The sys admin's daily grind – Metasploitable

Gone to the Dogs

Article from Issue 172/2015
Author(s):

If you mess around with a pen-testing tool on your own network, you might survive the consequences, but chances are you'll take the prize for outstanding recklessness. Charly has some advice: Use Metasploitable, perhaps the most broken Linux ever.

You've probably heard of the Darwin Awards [1]. This hilarious prize goes to people who improve the quality of the human gene pool by removing their own genes in an outstandingly stupid way. Because of this, almost all Darwin Awards are awarded posthumously – the few exceptions are unappetizing and don't make good family reading material [2].

My favorite award went to two gentlemen who took their off-road vehicle onto a frozen lake to indulge in a spot of dynamite fishing. One of the men set fire to an explosive charge and threw it far away. The men were a bit shocked when their dog cleverly retrieved the dangerous stick.

Given this emergency, they pulled out guns to stop the dog, which promptly hid under the SUV for safety. Needless to say, the dynamite detonated, the car sank, and the blast blew away the clever owners. They lost consciousness and were later found frozen to death. Pity about the dog – respect for the forensic scientist who reconstructed the sequence.

[...]

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