Re: Answers HQ Online Security Newsletter - May
by Its_Travis_199Original Post
I realize this month's challenge turned out to be a bit more complex than anticipated. 😮
But don’t worry, I’m here to help you navigate through task 1 and 2 of the challenge!
My reply will be breakdown of solving first two tasks, but it will be split into couple spoilers. My suggestion would be to open them one by one, and whenever you feel that you are on the right track to solve the task by yourself - go for it!
Cracking those two task should give you an idea on how to resolve the rest of the tasks, but I'll be here ready to help you out! 😊
Let's start with the bold words from the first clues:
• chess
• positions
• ciphers
Many of you correctly guessed that the last part of the quiz shows a chessboard. The positions of the pawns are arranged in a popular opening called the Queen's Gambit.
Let's remember this for solving the next task.
The third word in bold was ciphers. In previous newsletters, I used several ciphers to encode messages. These included:
- Caesar cipher
- Vigenère cipher
- Bifid cipher
Now let's look at task 2 of our challenge:
==KC0FBUvQZE4RnRsCMU/q-y/rktziziD-kmuferkjiR-sjbzvoeY-wamphE-JP-tdeckaE/wyskcpeeX-qgmrocfwD-CHG/5l/zsg.uu.lzfists//:ftxnx
And for the last hints:
"A keyword in task one, seek and find,
To task two, bring it, they intertwine.
Flip the script, reverse the tale,
Solve the riddle, you shall prevail.
To unveil the secret, you must strive,
Use a cipher, let the code come alive."
Looking at the first rhyme, it indicates finding the keyword in the first task. The keyword from the first task/ quiz is
- Vigenère cipher
- Bifid cipher
Let's gather all this information, and use CyberChef to help us crack the cipher in task 2.
I've prepared a link for you with all necessary information already typed in.
As you can see the answer looks quite familiar:
If you try to use this link it won't load any page, because the last part (
) is (again 😅) encoded.
CyberChef will again help you out solving this part.
Just like last time, I've prepared a little help for you.
The output of the tool gives us:
Let's swap decoded part into our
:
The
above is the solution to task 2.
But what's next? 😉
Hello everyone,😊
While you are working on solving the challenge tasks, I wanted to share with you some news that I recently encountered.
Many of you probably know that the health service in Great Britain was hit by a ransomware attack. It was recently revealed that this incident occurred after an employee downloaded a malware-infected file.
The incident highlights the critical importance of cybersecurity awareness and training to prevent phishing-related attacks.
You can learn more details about this from this article.
NEVER FEAR, BAFAN IS HERE!
[Bafan The Wolfman]
@EA_Kuba wrote:
Hello everyone,😊
While you are working on solving the challenge tasks, I wanted to share with you some news that I recently encountered.
Many of you probably know that the health service in Great Britain was hit by a ransomware attack. It was recently revealed that this incident occurred after an employee downloaded a malware-infected file.
The incident highlights the critical importance of cybersecurity awareness and training to prevent phishing-related attacks.
You can learn more details about this from this article.
Unfortunately I don't think it's the first time someone has done that to the NHS. I think something similar happened to TalkTalk and Sony UK in the past too.
Hey @Bafanc Thanks for sharing this story with us. I am glad that, thanks to the attentiveness of the staff, the disaster was averted. 😌
This story ended on a positive note, but as @ElliotLH mentioned, a few years ago there was a situation that turned out slightly differently. This reminded me an interesting episode of a podcast - Modem Mischief Podcast Episode 43 which covered this situation, have a listen! Also, let me know if you have any favourite podcasts set in the world of cybersecurity. 😊
*Challenge tip*
It's also time for another tip for this monthly challenge. I thought I would repeat the way I presented the tips last week. If at any time you feel that the tips are enough for you, continue on your own.
*Newsletter challenges surprise*
I'll tell you now that, in the next issue of the newsletter (in just over a week), we have a surprise prepared for you related to challenges in the newsletter! 😉
But let's get to the tips! 😁
Let's check it out.
November - last edited 3 weeks ago.
So let's check what changes could have been made.
Bingo!
We found another coded message:
What now?
