Recent content on Mr Ash Co
OpenSSH Zero-Day Vulnerability (CVE-2024-6387) A new zero-day vulnerability, “RegreSSHion”, allows Remote Code Execution (RCE) with root privileges due to a signal handler race condition. This regression of CVE-2006-5051 was inadvertently reintroduced in an update. An attacker can exploit it by repeatedly connecting without authenticating, aiming for a precise timing window. Versions…
Python and Ollama: Unlocking Local Files' Secrets! Learn how to harness the power of AI-empowered chatbot Ollama with Python scripting. Discover how to read text files, play audio clips, and display images - all without leaving your terminal window. Dive into this comprehensive guide today!
Cyber Security for Beginners: Your Ultimate Guide Cyber security can seem daunting with the vast amount of information available. As a beginner, it can be challenging to know where to start. In this guide, we’ll cover the three most important areas of cyber security. Stick around to the end for some free resources to help you dive deeper. What is Cyber Security? A simple way to describe…
Considering switching from Google Workspace to a personal Gmail account? This guide simplifies the process! We'll walk you through data transfer options, explain limitations, and explore alternative solutions for a smooth transition. Learn how to Migrate From Google Workspace to Personal Gmail.
Welcome to the blog. Let’s get you started with Kali Linux. We’ll download VirtualBox which runs virtual machines (VM). Then we’ll get Kali Linux, and setup the VM. Download VirtualBox Head to VirtualBox.org to download the latest version of VirtualBox. Get the right version for your operating system (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.). Download Kali Linux Next, get Kali Linux itself.…
Conquer the CyberLens TryHackMe room! This writeup guides you through exploiting a vulnerable web application and uncovering hidden flags. Learn Windows hacking and web app security concepts in this step-by-step walkthrough. Master CyberLens and level up your TryHackMe skills!
Let’s learn Docker and set it up. So what’s Docker? Well it’s complicated. It’s a way to install, maintain and run applications. But apps are self-contained, hence the term containers. Docker allows networking and lots more. Installing Docker Best way is to follow the docs. Kali Linux If you’re on Kali Linux, don’t follow the official guide. Go to Installing…
How to use winget for Windows 11. What is winget? It’s a package manager for Windows, like choco or apt for debian based linux distros. If that means nothing to you, then it installs and updates apps. Cool? Cool. How to use winget Let’s install syncthing for this example. winget search sync displays a list of matches sync. Name Id Version Match Source…
Let’s setup Pi-Hole in Docker, following the official documentation. getconf LONG_BIT check for 32bit or 64bit. cat /etc/os-release check the version of the OS. After following the installation guide, you might receive these errors: E: Package 'docker-ce' has no installation candidate E: Unable to locate package docker-ce-cli E: Unable to locate package containerd.io E: Couldn't find any…
Let’s setup a new “Hack Box” for TryHackMe challenges and Capture The Flags (CTFs). Previously, I’ve always used Kali Rolling inside of VirtualBox. But let’s try and get away from Virtual Machines (VMs). Why? Mainly the boot times, slow browsing and general laggy annoyances. I want a fast, simple system without the need to boot a VM and deal with stutters. The…
Just a few notes/things to remember while using git. Typical git process: git pull $link git add . git commit -m 'v0.1' git push $link Switch branches from master to main git branch -m master main If errors: git pull --rebase
Chill Hack CTF from TryHackMe, enjoy.
TryHackMe’s Opacity is a ’easy’ Boot2Root room for pentesters and cybersec enthusiasts (like you!). Plus, for black friday, checkout the free giveaway bundles below.
Who we are Our website address is: https://mrash.co. What personal data we collect and why we collect it Comments When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection. An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar…
Hi, I’m Ash. I’m an IT teacher, learning cybersec, python and hacking. Goals For Focus Making weekly YouTube videos. Publishing monthly newsletters. Publishing regular blog posts. Goal 2-5k YouTube subscribers, 400-500 newsletter friends, and 1-2k monthly views/visitors. Annual Reviews 2023 2022 2021- Some Loves Slow-burn movies e.g. Whiplash, Uncut Gems and Joker. Fine wining/dining like Candian…
“I’m curious,” has become my favourite phrase to use in conversation. Curiosity is pretty awesome. It draws us to people, places and interesting things. It can influence important decisions and spark lifelong pathways. Let’s dive into curiosity more. Hi, I’m Ash, a 27 y/o cybersec enthusiast journaling my journey on productivity & hacking. You’ve received a copy of the Monthly Monitor as you…
Welcome to my 4th Annual Review, can you believe 2022 is over? It’s been a long 12 months, yet it’s gone so fast. Here’s my 2022 recap plus my plans for 2023. Note, if interested see 2019, 2020 and 2021. ~ Hi, my name’s Ash, I’m 27 and a cyber security enthusiast sharing my journey. You’ve received this newsletter as you subscribed via my website or downloaded a freebie. ~
Is your TryHackMe OpenVPN not working? Let’s fix it, here’s what you’ll need: Some computer networking knowledge. A TryHackMe account. An OpenVPN config file via Network Access. Alright, so your there’s a few problems when trying to connect with OpenVPN to TryHackMe. Let’s cover them and learn how to fix connection problems in TryHackMe, let’s go. How Do I Use OpenVPN On TryHackMe? First you need…
Programming, terminals, networking, and pen testing. There’s a lot to love in computer hacking. Are you learning to hack? Maybe you’ve started but can’t keep motivated or you might not know where to start, let’s fix that! Here’s 100 days of hacking, a flexible learning path to keep you on track. Are you in? Yes, good, let’s go! *Disclaimer, this is designed for self-paced learning and uses…
Let’s tackle Crack The Hash, another TryHackMe room full of hash-cracking challenges. If you’d like a video walkthrough, then see the linked video below for a full guide to Crack The Hash. Quickly, what is a hash and hashing in general? “Hashing serves the purpose of ensuring integrity, i.e. making it so that if something is changed you can know that it’s changed. Technically, hashing takes…
Bandit is a beginner Capture The Flag (CTF) game from OverTheWire (OTW). Whether you’re familiar with text-based games or have never even thought of playing them (me). This is the perfect CTF for learning Linux. You’re here to either copy my answers OR learn. Can I ask you to please focus on the learning? It’s okay to peak when you’re so blind it’s crippling you, but please don’t just copy, copy,…
We’ve made it to October so let’s recap last month and catch up. Here’s a quick story I wanted to share with you about my first coding competition. Disclaimer, you’ve received this newsletter as you subscribed to Mr Ash .co. Note, the August newsletter wasn’t published via email but is now live. I Won My First Coding Competition It’s early July and I’m scrolling Discord where I find myself on the…
Hi friend, Are you stressed? Most people are despite the ease of modern living. What’s something we can do to combat work-life stresses? Disclaimer, you’ve received this newsletter as you’ve subscribed to Mr Ash.co. Note, this month has a shortened newsletter. AFK Away From Keyboard (AFK), coined by PC gamers to quickly chat “I’m getting food, don’t kill me in game” or something…
ATTENTION! If you’d like to do the course yourself, join up using this link for FREE. And don’t forget to watch the video walkthrough. Welcome to your Intro to PyScript, a simple replit that teaches you the basics of the modern Python web dev technology. You’re going to set up your own simple HTML page with a linked Python program. You’ll enable PyScript, take user data, run it through your…
Hello, world and welcome, this is a breakdown, or guide, to the problem sets (psets) to CS50’s Introduction to Programming with Python (CS50P). If you’re unaware, CS50 Python comes from Havard which operates edx CS50. It’s a great introduction to the programming language Python. If you’re brand new to Computer Science (CS) or have a background in technology, CS50 covers the fundamentals really…
Welcome back to another TryHackMe room, the challenge today is Agent Sudo. No spoilers below within the hints, just some good ol’ fashion hints to help you out on your agent sudo journey. For more detail, with some spoilers, see the steps section, and for everything I did, see my notes. If you prefer a video walkthrough, well that’s linked below, and if you want my personal thoughts on the room,…
Let’s go for another TryHackMe room, this time we’re tackling OhSINT, which begs the question “are you able to use open-source intelligence to solve this challenge?” This was a fun, different room for me, I love the idea of OSINT and using the web to solve challenges. Despite having a few initial issues along the way, it was fun to answer “what information can you possible get with just one photo?
Welcome back to TryHackMe, this time it’s SimpleCTF… or as I’d call it ‘Not So SimpleCTF’… as I had a few issues getting this CTF to work. Let’s dive into it. Hints How many services are running under port 1000? nmap What is running on the higher port? Check the nmap scan results. What’s the CVE you’re using against the application? CVE-****-**** don’t forget to include CVE- at the beginning. To…
I’m a big fan of YouTuber Ali Abdaal, his ex-PA now turned YouTuber Elizabeth Flipis has a great channel. She creates content about herself living in London while studying Medschool. Her latest video You’re Not Stupid: How to Easily Learn Difficult Things caught my attention. As someone who feels dumb 90% of the time, this is perfect, and the timing couldn’t be better as…
Automate The Boring Stuff With Python is an incredible book, and course by Al Sweigart to learn Python coding and computer science for the everyday person. With its straightforward learning approach, and succinct program examples and explanations, it’s many hobbyists’ go-to book for Python. This article breaks down my personal solutions to the practice projects outlined at the end of most…
In March 2022, some friends of mine got scammed on Instagram. A scammer posing as a friend or work colleague tricked them into “helping” them out and took over their account. It’s motivated me to help those I know and love by being more aware of the dangers that lurk on the internet. The reality is, that the internet is full of your personally identifiable information (PII) being leaked and…
While learning HTTP in Detail, I thought it’d be fun to put it to the test in the terminal. Here’s a quick exercise to practice learning HTTP Requests, Responses and Headers. Difficulty: Easy – new to Linux. Environment: local Debian-based Linux installation e.g. Ubuntu in VirtualBox. Commands: git, python3, cd, mkdir, wget. Steps Here’s everything you need to do, note, you’ll need two terminals…
Welcome to TryHackMe Network Services Walkthrough Part 2, oh yeah! Let’s learn, then enumerate and exploit a variety of network services and misconfigurations, second up is telnet. Watch this Network Services Walkthrough for TryHackMe’s room, Part 2 Telnet. Task 5 Understanding Telnet Questions: What is Telnet? application protocol What has slowly replaced Telnet? ssh How would you connect to a…
Let’s go, TryHackMe Network Services Walkthrough Part 3, welcome! Step 1 learn, step 2 enumerate, and step 3 exploit… but what? Well, a variety of network services and misconfigurations of course, this time it’s FTP. Watch the Network Services Walkthrough for TryHackMe’s room, Part 3 FTP. Task 8 Understanding FTP Questions: What communications model does FTP use? client-server What’s the standard…
Want to hack computers? But what is hacking and how do people learn it? Here’s a vetted list of resources to learn computer hacking. Starting out is hard work, so that’s why I’ve put this list together, to help demystify hacking for you. The good news is anyone (including you) can learn to hack, and in even better news, it’s a lot of fun. All you need is effort and time, most of the resources are…
So you’re updating domains, but what about your search rankings? I just did this myself and it wasn’t as hard as I expected. Disclaimer, if you need help, read .htaccess file and SSH setup. HTACCESS File If you’re running a Content Delivery Network (CDN), turn off caching. For example, Cloudflare Dashboard > turn on development mode. Next, connect to your server via SSH. ssh <username>@<ip> nano…
Want a beginner Linux CTF (Capture The Flag)? Moove over, here’s Cowsays What CTF. A simple question-based python program to test your beginner Linux level skills. This simple CTF will use Linux commands to install a program, execute it and interact with it. Cowsays What CTF is inspired by TryHackMe and OverTheWire’s Bandit. *Disclaimer, if you need help getting started with Linux, see Linux Quick…
Are you going through TryHackMe’s Network Services 1 Room? Need help taking notes? I got you covered. Here are my Network Services 1 room notes from TryHackMe, use them as much as you need! Disclaimer, this is written in shorthand format, meaning, full sentences and proper grammar are not always used. For writeups, see SMB Part 1, for help with Linux, see Quick Start Guide. SMB: Understanding,…
Welcome to another TryHackeMe Walkthrough, this time the Nmap room from TryHackMe’s Beginner Learning Path. In this TryHackMe Nmap Walkthrough, we’ll go over all 15 tasks and you’ll see every detail you need to not only complete the Nmap room but understand it too. For a quicker look at the Nmap Room, see TryHackMe Nmap Room Notes, enjoy the TryHackMe Nmap Walkthrough, happy hacking. Disclaimer,…
Task 1 Get Connected Questions Ready? Let’s get going! – No answer needed, carry on. Offline checklist to track your learning path, become a great hacker and stay on task. Task 2 Understanding SMB What does SMB stand for? – Server Message Block What type of protocol is SMB? – response-request What do clients connect to servers using? – TCP/IP What systems does Samba run on? – Unix Task 3…
Are you going through TryHackMe’s Nmap Room? Did you forget to take notes? I got you covered. Here are my Nmap room notes from TryHackMe, use them as much as you need! Disclaimer, this is written in shorthand format, meaning, full sentences and proper grammar are always not used. For a full writeup, see TryHackMe Nmap Walkthrough, for help with Linux, see Quick Start Guide. Task 1 Deploy & Task 2…
Learning Linux? Great, me too! Here’s the Linux Fundamentals 1 Walkthrough from TryHackMe. Let’s take a look at some of the fundamentals of Linux including common commands, the terminal, your prompt and more. There’s lots to love in Linux, as there’s so many flavours or distributions, the possibilities are endless. I hope you learn something on your Linux journey! Enjoy TryHcakMe’s Linux…
So you’re learning Linux aye? Welcome aboard! Here’s the Linux Fundamentals 2 Walkthrough from TryHackMe. Let’s take a look at some of the fundamentals of Linux including some more commands, ssh, bash scripting and more. There’s lots to love in Linux, I hope you learn something here on your Linux journey! Enjoy TryHackMe’s Linux Fundamentals 2. Disclaimer, for more, see Linux Fundamentals 1, Linux…
Welcome to Linux Fundamentals 3 TryHackMe Walkthrough, the finale of the Linux Fundamental rooms on TryHackMe. Let’s learn some Linux skills and common utilities around automation, package management, and service/application logging. Are you keen? Yeah! Let’s go on with Linux Fundamentals 3 TryHackMe Walkthrough. Disclaimer, see Linux Fundamentals Part 1 and Linux Fundamentals Part 2 for more.…
Installing Hardware and Display Components Hardware and Device Replacement RAM: system memory or desk of PC, fast access, low amount = lower access speeds, volatile. Storage: file cabinet of PC, slower access, static (non-volatile). Check MoBo user guide to ensure RAM amount, form-factor etc. GPU/Video Card: processes video and connects to external monitors. CPU: brain of PC. DC Jack Replacement…
Are you a Cyber Sec student? Or just interested in the Cyber Sec space? Yes, and yes! Do you go to family and friends, hop on their network and poke around? It’s easy to do and you can quickly find vulnerabilities that someone could exploit. Recently, I stayed at my wife’s uncle and aunties house and I noticed a major network vuln. Imagine you put a lock on a door for home security but never lock…
Are you new to PC building? Maybe a friend’s put together their computer and you want to learn more. Whatever your reason, building your own PC is a lot of fun! So, let’s learn how to build a PC in 2022, this is your beginner’s guide to building a PC. Disclaimer, this is not a step-by-step article, but more of a general guide to approaching how to build a PC.
Here we are again, another year come and gone. Let’s look back at the lessons learned and mistakes made. All up, it’s been a big year, we’ve all been redefining ‘normal’ post-2020. There’s been more division over the concern for safety and I genuinely hope you and your family are safe and well, thanks for reading this. Disclaimer, this is a self-indulgent article and will not be value-focused.…
So you’re learning Python and want to understand the range function, welcome! The range function paired with a for loop is a great way to repeat code a number of times. Let’s learn the basics of the range function with Python and then it’s over to you for a little project. Basics Let’s have a simple counter go from 1 to 5, and show the results as it counts.
You are probably new to homelabbing and need a bit of guidance. Building a homelab means building a computer network, or lab, at home. Homelabs can be anything from old laptops to expensive high-end enterprise equipment. Typically, you’ll find homelabs involve a lot of virtual computers, meaning they’re not physical. There’s little entry to get started and unlimited possibility as your homelab…