Dec 29, 2014 11:01 PM (This post was last modified: Dec 29, 2014 11:42 PM by Oak.)
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The edition you are currently reading is the 220th full edition. To read any older editions of HF News, please go here.
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Happy New Year!
Christmas has passed and another year draws to a close on Hack Forums. It seemed like only yesterday that the 2014 New Year's Eve Ball dropped in Times Square. On behalf of the entire Hack Forums News Team, I hope everyone has a Happy New Year spending time with family and friends, drinking hot chocolate and taking a break from life's hardships. As far as Hack Forums is concerned, what will the new year bring? In a recent podcast interview with Omniscient, he has disclosed that there are new features, such as 2 Factor Authentication, planned for the new year. You can view the podcast, here. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your winter break and we'll see you again in 2015!
More Changes With HackerCraft
On November 7th, 2014 the user Robust officially took over HackerCraft in hopes to revive it and turn it back into what it once was. However, on December 23rd, 2014 Omniscient took away the license agreement, repfucked and banned Robust and is now discussing a new license agreement with Edward Snowden.. The only downside is that it may be a week or two before everything's sorted and the server is up and running. Also the DNS records for the old server have been deleted. The reasoning behind Robust's ban is because he failed to pay Edward Snowden. his initial investment plus the agreed 50% of the profits. Robust is now banned until 01-23-2015. Though on a positive note, Edward Snowden. has made a couple of threads in the HackerCraft section regarding some of the new features and the ETA for the server. Let's wish him luck and hope for a better outcome this time around. Those two threads can be found, here, and here.
---$10 Paypal Giveaway - Internet Security ---Internet Security is giving away $10 to help ease your financial pains after the holidays. Contest ends December 31st.
Justin Timberlake: Welcome to the 220th edition of the HF news, today we're here with Λaron. How are you doing man? Λaron: Doing pretty well, just finished celebrating the first night of jewmas with my family.
Justin Timberlake: Sounds like fun. Any shoutouts you'd like to make? Λaron: Shout out to Casp3r, IvNet, Nimbus, MapleTree, zSerity, trvp, Ninetales, PrettyKitty, Errors, Who Soup, Nivarka, Roger Waters, h1gh0nquack, Frostix, and my favorite member who just recently joined, package. As well as all my buddies in Nightfall and Studio, too many to list.
Justin Timberlake: That's a long list of fans, I didn't know you were so popular. Are you guys all part of some secret group or just friends you met over time? Λaron: Yeah we are part of a secret group called LizardSquad, it’s invite only so don’t ask me to join. Just kidding, I met Casp3r and IvNet through an ancient group called wow and the rest of them I don’t really know how I met lmao.
Justin Timberlake: Wow, you met through WOW? How were you introduced to HF? Λaron: Yeah wow was an unofficial group ran by some random but me and couple other members branched off and started a Skype group called NA where we still party hard to this date. I’ve known these guys for years. I was referred to HF by a member who used to be called blackicetf2, but he was raided and hasn’t been online since. I did get his moms phone number and got to talk to him for a while and he is okay which is good to hear, but you probably won’t see much from him for a very long time.
Justin Timberlake: Well that escalated quickly. What kept you coming back every day? Λaron: I wish I could go back and see some of my really old posts, but sadly the pages don’t go back that far. I joined to purchase things from the buyers bay and currency exchange section. I used to be really into Dogecoins and back then anyone could post a thread in the currency exchange section. I remember looking to buy a Snapchat from someone that got nudes from girls so I could brag to my friends. I thought of HackForums kinda like a game to accumulate points.
Justin Timberlake: Ah, the infamous marketplace. Do you sell anything nowadays? Λaron: I’m currently selling the domain HackForums.Co, jars of pesto, my Minecraft server rank method, a pay what you want GFX service, a pay per hour DDoS service, and Bitcoin <-> PayPal exchange.
Justin Timberlake: Jars of pesto... That's not something you hear everyday. How did you come up with something like that? Λaron: Who Soup lives in Hawaii and grows everything locally and makes the pesto, then he ships it out to me and I distribute it across the world. It was his idea and I basically am just helping him out while making some money on the side. Totally the most unique thing in the premium sellers section to date.
Justin Timberlake: Agreed, it sounds like some kind of international herb network. So are you doing anything special for the holidays? Λaron: Besides 2 for 1 deals on pesto? I’m going to San Francisco with my dad on sunday and I am going to be staying there for 2 weeks.
Justin Timberlake: Cali is an amazing place, you'll love it. What else do you do outside of HF? Besides tending to your herbs, of course. Λaron: My mondays start out with waking up at 7:00, taking a show and going to my over priced private school where I learn absolutely nothing. Then I get home at exactly 4:30 and walk my dog and do chores until 5:00. Then I work on my homework until 6:00 when my dad gets home and we get chinese or mexican delivery. Then I watch TV with my dad and browse HF until 11:00 when I watch family guy on my laptop in bed until 2:00 in the morning when I fall asleep. Then I wake up tuesday morning and repeat the same learning experience I had monday, except this time I play varsity tennis until 6:30. Eventually after all that bullshit it becomes Friday when I usually go over to a friends house and get totally rekt. Then saturday morning I go out with friends again and then go home and get blazed and play video games. Then on sunday I do all my homework and sometimes have Flight lessons at an aviation academy, I am getting my pilots license. Then I basically repeat that sequence until summer break.
TLDR: Play tennis, smoke weed, play video games, hang out with friends, longboard.
Justin Timberlake: Keeping it real, nice routine. Do you plan to be a pilot when you grow up? Aviation sounds like fun. Λaron: Yeah to be honest my grades aren’t that great, but I will probably wind up going to an engineering college. I’ve heard from a family friend that being a commercial pilot is insane. The pilot lessons are crazy expensive, but you get paid bank for flying a plane 3 times a week and getting to stay in other countries all the time.
Justin Timberlake: Now it really sounds like fun, best of luck with that. Is there anything else you'd like to say before we conclude this interview? Λaron: Just two more shout outs before I go, shout out to Mashinate and his industries, and shout out to Tweety for forcing me to shout him out.
630: Welcome to 220th edition of the HF News, it's an honor to be her today with Raz3d. Any shout-outs you'd like to make before we begin? Raz3d: Thank you 630, it's an honor for me to be here for the first time. I'd like to give a shout-out to Nightfall and my norwegian friend I Will Mashinate.
630: So how do you like Nightfall? Were you there when it was Instinct? If not what specifically draws you to the group? Raz3d: I really like Nightfall alot. I've been in it for a long time now, and I feel like it's the group for me. It's based on gaming and freedom, which also describes me. Yes, I joined the group when it was named Instinct.
630: So what games are you currently playing? Raz3d: Well, I started with Counter Strike 1.6 as many other old gamers. Now I'm very much into Counter Strike: Global Offensive and League of Legends. I also enjoy competitive gaming, RPG/MMORPG and fantasy games.
630: Never been a LoL fan, but I love CSGO. So how did you find Hack Forums? Raz3d: Back in the Habbo days, I used to spend alot of my time on playing Habbo. So basically I searched for Habbo hacks, and I saw HackForums as one of the suggestions. I found HackForums back then, but I originally joined because my brother told me to, back in 2012. However his account got deleted by mistake and merged into mine, that's why my registration date says 2011.
630: Well at least everything got straightened out. So what do you do outside the forum? Any fun hobbies or are you attending school?Raz3d: Right now I'm attending college. I do spend alot of time with my friends and family though. I pretty much plan the week, so I know when I have time for different things, such as parties, computer, homework and such.
630: What are you studying? What would be your ideal job? Raz3d: Politics at the moment. Lawyer is something that've been into my mind much lately. I've talked to a couple of lawyers in my life, when I were a troublemaker, and I find their job very interesting. Attorney / Jurist too.
630: Nice, I plan on going into criminal justice myself, it just seems so interesting. So I see you around the CSGO betting thread a lot, how are you so good? Raz3d: Yes, I really do enjoy being around the CSGO betting threads. It's full of nice members and it's about betting, which I'm really into. Well, I've been watching almost all CSGO tournaments for this year and many last year too. I always do research and never bet too much for fun. I know when to bet on the underdogs, and I know when to take changes. ''Don't bet, if you can't manage to lose it.''
630: I've learned that the hard way with some of my skins, if you don't mind me asking how much do you estimate that you've made from betting? Raz3d: I've made exactly $1,140.00 in a couple of months on my main account. My last account got hacked due to phishing (which also had alot of value), but I made a new account and came straight back into CSGO immediately and started betting again.
630: That just blows my mind, I've lost about $50 so far. So what keeps you active on the forum? Do you like the community or are you here for making money? Raz3d: I haven't really been the person, who cares too much about making money online. I am going to be straight honest here, I am here for the members and the fun of it. What would HackForums be, if there weren't any members, right? HackForums is like a drug, and we have sections for everybody's taste. The members are amazing, the staffs are amazing and the forum itself is one of a kind.
630: I get what you mean. I've never felt an attachment like this to a forum before, it's just so entertaining. So is there anything on the forum that you would change? Raz3d: I wouldn't change anything big. However, I would clean up the gaming section and I would keep it updated, so all popular new games can get a chance. The old dead games are only taking space for literally no reason. I know Omni talked about this last year, but it's still here and taking dust.
630: Yeah I like the specialized sections, but seem where you're coming from by cycling them due to popularity. So how would you rate your overall Hack Forums experience on a scale of 1-10? Raz3d: If I have to exclude all the small things and mistakes, I will rate HackForums 9/10 for sure. Been an amazing place to be so far, and I'll continue my stay here.
630: Well I think that's all the time we have for this interview. Do you have any final remarks you'd like to make before we end this interview? Raz3d: I would like to thank you for the opportunity of being interviewed, and a big thank you and shout-out to everyone who makes HackForums to what it is.
Dec 29, 2014 11:02 PM (This post was last modified: Dec 29, 2014 11:45 PM by Oak.)
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Game Over for Null
The owner of Null, T3h Hack3r, has placed the group Null up for sale. Although no reasons were publicly given by T3h Hack3r or Vinnie, the other owner of Null, the sale can possibly be attributed to Null's apparent inactivity on the forums. Members who are approved by Omniscient can purchase the group for $7,500 USD, via bank transfer or Bitcoins. If you are interested in seeing the discussion thread, click here.
Revolution: For Rent
In a new and interesting idea, beslim, the owner of Revolution, has decided to allow individuals to rent subforums and operate their own groups within the subforum of Revolution. Each of these groups would operate as a group completely independent of Revolution, but would still follow a set of minor regulations imposed by beslim. Although all of the subforums have been sold, you can view beslim's thread on the matter here.
MineOmni gone for good
Omnicoin's MineOmni will not be returning following the fiasco started after the DNS for the MineOmni domain was pointed to a simple, inflammatory page. This was announced by .Matt, leaving two pools. OmniBlu, and the new Omnicha.in pool.
Thank you to everyone who reads the HF News,
we really appreciate it. Hopefully you all enjoy
this edition and all the rest to come. Happy
holidays from JT and the HFNT, I honestly
wish to celebrate with some of you
soon. Stay classy.
-Justin Timberlake
"That's it. He's definitely the one. Now it's just
a matter of time before he becomes a drop of
blood in my glass slide collection." -Dexter Clark-
With every year we grow stronger, memories
will be kept and things will be lost. Life will
continue on, don't let those things that you
lost hold you down. Happy New Years to
everyone of HF from Enterprise.
-Grievous
“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the
air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign
yourself to the influence of the earth.” -Thoreau RDCA-
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Some cool things may be in store for the new year ;D
Happy New Year!
Russian Hackers Steal Money from ATMs
In 2012, a team of Russian and Ukrainian hackers had sent targetted emails to the employees of various banks throughout Russia with forged headers to make it seem as if the emails were sent from bank managers. These emails were laced with a custom and advanced piece of malware specifically targeting banks and allowed the group to steal over $2 million from inside their networks. Of the group, only 8 members were arrested, several of whom were released soon after their arrests. This same group, under the name "Anunak ." is now believed to be behind the recent attacks on banks throughout Europe. Not only are spreading malware to get into bank networks, but they are known to purchase machines from inside banks that are in other hacking groups' control. With this new software, they are changing the denominational value of the ATMs so that each time someone is withdrawing a bank note of 100 Russian Rubles, it will actually give out a bank note worth 5,000 Rubles. Though these ATM attacks occurred only in Europe, an analysis of the malware showed that many U.S. ATMs may be vulnerable to this as well. The group is still active and has stolen over $15 million in cash.
South Korean Nuclear Facility Attacked
Despite nuclear power being far and away the safest, cleanest, and most plentiful natural resource, there are a number of fringe groups that are out to attack nuclear power plants. One such hacker, or perhaps a group, has attacked one of the networks of the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company (KHNP) power facility in efforts to retrieve sensitive information and hopefully intimidate the operators into ceasing production. The hacker was able to retrieve somewhat sensitive data such as logs, blueprints, schedules, etc. from 4 separate nuclear power plants and has been releasing them on his Twitter account. The security team at KHNP has been assured that the attacker is simply unable to reach critical data because anything detrimental to production is on a network that is inaccessible from anywhere outside the building and requires physical, secure access. In a recent briefing, President and CEO Cho Seok stated "Cyber attacks on KHNP's (headquarters) operations and administration are still continuing now." Though the attacker does not pose an immediate thread, he has forced the security team of KNHP and other nuclear plants to be aware.
Hacking Fingerprints
Right now in Hamburg, Germany, the largest European hacker association, called the Chaos Computer Club (CCC), is holding its 31st annual convention. The four day long convention is a festival of everything hacking-related. With the integration of fingerprints into the iPhone 5S, it has been a major point of focus for serious hackers. The security research analyst and biometrics expert Jan Krissler, who goes under the pseudonym Starbug, gave an hour-long discussion on how he was able to recreate, perfectly, the fingerprints of German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen. For this, he used public photographs from a standard digital camera of the Defense Minister's index finger and the software Verifinger. Though biomechanics integration offers a huge step in personal security, Krissler merely highlighted the fact that it is possible, albeit difficult and time consuming, to recreate a fingerprint from nothing but a photograph.
EU Demands 2-Factor-Authentication (2FA) of Online Payments
After incidents like Heartland, WorldPay, and few others, the European Banking Authority (EBA), the EU body has issued new guidelines for the security of the internet providers and specially for the payment-service-provides (PSPs). Under the new guideline the PSPs are to ensure two-factor-authentication (2FA) in all online transactions. Although these guidelines are to take effect from August 2015, there are hardly time to implement the necessary security modifications according to many sites and service providers but they do agree that it will mean a safer future for the customers if the aforementioned policy is enforced from August.
Passing Censors with Bitcoin-Based Messaging
Computer science student, developer, and author of 'Bitcoin Developer Reference', Krzysztof Okupski(25), has found a way to circumvent censorship with 'block-chain', the Bitcoin's distributed database which acts as a ledger for Bitcoin transaction. According to the developer, this method can have a humanitarian usage in parts of the world where people are 'deprived of their basic needs'. The tool codes messages into Bitcoin transaction and vice-versa. Determining what this tool can promise - and what it can not promise - vis-a-vis anonymity is the most important aspect of future evaluation.
SoakSoak Malware Still a Threat
Attackers are continuously changing their tactics with the SoakSoak malware to infect new websites. The JavaScript code which was used for infection was also changed in this process. After Google's initial step of blacklisting thousands of site, attackers have come up with a different infection method that injects malicious JavaScirpt code to the victim sites. The SoakSoak malware campaign is targeting older versions (versions prior to 4.2) of a popular WordPress plugin called RevSlider which was patched earlier. But the sites which have not been updated to the patched version are still vulnerable to this new malware.
Elder Scrolls Online coming to Next Gen
Currently available only for Windows and Mac, the Elder Scrolls Online game has been a huge hit since its release back in April of this year. ZeniMax Online Studio, the creators of the series has announced that in 2015 the Elder Scrolls Online game will be out for the Next Gen consoles. If you have or haven't played this game, next year will be the time to do so if you'd like to play it on the big screen. As a holiday greeting, ZeniMax Online Studio had announced this making of the game to the public to wish a Merry Christmas to all. New DLC is to be released as well, but not much has been shared with the public.
New Story Mode DLC for GTA V
Yet again, Grand Theft Auto: V has something new to offer. PC Still does not have the game yet, but Rockstar has already planned a new DLC to be released, which has been said that it was being worked on since the month after release in November of last year. Included in the DLC is brand new story mode quests to fulfill, as well the most anticipated thing all year... You guessed right! Heists! Yes, finally Rockstar is bringing the Heists online for those who've been waiting for forever. The time has come. For most of us, we've completed the game way back when it first arrived in stores. Of course, this is not the case for everyone, but it's never a bad thing to release new content. This is definitely a worthy thing to look into.
New Minecraft Game in the Making
Telltale is currently developing a new Minecraft game that fans will love and enjoy. Yes, you read that correctly! A new Minecraft game is in the making. Introducing a new adventure game, the newest edition of Minecraft will be released under the title Minecraft: Story Mode, which will be released sometime in the new year! Available on all Platforms (PC, Consoles, and even Mobile Devices). Similar to A Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead, players will be placed into an amazing world Minecraft players have never seen before with a brand new storyline to complete. The game will not be an add-on for Minecraft, but a new game you must purchase separately. Minecraft fans should not be purchasing this game if they want to find out the history of all what's in the past Minecraft game; information about Steve, Ender Dragons, and all those cool things will not be explained as how they got there.
Video Game Release Dates for the Week of December 26th, 2014:
No releases this week.
DLC Release Dates for the Week of December 26th, 2014:
X Rebirth: The Teladi Post DLC - Steam - Free all through December
Sony Has Plethora Of Issues This Holiday Season
Sony has got it bad this holiday season starting with their systems being breached and much of their private data being leaked. Many movies were cancelled due to actresses and actors finding out they were severely underpaid when Sony's payroll was leaked, and terrorist threats limited the release of the stoner comedy The Interview. On Christmas Eve and Christmas day their online services have been going down and have been disrupted pretty steadily by what seems to be Ddos attacks. Their reputation has suffered dearly in Q4 of 2014, hopefully they can gain trust back from the public next year.
The Interview Backed By Pirates
The Interview from Sony that has had much controversy has been leaked online, and backed by pirates and torrent sites and even BitTorrent Inc. With more than 250,000 downloads in one day, it seems that The Interview got the popularity Sony hoped it would, but probably not the popularity they had hoped for. BitTorrent Inc. allowed Sony to sell the movie in one of their bundles, though it doesn't seem Sony took an interest in that offer.
Federal Aviation Administration Worries Over Safety Of Civilian Owned Drones As Drone Sales Skyrocket For Christmas
The Federal Aviation Administration of The United States has issued warning regarding drones this holiday season as drone sales skyrocket. The FAA reports that 25 or more pilots have close calls every month with civilian drones, and are worried that there will be more after over 200,000 drones were sold in this holiday season alone. They have started a safety campaign and are pushing for people to have to take classes and want to require a license to fly drones. For now they just warn us not to fly near airports, people and give us height limitations, however this could turn into one expensive hobby quick if they have their way.
D-Link's Smart Home Hub
D-Link has finally come up with the perfect and balanced smart home hub. It is affordable, but is quality enough to be approved by the FCC. Also, another new aspect D-Link has introduced are their first Z-Wave sensors. The hub works by connecting to a WiFi router and connecting to Z-Wave enabled devices. You can add devices to easily just by scanning its QR code, or by typing in the name of the device manually. This smart hub keeps all your devices and IP cameras connected securely, and more information is expected to be revealed at CES 2015.
QR Codes Deliver Video Messages on Beer Bottles
That's right folks, the saying "message in a bottle" actually has meaning now in the technology world. Andres, and Argentinian beer company have taken that thought to new heights. Using Andres app, you can record a short video clip and add it to your bottles QR code. Luckily, if you create an embarrassing video while using the app, the video is saved in the cloud, and automatically deleted after being viewed. There is rumor that other beer companies will be adding something similar.
Google Fights Hotels Attempts to Block WiFi Hotspots
For a while now, hotels have attempted to block personal wifi hotspots in order to profit off their own wifi. Marriott successfully won a settlement after they blocked a hotel guest's personal hotspot. Google has submitted a petition to the FCC to end this madness. Hotel companies just want to force customers to purchase their wifi, and it is unconstitutional to block unlicensed signals. Hotel companies like Marriot claim they need to block personal hotspots to maintain a "reliable" connection for guests, but hotspots do not affect their connection at all. There is a huge legal battle ahead of Marriot and every wifi blocking hotel company out there.
Dec 29, 2014 11:02 PM (This post was last modified: Dec 29, 2014 11:41 PM by Oak.)
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My new years resolution will be 3840×2160(pls get the joke)
-Looka
As I'm not moving yet I have to start my fresh start here
in the same place I have been. My New Years resolution is
to be more organized to help start and finish projects, to
spruce up my extensive interpersonal skills, and trying
not to be such an ass. Sktchy-
Here is my new years resolution: Study web development,
acquire a well paying job, move out, save for bilateral
mastectomy, involve myself more in transgender
activism, and expand my YT channel further.
-Coppersan
In 2015, I am going to try my hardest to join
Enterprise because they are idolized around HF. Prada-
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Every week - assuming we get enough submissions - the HF News will feature the best submitted battlestation.
Send Sir a message by clicking here and including an imgur link of your battlestation!
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