Da Vinci Man or “Vitruvian Man”. We’ve all seen it; it is the image of a naked man with arms and legs outstretched inside a circle and a square, a kind of code that explains how life and nature work together. Da Vinci believed that an understanding of this would transform humanity. Underneath the drawing he wrote notes, in mirror image of course. Interestingly, Leonardo said himself that man bridges the gap between the physical and the spiritual world or did he mean the seen and the unseen?

9. Nostradamus

How could we write about secret codes and messages and not include the writings of Nostradamus. Nostradamus is possibly the most unique of all the so called prophets as he managed to achieve fame in his own lifetime, such was the uncanny accuracy of his predictions. The prophecies of Nostradamus continues to inspire, baffle and even terrify people today but as yet, not one single person has managed to successfully decipher the writings of Nostradamus despite the fact that many people claim to have done so.

Michel de Nostradamus wrote all his “quatrains” or verses consisting of 4 lines and in blocks of 100 called “centuries”, each of which was written in code. To be more precise, he developed a way of obscuring what he meant by using plays on words, a mixture of other languages, symbolism and metaphors and mixing letters around making it virtually impossible to decipher the true meaning of his words, possibly to avoid accusations of heresy by the Inquisition.

Some of the events that were allegedly foretold by Nostradamus were the great fire of London, the rise of Hitler, the assassination of president Kennedy and more recently, the 9/11 attack on the twin towers.

As Nostradamus wrote in such an obscure fashion, it is not possible to translate the text accurately; particularly when we take into consideration that he used anagrams and many other techniques to cloud the true meaning. This is just one of the quatrains that is said to predict the attack on the twin towers. So what is it saying?

Ennofigee feu du centre de terre
Fera trembler au tour de Cite Neufve
Deux grandrochiers log repsferont la guerre
Puis Arethufa rougira nouveau fleuue

Roughly speaking it does mention an earthshaking fire from the centre of the earth that will cause trembling around the new city. It also talks of two large rocks and a war. However, the rest has to be made to fit the event. Some translations on the Internet say that it mentions New York specifically. This is not true, even if the new city could mean New York; do we have any other clues that this is the location?

Well if we use our imagination we could take Arethusa to pinpoint a location of sorts as Arethusa Falls are located not too far from New York and the final line of the quatrain does appear to mention Arethusa and a new river. Arethusa was in fact a mythological creature that turned into a fountain. So we can see that even with the words we cannot be exactly sure of what Nostradamus meant in his original text. Nevertheless, it makes for interesting reading and much speculation and until someone cracks his code we might never know the truth.

10. The mystery of the horned hand symbol

Conspiracy theorists are always banging on about the New World Order, secret societies with hidden agendas and a master plan for the world that is orchestrated and controlled by only a handful of people but as to whether there any real truth in this, we can only guess.

However, one thing that is particularly intriguing is a hand sign that is used by many people in so called positions of power and that is the hand sign of the horned god or Mano Cornuto. So what does it mean, if anything at all? Many reasons are given for the prolific use of this hand sign, such as warding off evil powers, or that it is the deaf sign language for I love you or peace, it is also associated with rock music and is often used by musicians. But, according to the conspiracy theorists it is also a secret sign used by the Illuminati to show solidarity for the cause.

George Bush uses the sign often, however, according to media reports; this is because it is the “hook ‘em horns” symbol for the Texas Longhorn. This is true, it actually is, except that it is the back of the hand that is shown, not the front. Nevertheless, even if Bush got it wrong, it doesn’t explain why he used it throughout his inauguration or why others are using it too, albeit back to front, when they have no connection with Texas football or even with the United States.

The first image represents the horned god of witchcraft, Pan or Cernunnos. Note the thumb under the fingers and given by the right hand. The next image is a sign of recognition between those in the Occult. When pointed at someone it is meant to place a curse. Note the thumb over the fingers and given by the left hand.

The horned hand is actually an ancient occult sign depicting allegiance to the horned god or to Satan so you would think that if there was the slightest doubt about its meaning, people in such high profile positions would refrain from using it, at least in public, unless of course it has another meaning altogether that the rest of us may not be aware of. Yes there are rumours that George Bush is a member of occult groups such as the skull and bones and Bohemian Grove, but the Pope and everyone else too??? Is it just an innocent case of monkey see monkey do or is it a secret sign? You decide!

For decades, computing fans have enjoyed a form of expression called ASCII art that shows pictures or messages as a low-resolution graphic, a grid made of numerous computer characters encoded with the venerable ASCII standard. With a photo digitized with ASCII art, for example, the “#” character can represent a dark pixel and “.” a light pixel. And there are large fonts constructed from an assemblage of individual characters.

Now the technique has surfaced as a way to transmit information that’s hard for spam filters to detect–but that so far, at least, has proved relatively harmless beyond that stage.

“There’s been an upsurge in ASCII spam in the last week…It’s quite effective in getting through filters,” said Chris Boyd, director of malware research at messaging management firm FaceTime Communications.

But earlier efforts to use ASCII art for spam have proven to be duds, he added. “The downside is that 9 times out of 10, it’s completely useless because it’s almost impossible to read, or it’s a really bizarre picture of a naked lady that’s not clickable,” Boyd said.

Evasive maneuvers
Spam filters can detect the word “Viagra” and suspect Web addresses of sites trying to get rich quick by catering to the demand for the drug. But it’s another thing altogether to detect an ASCII art version of the same word. Indeed, an ASCII art spam e-mail reading “Viagra-$1.15″ and “Cialis-$1.99″ made it past the spam filters of my Yahoo Mail and Gmail accounts.

Google declined to comment specifically on ASCII art spam. “We expect spammers to use every means possible to try to send spam. That’s why we have a very robust spam-fighting effort at Google,” the company said in a statement. Yahoo didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Here’s why it’s clever. One line of the e-mail is “78 46 60 11 04 75 300 38 0348 18 61 55171″–gibberish that hardly resembles part of the word “Viagra” or a suspect URL. But reading it on my screen as part of the overall text, its meaning was clear to me in a flash. And a spam generation program could evade spam filter fingerprinting by randomly substituting other numbers into the text art.

Clever–but largely ineffective
The only trouble for spammers: the very reason the art spam is hard to screen out also makes it, well, somewhat impotent as a spam method.

The example spam I got, for example, didn’t include any handy URLs I could click. There was a Web address in the ASCII art, but I’d have to type it in myself. But adding an active URL to a spam-affiliated site is likely to catch the attention of the spam filter.

“They’ve got this great idea for getting past the servers, but they don’t seem to know how to employ it as effectively as they could,” Boyd said. “Combining this with effective spam techniques might be more effective” for the spammers, he said.

Another problem: With the variety of fonts, computers, and e-mail-reading applications in use today, there are good odds ASCII art spam will look like gibberish to the human reader as well as to the spam-checking filter.

ASCII art in action
Here’s an example of ASCII art from one of many Joerg Seyfferth’s ASCII text generator, one of many on the Internet.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News)

If you’re interested in learning more on how spammers work, how they send
billions of emails, you can contact me -LikeMesLolka ( Matthew Jain) on the chatbox,
I’ll tell you my PGP public key.



Right now the way Bayesian Filter work, they will not be able to counter such SPAM
since its notplaintext

This hack has been tried on Sify internet, Spectranet. I am sure it will work with any internet connection which uses a LAN topology to connect you to internet. [ This hack doesn't work for ADSL]

The principle: The Network admin binds your IP address to a MAC address and sets the speed limit. If the MAC address and IP Address is changed to that of someone who’s paying for the higher speed, you’ll get a speed jump.

When I tried this hack, I was subscribed to “ABC” internet, a local provider in the area. I was paying $ 20 a month for a slow 64 kbps connection. With this hack I could raise it to 512 kbps with no downloading restrictions imposed

1. I first used Angry IP Scanner to scan my subnet to find the Alive IP address in my local LAN.

1. I used some social engineering to find out which IP address was getting how much speed. I chose a local cyber cafe as my target , which used to close at 11 PM and open at 10 Am in the morning. The cybercafe’s IP address was 192.168.0.32 and MAC Address was AA:XX:XX:Xl . It’s obvious that the cyber cafe owner must have subscribed for a high speed line.
2. Around 11.15 PM i used to ping the cybercafe’s IP to find whether it’s using still open or not.
3. As soon as I find that its closed, I used the technique below to forge my MAC Address to that of the cybercafe
4. To confirm weather the MAC has been changed or not, I used to use ipconfig/all command in DOS.
5. Thereafter the only step that would remain is to change my IP adress to that of the CyberCafe’s server, 192.168.0.32 . In case you try this hack, do make sure weather the system of your prey is not connected to internet. Not doing so might result in an IP conflict which can alarm the Network Admins.
6. This will emulate your machine as that of the Cybercafe server, which luckily fools the Administrator Server to broadcast a speedier connection to you (say 512kbps or 2mbps).

If the above fails: In some cases your network provider might ask for a username password via a web-login interface. In that case you can use a sniffer ( CAIN, Wireshark) so as to sniff for the usernames and passwords.

The result in my case:

Changing MAC address in Windows

• Under Windows, the MAC address is stored in a registry key. To change a MAC address, find that key with `regedit` and change it. Of course, Microsoft keeps moving the location of the key around!

• Windows XP adds an option to change the MAC address on some network cards under the Advanced tab in the network adapter’s Properties menu.

• A much easier and more reliable method to change a MAC address under Windows is to use a software utility program designed to do this for you.

Macshift is a free utility that you can use to spoof your MAC address under Microsoft Windows.

You may also try SMAC

How to change a MAC address in MacOS

Instructions for changing the MAC address on a Macintosh can be found at MAC Spoofing on the Macintosh.

How to change a MAC address in FreeBSD

In FreeBSD, you can change your MAC address with the `ifconfig <interface> link <address>` command.

How to change a MAC address in Linux

Under Linux, you can change your MAC address with `ifconfig <interface> hw <class> <address>`, or you can use the GNU MAC Changer.

How to change a MAC address in Solaris

In Solaris, you can change the MAC address with the `ifconfig <interface> <ether> <address>` command.

How to change a MAC address in OpenBSD

OpenBSD does not, by default, allow you to change the MAC address. It is possible to change the MAC address under OpenBSD with sea.c.

How to change a MAC address in HP-UX

Under HP-UX, you can change the MAC address in SAM by selecting Networking and Communications, then selecting the interface, then Action, Modify, Advanced Options. HP-UX refers to the MAC address as the “station address”.

Do let me know in case you need any help with the same Thanks.

I was shocked after I did experiments with the tool below, wonder how easy it is to spy over a person by installing this backdoor in his/her phone-

A small tool called FlexiSpy can be used a Cellphone Spy Tool. Once installed on the cellphone, your call records, recent call details, SMS messages( received, sent, drafts) will be readable by the spy sitting remote location. Next time you must be wary while handing over your cellphone to a “friend”

The FlexiSPY software runs invisibly in the background is accessible via the password only, it runs invisibly in the background.

The two available versions are FlexiSPY Light and PRO.

FlexiSPY LIGHT automatically logs all incoming & outgoing SMS messages, call recors, emails and tracks the device location. Thereafter it waits for the cellphone owner to access the internet via GPRS/3G or WiFi so as to uploads these logs via GPRS to Vervata’s remote server for later viewing and analysis. Users simply log onto Vervata’s secured website and they will have access to all phone activity recorded on the mobile phone. FlexiSPY PRO includes all of the features of FlexiSPY Light plus the ability to secretly switch the phone’s microphone on from any other phone; thereby listening into the target’s surroundings.

“While spying on people may seem unethical, cheating spouses, rogue employees sharing private company data, or unsuspecting children receiving SMS messages from pedophiles are all activities nobody wants to see happen,” says Raihan. “FlexiSPY is just like the various software applications that have been around for years that you can install on your PC to monitor inappropriate activities; we’ve brought that technology to the mobile platform. The majority of private communications take place via cell phones and email and there’s nothing wrong with watching out for yourself and protecting your children by monitoring those communications.”

To conclude the key points:

• Flexispy is available for Windows Mobile and Symbian based Nokia Mobile Phones
• Remote phone monitoring (Listen in on what they are doing from anywhere in the world!)
• Email Header Logging (Phones now have the ability to send/receive email. Now you can view all outgoing and incoming email headers)
• MMS Header Logging
• SMS Logging (SMS logging enables you to read the contents of all incoming and outgoing SMS messages.)
• Call History - Call duration, GPRS activity

To download

Visit the Flexispy site here

Several cracked versions of the tool are available on torrent websites too.

The installer on the phone asking for spying options

A demo of how the spy checks/snoops the log files via internet

I am personally based in Mumbai and have tried this application on a friend’s cellphone with his prior permission. ( Nokia 6600, Airtel, Frequent use of GPRS). Thanks to Mukund and bwan3r. If you need assistance on cellphone hacking/reversing/phreaking, I can be contacted via the chatbox on this site.

The attack, which had earlier this year been shown as a proof of concept (PoC), puts an almost-impossible-to-delete weblink into the clipboard that, if followed, leads people to a website selling fake security software.

The hijack code is executed through flash-based adverts which are commonly seen on many legitimate websites. The code seems to work by exploiting Adobe Flash files in such a way as to endlessly flush the clipboard of other text and constantly re-insert the malicious link in its place. Those following the link get taken to a page advertising a bogus anti-virus security program that erroneously tells people their machine is riddled with malicious software. Flash ads on popular sites such as msnbc.com are infected with the code, reported Firefox users on forums such as here, here and here (Windows users) and here (Mac users).

Victims have reported in discussion forums that a weblink appears in the clipboard in place of text they thought they place there.

Getting rid of the link has proved extremely problematic. Some report resorting to re-booting their machine to free themselves of it but others stopped it by simply killing the Firefox process thread (Through the taskmanager). More tech savvy users have begun posting ‘Hijack this‘ logs on forums and asking experts to analyze them to spot the code abnormalities.

“It’s an interesting attack, but doesn’t seem to be very widespread at the moment,” said Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at security firm F-Secure. “I don’t remember seeing this before. However It is a pretty clever technique,” he said. “Our work would be so much easier if our enemy would be stupid.”

At the time of writing, the attack is NOT widespread and Firefox is definitely a safer bet for a secure browser!!

Three college students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have been ordered by the Federal court to cancel tomorrow’s (Aug 17, Sunday) presentation at the well known hackers’ conference, DefCon,in Las Vegas where they planned to showcase security flaws that they had researched in Boston’s subway. DefCon, which is a major attraction for the world’s best-known security experts, is an annual showcase of the latest discovered weaknesses in computers, phone equipment and other electronic machines. Some even consider it to be the Mecca of the cyber-security world!!

The students had planned to  demonstrate how to use the vulnerabilities in the automated fare system to get free rides by hackigntwo of the system’s primary payment cards namely CharlieTicket and CharlieCard.The transit system plans to implement the cards’ use on its commuter rail, boats and ferries, according to its Web site. So clearly, the implications of this hack are pretty large.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority said in a complaint filed Friday that the students offered to show others how to use the hacks before giving the transit system a chance to fix the flaws. The institution (MIT) has also named in the suit.

The Electronics Frontier Foundation (EFF), which is representing MIT students Zack Anderson, R.J. Ryan and Alessandro Chiesa, plans to fight the order.

Jennifer Granick, Civil liberties director of the EFF justified the students’ plans saying that they were simply trying to share their research and planned to omit key information that would make things easier for anyone who actually wanted to hack the payment system.

Electronic copies (.ppt/.pps/.pdf) of the 87-slide presentation titled “Anatomy Of A Subway Hack” were distributed to conference attendees on CDs on Thursday, one day before DefCon officially began (and a day before the suit was filed) and as expected copies of the presentation have sprung up on the net. The presentation shows large flaws the transit system’s physical security and also shows photographs of unlocked doors, turnstile control boxes and exposed computer monitors at subway stations. We, at GreyHat India believe in complete transperency so we provide you a torrent download link for the presentation

PirateBay: thepiratebay.org/torrent/4336590/Anatomy_of_a_subway_hack_DEFCON_presentation_PDF

While one slide explains that the presentation would teach attendees how to generate fare cards, reverse engineer magnetic stripes on cards and hack radio frequency identification (RFID) cards, the very next slide screams in bold letters: “And this is very illegal! So the following material is for educational use only.”

“It is extremely important to maintain the security and integrity of the Fare Media systems,” Gary Foster, chief technology officer for the Boston Transit System, said in a court declaration. “With an insecure, compromised system, even basic revenue controls, to name one example, become significantly challenging.If you prevent legitimate researchers from talking about their findings, it’s not going to stop people from finding vulnerabilities. It’s going to stop the good guys from talking about them and from learning from each other,” Gary said. “The bad guys are still going to be looking for the vulnerabilities and still be finding them.”

I love the idea of WiFi and the mobility one derives from using it. A week back while having a cup of coffee down the university area in Bangalore I gushed into checking e-mail on my notebook, an old habit. For the past few months I’ve been using one of the free access points to check my email regularly before leaving for job. Alas! that day, I noticed that the number of discovered Access Points is greater than 300, which used to be around 2-3 APs on a normal day.




Here’s the screen shot I took
This was unusual !

I am a normal business guy, the fear of loss of privacy of data made me immediately shutdown the system as I suspected there’s some mischief going on with the network.

Later on after reporting this to one of my friends I found that there are tools available on internet that might assist a person to create any given number of FAKE Wireless Access Points.

Some forums even rumour that,

It can cause almost all PDA’s / iPhone to get DOSed ( Denial Of Service attacks),

A tool named Black Alchemy’s Fake AP can create thousands of counterfeit 802.11b Wireless access points. These APs can confuse any tool like Network Stumbler.

The Linux version of the tool is available online for free ( GPL licence).

One may download Fake AP tool here MD5 b5077cf7a164dc293ffbab6da79284ab

The Tool Website