web
When you zoom out a bit and think fundamentally, the web is just an input/output device for the end user. One can send and receive data and...umm? and that's basically all you can do over the internet. When you think about it this way, the web
programming
In LaughGuru, we received designs from the UI designers on Zeplin, a nice tool that bridges the gap between designers and developers. While I wouldn't know about designers, it definitely made my life (as a developer) easy. My previous experience with frontend was with designers who gave me
javascript
Long time no see, Javascript. Where had you been, my old friend? Well, not really. I have been writing Javascript more than ever since my last post about the language on this blog, some 26 months ago. As some of you already know, writing Javascript has become my day job
ctf
The last part of the Bandit challenges was relatively easy with most of the flags attainable with basic git knowledge, except for the last restricted shell escape. Try them here: OverTheWire Bandit Bandit 27-28 This is as simple as it can get at this stage. Just clone the repo
cryptography
There was a time, not too long ago, that I used to dream of running a website that had HTTPS written in the address bar. Most big websites had it, but very few little ones and personal blogs did. I couldn't because it required a lot of money
linux
One thing that I really hate, and I don't use that word very often while describing my computer preferences, is system crashes. It's one of those things; just unacceptable to me. You're working on something important, and all of a sudden, the DE (Desktop
flask
Context I distinctly remember how much I liked writing backends (well, I tried). I also remember thinking, I will never become a frontend engineer. Ever. Like many software developers in my circle, I hated writing CSS, and JS hadn't clicked until then. And these were the days before
cryptography
Let's start with some basics. Just like when you want to talk to another person, you talk in a language that both of you understand, every system that wants to talk to another system needs to talk in a commonly understood language. Technically, we call it a protocol.
cryptography
Suppose you have a database full of confidential information such as emails of users. As a responsible sysadmin, you'd not let such data exist in plaintext in your systems and therefore you decide to encrypt everything. But now, the application needs a searching functionality where users can see
cryptography
Most block ciphers work on the bytes and bits of data. It doesn't matter to them if the data is a video, a phone number, a credit card number or a meme of Patrick Star. And that's good. It means that a generic block cipher can
cryptography
We've heard that AES and other block ciphers require specific key sizes; 128, 256 and 512 bits. But I don't ever remember having to calculate my password length based on the underlying key size. Never have I read on a website "passwords need to be
cryptography
You need some urgent cash to buy today's lunch. You throw a paper chit at your colleague, "Hey, I need you to transfer 100 bucks in my account number 10022, urgent". Eve, a bad actor in your office, intercepts the chit, changes the 10022 to 10033,