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Hacking 101 ; Monday ; Period 2

Today's class (and all subsequent classes unless Riley got creative) were meeting in the computer lab. Riley was already there, laptop open and projected on a screen in front of the class. When everyone had filed in, he stood up and gave them a little wave.

"Morning, hey, how's it going?" he asked. "I'm Riley Poole and if you're here, you're interested in learning the skills and science behind hacking. If you're not here for that, you're welcome to stick around anyway at least for the first class."

He smiled and slid his glasses off his face for the moment. "Hacking gets kind of a bad rap. When we hear about hackers, it's because they've broken into some major, secret system and stolen secrets or they've found a way through Amazon's firewalls and stolen credit card information. Hackers do that, yeah, but they do a lot of other things do. A lot of companies employ them to try and consistently crack their sites to find security weaknesses so they can plug them up before any malicious hacker finds it. The bad hackers are the black hats while the good hackers are the white hats. Makes senses, right? There are other classifications which we'll touch on but not today."

Riley went back to his computer and booted up a Washington DC bank's website. "I'm gonna give you a quick demonstration before we move on. This is a bank I've contracted with to find any exploits. So, we're gonna see if there are any."

He went to work, starting with some crude rootkit devices that he managed to install to gain some control over the system before cracking the firewall password (which were really weak). After a bit longer, he was in and the class would see a list of accounts come up on the screen. Riley shut it down quickly enough.

"Obviously, that bank's security needs some work," he told them. "So, that's what we're gonna learn how to do. Today, let's just start off easy. Give me your name, your level of skill with computers and something you'd like to hack. Karolina here is my TA so if you need help and I'm not available, let her know."

Then, he nodded at the first student to take it away.

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Working hard!

Liara T'Soni

Felicity Smoak

Eleanor Lamb

Kathy Li

Joker Moreau

Watch Riley hack a bank's website and chat with each other, if you'd like!

Name, level of skill with a computer and something you wanna hack!

"My name is Liara T'Soni," Liara said, smiling a tiny bit. She was adjusting to being around humans again; this one seemed kind enough to keep it easy on her. "I have worked with computers on my own world, but I cannot claim any level of expertise. And... I suppose I would like to hack the Thessian library."

"Thessian library?" Riley asked, not having heard of that one before. "Is that anything like the Library of Congress? Something really big with lots and lots of information you can't find elsewhere?"

Liara flushed - somewhat. "It is the largest library on my home planet," she explained. "It contains many books that are forbidden. I would... like to see some of them."

"Good thing to wanna hack," Riley said, nodding. "I don't know if I'll be able to help with that since I don't know alien tech but we'll see what we can do about getting you on the right track, at least."

Liara's mouth twitched briefly. "I believe mine is considered 'wishful thinking' in most circles," she said. "Do not worry."

"I'm Felicity Smoak. I've been working with computers for as long as I can remember. I'd like to say I'm pretty good with them," she said. "I've always wanted to hack the bank account of some evil corporation and give their money to somebody in need. Like a modern Robin Hood."

"Very noble," Riley said, nodding. "Not a lot of people think that way either. When people see big money right at their fingertips, they tend to wanna keep it for themselves."

"I'm Eleanor Lamb," Eleanor said, standing up straight and nodding at the teacher. "I haven't much experience with computers. Someone showed me how to use one to find the Internet, and another friend says I need to get a phone that has a computer on it so that I can play games."

She wasn't clear on what games she was apparently missing, but he had seemed convinced.

"I don't have any experience hacking computers per se," she added, "but I got very good at hacking Mother's security bots when I was little so I could sneak out. You had to disable them without tripping the alarms, but it wasn't that hard when you knew the trick to it."

(SP from me while at work zomg)

"You hacked cyborgs?" Riley asked, eyebrows going up. "That's impressive. We might be able to adapt that to computers since I gotta imagine robots have some pretty advanced circuitry, wiring and programming."

"They weren't actually cyborgs," Eleanor said quickly, blushing at his praise. "Not sentient, not in the least advanced. They were very primitive patrol drones: kept to a border, set off alarms for any irregularities. It was just a matter of doing a manual override without tripping any alarms."

Eleanor had been young, bored, and with literally nothing better to do. After a while, the circuitry had started to make sense to her.

"Still, that's a pretty good skill level," Riley said, nodding. "We should be able to build off that."

"I'm Kathy Li and I have some skills with a computer. I know HTML and C++ and a little Python," Kathy said when it was her turn, shyly tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "And I'm kind of the IT girl in my building back home. As for what I'd hack..." Kathy actually had to pause and think about that for awhile. "I'd probably target corrupt politicians."

"Good skill level," Riley said, impressed. "And what would you do with the information you get off corrupt politicians?"

Kathy was a grade-A computer nerd ~~but I am not so please forgive any mistakes omg~~. Her dad had been working with computers since the old Commodore 64, long before Kathy was born.

"Post it places," she replied immediately. "I hate to say it, but I'd probably go more for scandals and things. Stuff that could get them voted out of office or, better yet, resign. It's harder than it should be to get politicians impeached for corruption and stuff, but a few stories about underage prostitutes and stuff and suddenly their districts care."

"You don't think that making yourself a whistleblower could be dangerous?" Riley asked curiously. "Not that I think you're wrong, I'm just wondering."

"There's no way that I'd start this without having multiple levels of encryption and false identities between myself and my whistleblowing," Kathy said. "But yeah, it's a danger. That's one of the reasons you can tell that it's a good thing to be doing."

"I don't know if we'll be doing any hacking of important people but it's still a noble cause," Riley told her. "Just be careful."

"Yes sir," Kathy said with a nod. "That's why I'm here to learn more."

"Jeff Moreau, but you can call me Joker. I'm pretty big on computers -- can't imagine life without 'em." He gave a shrug. "Haven't hacked much, though. What I'd like to hack? The Danger Shop."

Edited 2014-07-01 03:10 (UTC)

"The Danger Shop, huh?" Riley repeated, amused. "Why, wanna make it go crazy or something?"

"Not unless I need to," Joker told him. "Some things you do for fun, and some you keep in your pocket until the time is right."

When she pings in, she can probably help you out!

Or not, since she knew nothing about hacking.

But she was going to be very nice about her lack of knowledge!

He's around to help you out!

I am not a hacker so please forgive any handwaving or if I muff something up!

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Hacking 101 ; Monday ; Period 2

Sign In [HACK 101]

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Lecture and Demonstration [HACK 101]

Class Activity: Introdutctions [HACK 101]

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Karolina [HACK 101]

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Riley [HACK 101]

OOC [HACK 101]