Author: Brody Rethy

qBittorrent Setup Guide 2024

Posted on by Brody Rethy
  • Click the Settings icon.
    • Click the Advanced option.
      • Go to the Network interface section, and choose your VPN interface. If you’re using Mullvad, there should be an entry for Mullvad.
        • This will make sure to bind your qBittorrent connection directly to your VPN. There will be no possibility of mistakenly opening qBittorrent without your VPN on, leaking your gateway IP to the world. If you don’t have a VPN and are living in Germany, Western European nations, or North America, you need one… Unless you’re only downloading ISOs or legal, non-copywritten material, that is.
    • Click the BitTorrent option.
      • Go to the Encryption mode: section. Make sure it’s set to Require encryption.
      • Check the checkbox for Enable anonymous mode.
      • Make sure that the value 30 is set for all of the following options:
        • Maximum active checking torrents:
        • Maximum active downloads:
        • Maximum active uploads:
        • Maximum active torrents:
      • Modify the values for the following areas:
        • Download rate threshold: 35 KiB/s
        • Torrent inactivity timer: 15 sec
      • Under Seeding Limits, ensure When ratio reaches is checked, and the value is set to 0.00.
      • Under the then area, make sure the value is set to Pause torrent.
    • Click the Downloads option.
      • Navigate to the Saving Management subsection. Set the following options: Default Torrent Management Mode: Automatic, When Torrent Category changed: Relocate torrent, When Default Save/Incomplete Path changed: Relocate affected torrents, and When Category Save Path changed: Relocate affected torrents.
      • Nativate to the Saving Management subsection. Ensure that the Use Subcategories checkbox is checked.
      • Nativate to the Saving Management subsection. Ensure that the Copy .torrent files to: checkbox is checked. Be sure to set a default value via the file picker option on the right.

Meta Quest 3 Shortcuts

Posted on by Brody Rethy
  • Double tap the side of your headset for Passthrough Mode.
  • Double tap the Meta button. Wait for an audio cue to know the headset is listening. Speak your command.
    • Examples:
      • Open VRChat
      • Search the store for VRChat
      • Open Settings | Open Store | Open Library
      • Restart | Shut down | What’s my battery
      • Capture screenshot | Capture video | Stop recording
  • Tap your controllers gently together twice and the headset will immediately switch to hand-tracking. To switch back to controllers just pick them up.

Routing HexChat Through Tor

Posted on by Brody Rethy

Note: Hexchat is dead as of 2.16.2, The Final Release on February 9th 2024. Keep in mind, this could mean that HexChat accumulates unfixed vulnerabilities or bugs going into the future. If you are using IRC + tor for a “secure” use case, consider using an alternative, such as irssi or weechat.

  1. sudo apt install tor hexchat
  2. Run the tor command to start the tor service on 127.0.0.1:9050.
    • Keep this running in a background terminal.
  3. Start HexChat
  4. Connect to any IRC server.
    • This is required in order to access the HexChat menus.
  5. In the new window, select Settings and then Preferences. Hit the option Network setup.
  6. Under the hostname field, type in: 127.0.0.1 and in port type in: 9050. Change the Type dropdown to SOCKS5
  7. Next, fully close and reopen HexChat. Ensure that it is PROPERLY closed, and then reopened.

Adblock for Twitch

Posted on by Brody Rethy

Taken from https://github.com/pixeltris/TwitchAdSolutions.

  • Navigate to the uBlock Origin Dashboard (the extension options).
  • Under the My filters tab add twitch.tv##+js(twitch-videoad).
  • Under the Settings tab, enable I am an advanced user, then click the cog that appears. Modify the value of userResourcesLocation from unset to the full url of the solution you wish to use (if a url is already in use, add a space after the existing url). e.g. userResourcesLocation https://github.com/pixeltris/TwitchAdSolutions/raw/master/vaft/vaft-ublock-origin.js
  • To ensure uBlock Origin loads the script I recommend that you disable/enable the uBlock Origin extension (or restart your browser).

Cleaning the RECYCLE.BIN Directory on Windows

Posted on by Brody Rethy

The way Windows handles the recycle bin is by moving your “deleted” files to a secret directory called $RECYCLE.BIN on the root of whatever storage device you’re removing from. The problem starts when you move from one device to another after “deleting” something. Files accumulate, but you can’t see them normally, including sensitive ones. The only way you can is either by enabling View Protected Operating System Files in explorer.exe, or by using Everything which caches this directory.

The below command shows how to manually clear this directory:

rmdir /q /s C:\$RECYCLE.BIN

Change the drive letter to whatever mounted storage media you want to clear out.

Note: This command must be run as administrator.

Basic Penetration Testing Tips

Posted on by Brody Rethy

Disclaimer

As is with any Cybersecurity related information, it can be used to strengthen your systems, or potentially to harm them. Do not use this information to break any laws applicable in your country. If you misuse this information, I will not be held responsible.

Notes

Note: When I refer to Tor, I am referring to the command-line version/service. When I refer to Tor Browser, I am referring to the actual browser package by The Tor Project. These are two separate entities, but both use the Tor network. I recommend reading up on the specifics yourself.

  • Do not use the default password.
    • Some pen testing VMs have a non-random default password. This should always be changed. If you’re using Kali Linux, simply run passwd as your kali user, then change the password.
  • Disable the root account, opting for a standard user with sudoers/wheel access instead.
  • Encrypt your Virtual Machines.
  • Force commands/programs to run over tor.
    • Research torsocks, and check to see if your commands already support running over tor by default. Some do already, like sqlmap.
    • Note: torsocks doesn’t work on programs that use UDP. Only TCP.
  • Use a VPN.
    • Self explanatory. Use a VPN in conjunction with Tor to induce extra obfuscation hops. In addition, don’t use just any VPN. Use a good one like Mullvad. There are clear reasons for this.
  • Use a residential VPN.
    • Useful if you’re looking to subvert IP bans on things like Protonmail, or others. Most mainstream VPNs are blocked on Protonmail (and other popular websites), but by being in a residential IP range you’re able to get around that. Frankly, these are hard to come by, and I won’t be talking in depth how to get them. One tip would be to look into Virtual Private Servers that have residential IPs…
  • Use the Tor Browser.
    • Besides its uses for accessing secured .onion websites, the Tor Browser is useful for simply obfuscating your traffic to a website. Learn when and when not to incorporate it into your life.
  • Understand your target.
    • Understand your target beyond just a reconnaissance perspective. Think about it like this: Would you expect a target to find high traffic at 2:00 AM, or at 3:00 PM in an afternoon?
    • Think about peak network times, as well as timezones of people potentially accessing a system.
  • Learn to script your VPN.
    • This is used for the purpose of automatically switching every few hours or minutes. You can do this with Mullvad because it has a command line front end.