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Crypto Challenges: Interests

Jan03
2012 Leave a Comment Written by CDaze

Came across some puzzles that were of some interest. If you know of some similar to these type of puzzles, post a link. All comments are screened for approval. No solutions will be posted here.

SAIC sponsored: Got this biz card somewhere. Took a pic and uploaded.

CyberGamut

CyberGamut Puzzle

The card is the first puzzle. Here is text if image is blocked. 42.93.F8.6E This puzzle changed a few clues while I was solving it. The answer stayed the same but the clues changed. Should of kept the DTMF, old school. If you are/were Signal, know what a Blue Box is and can read signs this puzzle should be of interest. Found some hidden stuff reversing the SWFs but SAIC never responded back about it. For that matter they never responded period. ???

Raytheon sponsored: Ratheon CyberJobs Info-Source Ref Hakin9 – Raytheon If you spent hours doing word puzzles or solve ciphers, can interpret a clue for stenography and know what Fravia or RCE is this one will be of interest. When you solve it, there is a short blurb about looking for job with Raytheon. If you have a compartment clearance then you probably already know about this company. The second part of Delta took me the longest. Don’t over think the steganography portion. Omega was a pretty good challenge also. If you solved CyberGamut you will notice some similarities for the solutions.

Sophos sponsored: #dragontattoo A solution is posted on the same site in a different post. Careful for spoilers. This one didn’t take long to do but is well done. It has some simple base conversions, image tricks and something hidden in ASCII art. Wish I had found about it sooner, only had 90 min left to make the list when I got the link.

CDaze

auto-correcting spele czek argh!!!

Posted in Crypto, Puzzle, Useless Notes

Adding Another Fresh Clean XP Mode VHD Image

Oct02
2011 Leave a Comment Written by CDaze

I wanted to create a second XP Mode VHD just to test out an AV program. I don’t want to use my working image and I planned on deleting the image after testing out the AV program. Turns out the MS installer will give you an error if you try to run the WindowsXPMode_en-us.exe setup; saying it’s already installed. Now you can extract the base VHD file from that installer (XPM file is a Zip file with all files) but those files are stored locally in the folder ‘C:\Program Files\Windows XP Mode’. There is a script that runs when a XP Mode is created from that base VHD file. It might be possible to get it working by copying the base VHD and creating a new config but I didn’t try it. Maybe next time around…

This is the way I did it. If the default config file is missing, starting XP Mode will create a new fresh install for you from the base VHD without messing up your current working image. So first close down Virtual PC, make sure your current image is Powered Down. Powered Down will help avoid some issues. While that folder is opened (the manage virtual PC is just a folder on the PC with special options). ‘C:\Users\username\Virtual Machines’ is where you should be. Rename the default ‘Windows XP Mode.vmcx’ to something shorter like ‘WinXP.vmcx.txt’. Notice I changed the extension to .txt On my first attempt the setup removed other .vmcx files; this could of been from typo error. The .vmcx file is just a text file in xml format. Now open up that txt file with a text editor (notepad will work). Take note of the path to the existing vhd file. You need to change the default Windows XP Mode.vhd and vmc files, rename them to match the vmcx file name (WinXP.vhd & WinXP.vmc). Here is a basic vmcx file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>
<!-- Microsoft Virtual Machine Description and Registration Settings -->
<vm_description>
    <ram_size type="string">512 MB</ram_size>
    <vmstate type="string">Powered down</vmstate>
    <primary_disk1 type="string">C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Virtual PC\Virtual Machines\WinXP.vhd</primary_disk1>
    <secondary_disk1 type="string">E</secondary_disk1>
    <notes type="string" />
    <vmc_path type="string">C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Virtual PC\Virtual Machines\WinXP.vmc</vmc_path>
    <guestos type="string">Windows&amp;reg; XP Professional</guestos>
</vm_description>

Now save that file and copy it to another folder just in case the setup deletes it. Before you close the file copy the full path to the vhd file to clipboard. ex ‘C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Virtual PC\Virtual Machines\’ And paste it into the windows explorer bar and it should take you to the storage location of your vhd image. Rename all 4 files starting with Windows XP Mode to match the shorter file name (WinXP.vhd, .vmc, .vpcbackup & .vsv). If you have backup images enabled, rename those also. Almost done.
Open up the Registry with RegEdit and goto this key. ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Virtual PC\VPCVApps\Windows XP Mode’ Rename ‘Windows XP Mode’ to ‘WinXP’ Close regedit. This is where info about what programs are installed on your image. After you install a program from the new image, the ‘Windows XP Mode’ will be created again.
All the needed changes are done, time to create a new image. Click on Start -> All Programs -> Windows Virtual PC -> Windows XP Mode You should get a pop up and prompts to install a fresh clean image. After the new install is done, put it in powered down. You can go back and change the edited config txt file back to vmcx. If it’s gone just restore the file you backed up. Right click on the WinXP.vmcx and click Settings. If you don’t get an error message everything should be good. Verify the image path is still pointing to the WinXP.vhd on HardDisk1 with the Browse button. I had some issues of it resetting from a typo. Start the WinXP image and all should be good.
If you still get an error trying to get to the settings, copy and paste the newly created Windows XP Mode.vmcx; rename and edit it to match WinXP vhd and vmc again. Double check the path again from the Settings menu. If still getting an error, make sure all other VHD are in Powered Down status. Then double check all the files have been renamed correctly and that you can browse to the VHD file from the Settings menu. I had some hiccups from typos but got it to work. On the first attempt I didn’t rename the registry entries also. After the WinXP image started it took a long time to boot up. When it finally came up I did some checking and noticed the registry key had been changed to the correct name.

If you don’t mind a time bombed restricted OS, MS does make VHD available for testing IExplorer on XP, Vista and Win7. It requires some work to integrate the features but it will work. MS puts out a new version that is updated and patched up to the posted file date. Patch and time bomb dates are posted on the download page.

CDaze

Posted in Uncategorized

BackTrack 5 installed but aborted IDA Pro 5 setup – now missing

Jul20
2011 Leave a Comment Written by CDaze

Installed BackTrack 5 to the hard drive and wanted to see how IDA on Linux looked.  I already got the upgrade package that showed some changes for IDA 5 in the log.  Clicked the desktop shortcut to install IDA and wine got started up followed by the setup wizard.  Windows version was not what I was expecting so canceled the setup wizard.  I didn’t realize there isn’t a free version of IDA for Linux… Later decided wanted to go ahead and install it but nothing would happen clicking the same shortcut again.  Did some digging and found out the script to install it had been removed.  Simple fix to replace what was removed by the script itself or force wine to install it manually.
Here are the scripts used and the locations they are stored in; taken directly from the original ISO image.  Once replaced the install should take place. Note if you have done the apt-get upgrade, the exe storage location seems to have been changed to the same directory as OllyDbg. So the script might need to be adjusted from ‘pentest/re’ to ‘pentest/reverse-engineering’ If something has changed since this post, look at the contents of the following file for the current locations. var\lib\dpkg\info\ida-pro-free.list

/usr/share/applications/backtrack-install-ida-pro-free.desktop
/usr/share/applications/backtrack-ida-pro-free.desktop.wait

file:backtrack-install-ida-pro-free.desktop

[Desktop Entry]
Name=install ida-pro free
Encoding=UTF-8
Exec=sh -c "cd /pentest/re/ida-pro-free/; wine idafree50.exe; mv /usr/share/applications/backtrack-ida-pro-free.desktop.wait /usr/share/applications/backtrack-ida-pro-free.desktop; rm /usr/share/applications/backtrack-install-ida-pro-free.desktop"
Icon=btmenu.png
StartupNotify=false
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=BT-Reverse-Engineering;

file:backtrack-ida-pro-free.desktop.wait

[Desktop Entry]
Name=ida-pro free
Encoding=UTF-8
Exec=sh -c "wine /root/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/IDA\ Free/idag.exe"
Icon=btmenu.png
StartupNotify=false
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=BT-Reverse-Engineering;

Link to BackTrack Linux Link to Hex-Rays IDA Pro

Posted in BackTrack, Linux, Uncategorized, Useless Notes

Getting Roboform 6 to work with FireFox ver 4 or 5

May17
2011 2 Comments Written by CDaze

In ref to my other post about Roboform license here is a followup for a possible solution.

Ok here might be a short term solution for Ver 6 users and Firefox 4 and 5. <–see note below. I just tested this with the latest version of FireFox 4.0.1 and the last build of RoboForm 6.10.2. The solution is to replace the roboform.jar file from version 7 and paste it into version 6 install.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Siber Systems\AI RoboForm\Firefox\chrome

Now I was just taking a quick look into what the major differences are between the contents of the jar file. As I mentioned before a jar file is just a zip file renamed. It changes how it connects via proxy dll file. Now I just replaced the the jar file and this brought up the toolbar as it normally does and a quick test shows it works. But the component files have been updated as well and they contain the proxy dlls. So these files might need to be replaced also if there is a problem. They are located almost the same location.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Siber Systems\AI RoboForm\Firefox\components

*note* if you are using a 32bit OS, the Program Files will be missing the (x86) C:\Program Files\Siber… all the rest is the same.

So dunno why Siber Systems won’t release an update for ver 6 in FireFox 4, seems it was in the works as the components files were in place. Note if you replace the entire Firefox folder with the rdf files, your About screen in the Firefox will show ver 7 adapter.

This is probably the same result as Tonyo mentioned above but without all the extra steps. You will need to extract the files out of the version 7 installer. Run setup of the DeskTop installer and leave the install prompt window open. Go to your temp folder and look for the extracted installer. Generally it will be the folder with the most current time stamp. For me it was 

C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp\RFS4474.tmp

Copy the folder somewhere and then cancel the install of version 7. You now have the files needed to copy over.

Again I only tested this briefly but it seems to work. No reversing of code was used (or needed) and this was purely for educational purposes of troubleshooting a failed FireFox plugin integration solution. The existing plugin install.rdf instruction file for Ver 6 clearly states version 6 is supported by FireFox 4.

Description
{ec8030f7-c20a-464f-9b0e-13a3a9e97384}
minVersion 3.0 minVersion
maxVersion 4.9 maxVersion
Description

Also if anyone ever manually added the adapter from the xpi file from

http://www.roboform.com/dist/roboform-firefox-3-4-frozen.xpi

remove it from the FireFox addons as this installs into a different location than the integrated adapter from the desktop installer.

Hope that helps some of you version 6 users but you should consider contacting SiberSystems for an free update to version 7 so to avoid conflicts or exploits. Any changes you make to your own system are doing so at your own risk. – CDaze

edit – Here is a screen shot of it running under a temporary virtual XP test machine with the free (trial) version 6 and FireFox 4. ;)

RoboForm 6 on FireFox 4

 

Note updated info:  This works with version 5 also.  I was updating a notebook the other day and I noticed this trick wasn’t working.  There was an older version of Roboform installed, think it was 6.9.x.  This resulted in a roboform button being displayed that said show toolbar.  Updated Roboform to 6.10.2, replaced the plugin and everything was working again.

Posted in Annoy, Roboform, TechHelp

Scorekeeper’s Friend by Bill Glasco

Apr11
2011 Leave a Comment Written by CDaze

I just wanted to give some recognition to this detailed scorekeeping ‘How to Book’.   It’s called the Scorekeeper’s Friend and has a lighter version called Scorekeeping Basics.  Bill Glasco is the author and you can find credit references to him in many other scorekeeping books and websites.  If you find yourself struggling with some of the complex issues of tracking a ball game then this book is for you.  There isn’t useless page upon pages of intros, history or cartoons in this book.  Its straight to the point but not bland, boring or impersonal.  Many of the other scorebooks guides are all text and no examples, not much better than the inside page of your scorebook.  In this book you will find clear detailed instruction with several examples using common scenarios that tend to happen.  There is good coverage of deciding if the error is recordable or not charged.  A chapter for issues that only pertain to Softball is covered in the book also.  At the end of the book there are several pages of examples with scenarios in a worksheet & answers format.  Basically read the scenario and score it in a blank score box while trying not to cheat.

This book is for any level of play as keeping score is the same whether you are sitting a your kids little league game or watching them play in the majors.  You can’t find this book on Amazon.com or Barnes Noble as it is out of print.  Check Amazon here. You can find it directly from Bill’s website.  GameTimeScorebooks Bill ships them out via post office but for me it took about two days on priority mail.  He does reply to emails on any questions or concerns you have with ordering the book.

No regrets on ordering these books, I grabbed both. ;)   The Basics is for someone who has an idea of scorekeeping but not a good method of putting it all together to replay the game back afterwards.  It’s a good reference to keep it on the clipboard with the scorebook in case someone else needs to keep score for you.  These books bring common sense to scorekeeping.

- CDaze

Posted in Baseball, Scorekeep, Uncategorized

Don’t Buy It *update 2 – Solution*">RoboForm Renegs Lifetime Upgrade License – Don’t Buy It *update 2 – Solution*

Dec17
2010 28 Comments Written by CDaze

RoboForm has pulled a bait and switch over their customers. I have purchased several licenses and recommended it as a quality software company to purchase from. Not anymore. They have quietly voided their lifetime license policy and now requiring payment for any upgrades. No notice has been given, only a discounted price if offered to current users. Break it down, spend hundreds of dollars for this software for a lifetime license of free upgrades. Then release a new version, remove any documentation of free upgrades. Avoid giving any money to this company, they have no loyalty to it’s current customers. If you want an alternative to RoboForm, take a look at LastPass. http://lastpass.com/ It can import your passwords from RoboForm.

Softpedia has a current discussion on how shady this action from Siber Systems is. http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-Not-To-Change-A-Licensing-Model-171188.shtml Hopefully other supporters of RoboForm like PCMag, CNet & PCWorld will formally retract their recommendation of RoboForm. Any company that makes money off advertising their product for free updates and then reneges, should NEVER be trusted again. IMO.
This is just the beginning of Siber Systems going down hill. Earlier this year as they discontinued making the sync program for the smartphone, I contacted them about my existing licenses. They included the sync feature as part of GoodSync which I already owned two licenses. Instead of providing a license for GoodSync (software that does the same function), they gave me a discount code that would actually cost more than if I just purchased it as a third license. If you like paying more money for something you already paid for then you might enjoy dealing with Siber Systems. So as a warning to any current version 6 users, don’t install version 7 before exporting all of your roboform data.
CDaze

*update*
OK maybe a little harsh, sarcastic and slightly frivolous at the time of originally posting this… What can I say, its not the first time a company has taken this route and I’m getting tired of it.  Not many companies keep their integrity anymore.   I just don’t agree how this change was implemented. They could have kept the free upgrades for Desktop Pro and offer the new features such as online sync as a subscription fee. Gradually allow users to convert their Desktop Pro license to the EveryWhere license. The EveryWhere license model is good. Many people would like to install RoboForm at work, home, notebook, phone, etc but the number of activations allowed from Desktop Pro isn’t that forgiving. I think the majority of current RoboForm Pro users would convert their current license to the EveryWhere license. Mainly because they can install it on multiple systems without buying more desktop licenses. Anyone who has multiple Desktop licenses but only require 1 EveryWhere account should be a free EveryWhere license with x amount of free renewals. Example, 3 Pro licenses – 2 Pro license = free EveryWhere license + 1 yr renewal.   Reasonable?
Anyway after opening up a support ticket and voicing out some disappointment; someone unexpectedly upgraded my Desktop/USB licenses at no cost. They offered a single EveryWhere license for the multiple Pro licenses also. So for the time being, RoboForm has regained some credence but still leery of their actions.
Also wanted to restate, downgrade from version 7 to 6 is possible without any problem. So when the trial of version 7 expires, the disabled features like limit on amount of passcards could be eliminated by installing version 6. Losing the features of sync will have no affect as a local copy of the data files are always stored on your hard drive.
Edited original post slightly to remove some sarcasm.
CDaze

Update 2  See my comments below for a possible solution to make Version 6 work with FireFox 4.

Posted in Annoy, Roboform, Uncategorized

DetectLanguage() Failure. Exiting – Corel X3 PaintShop Pro

Dec16
2010 2 Comments Written by CDaze

If you just tried updating some extras for Corel PaintShop Pro chances are you might get this error when trying to start it again.  The problem is because the default language setting in the registry is no longer set.  You will need to edit this in the registry or import a reg file correcting it. I am just going to post the what the reg file should look like for English users. If you have 64bit OS the first one is the one you need. If you have 32bit OS, the second one. Use regedit to make the changes or create your own reg file to import.

corelfix.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Corel\Paint Shop Pro\13\Installer]
"Lang"="EN"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Corel\Paint Shop Pro\13\Installer]
"Lang"="EN"
Posted in Annoy, Corel, TechHelp

Outlook Express Defaults to French – Spell Check

Dec16
2010 Leave a Comment Written by CDaze

Great if French is primary speaking and writing language but not so much if your install is meant for EN English only.   The problem has something to do with installing MS Office.  Since Outlook Express has been replaced with Windows Live Mail, doubt they will fix it anytime soon.   Here is an alternative solution.  Download a Freeware program called OESpell, Spell Checker for Outlook Express.  It’s a free application with no adds or spyware.  You can download it at this site. http://www.snapfiles.com/get/spelloe.html  If the file ever gets pulled or deleted, post a reply here and I will upload it – providing I still have it archived.

Posted in Annoy, Outlook Express, TechHelp

QuickBooks Missing Send Forms – Mail Options

Dec16
2010 Leave a Comment Written by CDaze

Problem, QuickBooks is missing the ability to select anything under the Send Forms of the Preferences.  QuickBooks is missing the option to send any forms or reports via email.   This took a while to figure out what the problem was.  The support forum on Intuit places the blame on a corrupt Office installation if you correctly have Outlook installed, set as default mail program and created a profile in Outlook.  Well they overlooked if you have more than one profile for Outlook.  If you do not set one profile to default, QuickBooks will not accept this and refuse to enable email.  If you are prompted each time Outlook starts which profile to use, you don’t have one set to default.  You can fix this by setting one of your profiles to default.  This became an issue after installing the Google Apps tool for Outlook that allows full sync of your Gmail and Outlook.  It creates a second profile automatically and does not set a default profile.
How to fix: Easy way, when you start Outlook and you have the prompt of which profile to use, there is a small button for Options, click it to expand out the menu. Enable the check mark box for set default and click which profile to load up.   Long way, go to the Control Panel and find the icon for Mail.  Don’t see Mail, use the search bar within Control Panel, just type in ‘mail’ it should pop up.  Switching to Classic View will show the Icon in the main list.  The Icon looks like envelopes in a outbox with a globe behind it.  Double click on the Mail icon to view the options for profiles and accounts.  Select the one for editing Profiles and set one to Default.   Restart QuickBooks and you should have the options for EMail again.  Another frustrating day fixing something with QuickBooks.

Posted in Annoy, Outlook, Outlook Express, QuickBooks, TechHelp

Adobe Flash won’t update with GetPlusPlus plug-in. *Updated

Sep08
2010 Leave a Comment Written by CDaze

Had several issues with this GetPlusPlus plug-in since it was released. Currently it crashes Firefox 3.6.9, plug-in not recognized, updates won’t download when it manages to start. Adobe just needs to kill this PITA GetPlusPlus app. It just doesn’t work well, EVER! So if you are having a problem with this plug-in and don’t want to keep your currently older exploited Flash version installed… As a work around, disable the Adobe DLM GetPlus plug-in, then download and install the exe version. Here is a link for the installer. Flash Player Direct Download Need to verify if Flash was installed and what version then visit Adobe site here About Adobe Flash.

Updated for other browser direct links.

Download Adobe Flash Player for (Internet Explorer)
Download Adobe Flash Player for (Firefox, Safari & Opera)
Download Adobe Flash Player for Linux
Download Adobe Flash Player for MacOS

Posted in Adobe, Annoy, Firefox, Flash, TechHelp
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