CLOSED: The Hacker Challenge Contest - 5BP

b3rND

Level 35 Emo Kid

“Cutty Cutterson”

Well, I solved 10 now. It really wasn’t that much of a challenge, if I had done one thing differently I would have got it first. Or maybe I’m just stupid.

Posted On: 10/31/2008 3:35PM

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Nykkel

6.03"

Level 33 Troll

“Permafail”

Darn. I did try anagramming the words in #8, but I was using a utility that didn’t consider proper names, so it didn’t find an anagram for the first set. So I figured I was on the wrong track.

I think it’s perfectly reasonable, though.

EDIT:

I went back to the server to confirm this, and there staring at me on the first screen of output was the correct anagram for the first words. Doh.

Nykkel edited this message on 10/31/2008 3:41PM

Posted On: 10/31/2008 3:40PM

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Leechbait

7.78"

Level 30 Troll

“Permafail”

b3rND Posted:

Well, I solved 10 now. It really wasn’t that much of a challenge, if I had done one thing differently I would have got it first. Or maybe I’m just stupid.

as far as i know the 3 of us that were on the Axxxx when i finally ghot it were all working with the same flawed data

FalconFour Posted:

Anagrams?

Okay, you know, the previous challenges were all pretty straightforward. A fixed key against a scrambled mess of data. Anagrams are ****ing bull****. They’re puzzles that are all just a guessing game. Randomly shuffle around letters to guess the answer.

Considering your post was two words that made up one word, how the _hell_ can someone be expected to come up with, with no hints, a coherent instruction from 2 5-letter and 4 4-letter words?!

I sure hope hog posts the method to 8’s madness soon… I’d hate for that to really be the answer.

the best part about your bumhurt whining is that there is ONE google result for “paper itch jerk”, and it has the correct answer in it.
Leechbait edited this message on 10/31/2008 3:55PM

Posted On: 10/31/2008 3:50PM

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MC Banhammer

29.57"

Level 69 Troll

Trying to create drama to drum up the ratings by any means necessary!

Leechbait Posted:

the best part about your bumhurt whining is that there is ONE google result for “paper itch jerk”, and it has the correct answer in it.

And that’s how I figured it out Log in to see images!

Posted On: 10/31/2008 3:57PM

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b3rND

9.19"

Level 35 Emo Kid

“Cutty Cutterson”

Leechbait Posted:

as far as i know the 3 of us that were on the Axxxx when i finally ghot it were all working with the same flawed data

My problem was that I thought the parts were supposed to be decrypted separately. I didn’t even bother with the “AMSCO KEY” because it was obvious from the numbers and word length.

So when I did the Vigenere decryption starting with the five letter groups it came out wrong because it didn’t align with the key.

While the Flickr thing was a nice idea, I think this was too much like a race through the same kinds of encryption used in the other challenges, so it only depended on getting the details correctly.

(in other words: BAAAAAWWWWWWWW I DIDN’T WIN THE 5 BP Log in to see images!

Posted On: 10/31/2008 4:03PM

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aSh-gangSTA--
685

29.24"

Level 60 Emo Kid

The Delightfully Chaotic

Well, I put all the solutions in the first page (Spoiler tagged.)

I didn’t fully give away the final one in case anyone wants to work on it still.

I hope you guys had fun. I did. But I’m glad it’s over. Thanks for playing.

SOME FUN FACTS THAT NO ONE GIVES A **** ABOUT:

To date this contest generated 521 Tubmails in my Inbox.

MC Banhammer sent me the most Tubmails, clocking in at 29.

The first answer for the challenge came from Nicco.

There were 134 Unique entries in the contest (i.e. 134 Tubmails from different users)

Less than 4.5% of entrants made it to the final challenge.

Posted On: 10/31/2008 4:48PM

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aSh-gangSTA--
685

29.24"

Level 60 Emo Kid

The Delightfully Chaotic

aSh-gangSTA-685 edited this message on 10/31/2008 4:55PM

Posted On: 10/31/2008 4:54PM

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Jubbles

41.44"

106

Level 69 Camwhore

I went almost four years without a custom title and all I got was this custom title. Also, male reproductive organs.

Well, I may be a stubbon jackbum who wants to finish working through this thing (as I told h0g via Tubmail), but I’m not stubborn ENOUGH to figure out where I went wrong after I got to THE KEY IS HALLOWEEN – HMDNC GIC 41532 – AVUEW QCRHZ as far as the Bxxxxx is concerned. There are too many places I could have screwed up beyond that, at least to try dealing with right now (I’m bumuming it’s the 1/l/I bit making itself known, but I could be wrong). I’ll just keep going from what’s provided in the first post after that Z.
Jubbles edited this message on 10/31/2008 5:51PM

Posted On: 10/31/2008 5:24PM

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KrackAddict

11.32"

[Grey Goose Mafiosi]

Level 69 Camwhore

“Venereal Biohazard”

Damnit! I was banging my head against the desk trying to figure out the results from the AMSCO… and to find out it was all screwed up, ARGH! Oh well. Congrats to Leechbait!

Posted On: 10/31/2008 7:29PM

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Leechbait

7.78"

[Grey Goose Mafiosi]

Level 30 Troll

“Permafail”

b3rND Posted:

My problem was that I thought the parts were supposed to be decrypted separately. I didn’t even bother with the “AMSCO KEY” because it was obvious from the numbers and word length.

So when I did the Vigenere decryption starting with the five letter groups it came out wrong because it didn’t align with the key.

yeah i rechognized your wrong letters

luckily i had already not included all the infor once because decoding the Bxxxxxx i had left out the first message because i thought i had solved it

so i figured i should try doing all at once and it worked

well mostly

my Axxxx had problems but i was able to guess what the words ought to be anyway

Posted On: 10/31/2008 7:33PM

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quangntenemy

33.42"

[WeChall]

Level 69 Troll

:ronpaul: :****ing sucks:

OK now that the contest is over I would like to add a side note Log in to see images!
The Vigenere cipher part in challenge 7 and 9 can alternatively be cracked with cryptanalysis without the need of a key. There is an algorithm invented by Kasisky to determine the key length. After that you can either use frequency analysis or known plaintext attack. Normally the ciphertext should be arranged in group of 5, but here it isn’t so plaintext guessing is easier. And there are even automatic programs that can help you.
If you go to http://smurfoncrack.com/pygenere/index.php and put challenge 9 in there with a key length of 6 you’ll get the text decrypted in no time
Now some of you asked for challenge sites like this, and I would like to introduce some
– TheBlackSheep at http://www.bright-shadows.net – this site has a lot of challenges in various categories, you can learn a lot from there.
– http://www.hackquest.de – your journey in the hacker world.
– http://www.net-force.nl – a Dutch challenge site, but the content is mostly in English.
– The Pyramid at http://www.rankk.org – solve the challenges, climb the pyramid and become a Geb.
– Electrica at http://www.caesum.com/game – a fun and tough challenge site.
– Ma’s Reversing at http://www.3564020356.org – one of the first challenge site, mostly about cryptography, steganography and reverse engineering.
– http://www.mod-x.co.uk – a level-based challenge site, you are an agent and completing the “hack” mission will take you to glory
– Many more that you can find from http://www.hackergames.ne , or my homepage http://www.freewebs.com/quangntenemy/
– And don’t forget to visit http://www.wechall.ne , the universal challenger tracker. Eventually all challenge sites will meet up in there.

Posted On: 10/31/2008 8:49PM

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