1. sk3wlm4st3r (5400)
2. VedaGodz (5000)
3. Sexy Pwndas (5000)
4. PLUS (4500)
5. Shellphish (4500)
6. Song of Freedom (4400)
7. lollerskaterz dropping from roflcopters (4300)
8. Underminers (4300)
9. Routards (4200)
alt. WOWHACKER (3800)

sk3wlm4st3r are rumored to be last years CTF champion, School of Root. This means that WOWHACKER would be team 10 at CTF.

528 “teams” signed up for quals, and 225 “teams” submitted answers.
Congratulations to everyone, and good luck at Defcon!


REM This script checks to see if I am online, if not, it reboots the cable modem. If it cannot reach the cable modem, it resets the router and then the cable modem.
REM if error code is 0 it pinged successfully.
REM if error code is 1, then there was an error.

goto :Start


Here’s how this script works:

1) Ping a series of websites to check if we have internet access. This way if one particular website is down, or is dropping pings, we still can connect.

2) If we still do not have internet access, log the date/time to a logfile.

3) Check if we can access the cable modem.

4) If we can not, reboot my router. This is done by sshing into my Openwrt router and rebooting it.

5) Otherwise reboot the cable modem.
This is done by using wget to post to a form.

6) Keep checking to see if we are online, write that information to a log file, then restart.

It’s a quick hack of a script, but it demonstrates how to use a batch file to see if a website is online.

This bat file will do the trick.


@echo off
for /f "delims=" %%i in ('dir "%~f1" /ad /b /s ^| sort /R') do rd "%%i" 1>NUL 2>&1


The batch file will list all directories, in reverse order, and then attempt to delete each one.
rd will only delete empty directories.
The delims parameter stops spaces from being used as a delimiter.
%~f1 lets you pass a directory name to the script.

We use IO redirection at the end of the script to prevent warnings from being displayed on screen.
1>NUL 2>&1
This code says to redirect standard output (handle 1) to NUL, and also take sderr (handle 2) and redirect that to handle 1.

Thanks to Raymond Chen for the original code.

Version 0.7.0 was just released, and I encourage people to check it out.

Sguil 0.7.0

This guide details my personal workflow for e-book creation. I use a combination of DSLR Remote, and Abbyy FineReader.

DSLR Remote is available from BreezeSystems, for Canon EOS series digital cameras. It is a remote control and capture program. What this lets me do is to connect my camera directly to my computer through a USB cable, and then control the camera through the computer. Using DSLR Remote Pro has three key advantages:

Camera Setup: Getting the best images possible.
Camera Positioning and Placement
In order to be able to easily OCR (Optical Character Recognition) our books, we need to get the best possible photos possible. For this, a tripod is absolutely essential.

I start by verifying my camera has been set to its optimal settings. I set it to

Aperture Priority
Computer Connection
JPEG Fine
Sharpness, Contrast – Maximum

Check your owners manual for the camera if you have problems.

Next, attach the camera to its tripod, and aim the camera downwards. Connect the USB cable to the camera, and then to the computer. Turn the camera on.

Run DSLR Remote Pro, and connect to the camera.
(Camera, Connect to Camera)
If you have problems, make sure the cables are securely attached, and try again.

EBooks/ScreenShot011.jpg
(Click on Screen Shots to view full size)

Take the book to be scanned and position it underneath the camera. You want it to capture the entire book in one photo, while not having too much empty space.

Push F9 to take a preview shot of the book. If the book does not fill most of the photo, adjust the camera zoom, book, and tripod, and take another preview shot.
EBooks/0002.jpg

Repeat as needed until the book is properly positioned. Don’t worry if the image quality isn’t great, we will fix that next.

Once we have the book properly positioned, take masking tape and use it to “outline” the book. By placing tape around the book, we know where the proper position for the book is. This will save us time later if we accidentally move the book.

To optimize the photo’s being taken, we vary our aperture, ISO rating and shutter speed.
In DSLR Remote, set the AV (aperture) to 6.0 to start. A higher aperture number means more of the photo is in focus, but the shutter speed is then slower.
Let the shutter speed be automatically controlled.
A lower ISO rating is better, but this setting depends on how much light is available. Try setting this to 400 to start. The lower the ISO number, the less grainy the photo is, but the longer the shutter has to be open.

The better the room is lighted, the easier it will be to take a high quality photo.

Press F9 to take a preview shot.

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Examine the photo. If it isn’t sharp enough, increase the aperture. If it is too grainy, lower the ISO. We are trying to find a balance between a high quality photo, and a high shutter speed. If the shutter speed is low, each photo will take longer, slowing down our process.

Now we are ready to start taking the photos. The easiest way is to sit on the floor next to the book, and set the keyboard on the floor next to you. Press F8 to take a photo, turn the page and press F8 again. (This will go faster and be easier if you have another person helping to hold the pages down). Keep on repeating the sequence until you have finished photographing the entire book. You should be able to capture about 15-20 photos in a minute, or 30-40 pages in a minute.

When you have finished photographing the book, pack up your camera, and recharge the batteries.

OCR Time: Converting images into text.
Run ABBYY FineReader.
We need to set our options to enhance character recognition.
Go to Tools, Options (or press Control + Shift + O)
Go to the Scan/Open tab.
Make sure the following options are checked:

Straighten text lines
Detect image orientation
Split dual pages

Go to the read tab. If the recognition language is not English; Numbers, press the Edit Languages button. Check English and Numbers.
Press OK. (The languages chosen will depend on the book being scanned – for example, if you are scanning a Chemistry book, you would want the Chemical Formulas option to be selected)

Press the Open Image button.
Browse to the directory where you saved the photos (probably C:\DSlrRemote)
Select all the images by pressing Control+A
Press Open.

Abbyy FineReader will now import the photos. This will take a while, feel free to take a break.
EBooks/ScreenShot001.jpg

Warning: The recognition process takes a long time. It is ideal to start this step before you go to bed, and let it run overnight.
When it is done, go to Process, Start Background Recognition.

EBooks/ScreenShot004.jpg

Now, Press Control+Shift+R to tell it to recognize all photos. (This is different from starting Background Recognition)

Take another break. This will take a very long time, depending on how many photos you have.

EBooks/ScreenShot005.jpg

Press Check Spelling to begin the Proof Reading Process.
This is the most labor intensive part of the process. Depending on the book scanned, and the quality of the images, this step could be very quick or excruciatingly slow. If the book has a large amount of specialized terms, it will take longer.

EBooks/ScreenShot010.jpg

Save Time:

Press the Save button.
Pick which format to save to – I prefer LIT or PDF, depending on the book.
LIT is Microsoft Readers format, I prefer using it for fiction books, or anything I will be reading for enjoyment. It works well on my Pocket Pc for on the go reading.
I prefer PDF for textbooks, or refrence material. If I’m going to mark it up and annotate it later, PDF is my choice.

We’re Done! Enjoy your new e-book.

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Bill Gates from Triumph of the nerds:

Success is a menace — it fools smart people into thinking they can’t lose.

That is absolutely the perfect quote to describe why Microsoft is the unbelivably paranoid company that it is. Bill always thinks Microsoft might lose and does any and everything (legal or not) to make sure that they don’t.

I think this summarizes an interesting viewpoint on paranoia; namely that paranoia in and of itself doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It’s an extended version of what one might deem a disaster recovery plan, but an ongoing continous plan.

Paranoia as a mindset especially in the InfoSecurity world can be a very good thing, it’s merely a way of looking at the world that continously analyzes it for potential failings, and asks the question – How can I mitigate this risk?

Should be fun:)

Jolly