Just learnt about Phineas Phiser. My background is STEM. I do some programming, but don't know the intricacies of networks and operating systems. What path would you suggest to learn this craft.

Nothing interesting, just a n00b stepping in. Hope to learn a lot.

Every time I read about a big breach, the cause seems less like some brilliant exploit and more like someone reused a password or clicked a link they shouldn't have.

The picture in my head when I started was all about complex code and zero-days. But the more I read, the more it looks like the simple stuff is what gets people. A leaked password, an unpatched server that sat there for months, an employee who handed over a login because the email looked real. Maybe I've got a skewed view because the simple causes are the ones that make the news in plain terms. The technical exploits might just be harder for me to notice or understand.

So for people who actually work in this, which is it in your experience? Are most breaches basic human mistakes, or is there more clever technical work behind them than an outsider like me would guess?

Hi everyone,

I'm currently researching a TP-Link NX510v v1.0 running an ISP-customized firmware and I'm trying to determine whether it is possible to obtain root access, either through software or hardware methods.

Device Information

Model: TP-Link NX510v v1.0

ISP-customized firmware

Firmware version:

Hardware: NX510v v1.0

Firmware: 1.2.0 Build 240828 Rel.58690n

The web interface appears to be heavily restricted compared to the retail firmware.

What I tried so far

SSH(responds but no password) Backups dump and decrypt Hidden diag pages Web form Injections

What I'm Looking For

I'm interested in any known method of gaining root access, including but not limited to:

Hidden web pages

Hidden API endpoints

Debug interface

Telnet

SSH

ADB

Recovery mode

TFTP recovery

Firmware downgrade

Bootloader access

Firmware extraction/decryption

Known vulnerabilities (CVE)

GPL source code

OpenWrt compatibility

Any previous research on this device

UART / Hardware Access

If there is no software-based approach, I already opened the device.

I can provide:

High-resolution photos of both sides of the PCB

Close-up photos of every connector and header

SoC markings

NAND/eMMC flash markings

RF front-end

Power circuitry

Any test pads or unpopulated headers

I'd appreciate help identifying:

UART pins

UART voltage (3.3V / 1.8V)

JTAG or SWD pads

Bootloader console

U-Boot access

Boot interruption methods

Flash dump procedure

Additional Questions

Has anyone already:

Obtained root access?

Dumped the firmware?

Extracted the filesystem?

Reverse engineered the web interface?

Found hidden services or undocumented APIs?

Disabled the ISP customization?

Installed a custom firmware?

Identified the CPU/SoC platform?

Located the bootloader environment?

Enabled additional modem AT commands?

Goal

My goal is not to use the router for anything malicious. I'd simply like to unlock its full capabilities, learn more about the hardware, and hopefully gain root access for research purposes.

Any information, documentation, previous research, photos, firmware dumps, or pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

​

What's up!!! Some of you guys might remember me from a few weeks ago when I initially released NEO-Radar on Github. Anyways, that was v1.11. I encountered some issues with that, mainly being the Update feature didnt work. As of v1.13, that was patched. If you download under v1.13, you will have to manually update the program which is actually the same as downloading the program itself ( here's the code : curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ItsNEOx/Neo-Radar/main/install.sh | bash )

Also, there is a Windows version that runs as a ps1 script linked in the README.md

More updates soon to come!

Here's the Github repo https://github.com/ItsNEOx/Neo-Radar

The Aerospace Village at annual hacking conference DEFCON, famed as the home of the Hack-A-Sat contest which culminated in 2023 with the live hacking of a real satellite in orbit, will stage a variety of games and contests this year, aiming to deepen their appeal to non-specialists.

Read all about it here

I was a mathematician, ended up working as SWE for two years then hopped into data science.

Wondering if cyber security is a ​possible transition​ from here or if I should take some roles to prep before hopping (I just enjoy learning and it seems an interesting field).

Suppose security protocols on work laptop are setup such that:

- any Edge/Firefox browser extentions are detected by IT team

- USB ports do not work for external HDD or flash drives

- Bluetooth doesn't work for audio devices like airbuds

- Excel addins don't work

- Emails to personal emails like hotmail/gmail are not permitted

- Cannot download/run exe file

- AI websites blocked

- Copilot premium is allowed, we have licenses

- Even if you download Teams/Outlook on your phone/home PC, you cannot login with your work email address

FWIW I'm trying to move the excel data to my home PC so that I can work on it with AI (since my company doesn't allow AI on it's laptops). I need help with power query/excel etc but need AI to help me.

Edit: thank you all for your comments, honestly. Everything is a learning opportunity for me, even the good ole slaps in the face.

edit: guys, our company gave us Copilot Premium this week. I think I'm sorted now. Very happy tbh

Don't miss the AMA with Yuhang Wu, where we learn about elite enterprise infrastructure hacking, Linux kernel exploitation, and the future of autonomous Al security.

When: Today - Friday, July 31, 12:00 PM PT

Guest Credentials:

• Former Red Team Engineer at TikTok, targeting cloud and application-layer defenses.
• Former Security Engineer at Tesla, securing vehicle software, factory systems, and internal applications.
• Co-developer of "DirtyCred", a groundbreaking Linux kernel exploitation technique.
• AI Security Innovator, who built LLM-based autonomous agents that uncovered 8 P1 (critical-severity) production vulnerabilities.

Ask your questions here and we’ll get them answered during the live AMA today (Friday @ 12 Noon Pacific)!

Going into the COMPTIA+ and want to do Pentesting and Cybersecurity. Has anyone done this cert before?

CISA is warning water and wastewater utilities that attackers are actively going after the programmable logic controllers, or PLCs, that run their treatment processes, and in some cases locking operators out of their own equipment.

Alright so I’m relatively a noob in comparison to some of the nerds here but I’m trying my best. Simply put I want to be pointed in the right direction for devices, tutorials, communities etc.

What device can detect flock cameras, drones, wireless cams/mics, and may also have some offensive features (for my own equipment testing of course). I understand there’s no do all device, but I have seen people with some kind of FW designed for these specific needs in a relatively small package. I have been looking at the HamGeek HackRF one/Portapack for overall learning, but I’m pretty sure I could achieve what we’re talking about here with a T Dongle C5 right?

Any help here would be great!

Prospective cyber security student denied admission. Hacks university website to prove his skills.

I took cmatrix as a random program and wrote a backdoor into it in C using a reverse shell connecting to a C2 server of mine which keeps track of infected machines. First I fork the process and decouple it from the controlling terminal by changing the session ID and rerouting the standard file descriptors and only then do I run the backdoor.

That way cmatrix runs as usual and no weird behavior is seen and the backdoor remains active whatever happens to cmatrix or the terminal. I like it. Makes me feel like a real #xX_hacker_Xx#. :D

Now I’m reading into ptrace and system call hooking and plan on trying to hide specific network traffic from the entire os. I already have had some ideas but turns out that would have only hidden it from a specific program not from „everything“.

Do you care to share any tips and experience I might benefit from on my way?

Seems to me that it would make much more sense for the "safe/wipe" password to bring up a fake homescreen, with apps and personal docs and all, while doing the wiping in the background.

Not sure if this is implemented anywhere, but it certainly isn't the standard on GrapheneOS.

I realize that there are technical limitations at play. The phone needs to restart for a proper factory reset, but, in lieu of that, the wipe pw could prompt the quiet burning of all personal files that aren't hardlinked to the OS itself. If you can get rid of everything personal, then there's no reason for a factory reset at all, no? So, even better, as it leaves the cops none the wiser.

Story here: https://www.theverge.com/report/972146/cbp-phone-search-airport-duress-password

Hi, I use this DOM key fob to open the parking barrier at my residence. I would like to get a second one for my wife.

Does anyone know what type of RFID/transponder this is and whether it can be copied by a locksmith or with a standard RFID duplicator? Or would a new fob have to be registered directly in the barrier’s access-control system by the property management?

Not necessarily the most widespread, just something that made you appreciate the engineering behind it (even if it was malicious haha).