Hacker Evolution FAQ

Hacker Evolution FAQ

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*								 *
*			Hacker Evolution			 *
*	  	  Walkthrough created by Baliame	 *
*			aka. iammeplop			 *
*			    v1.1				 *
*								 *
*************************************************
Changelog
--------

1.0: The guide is born!
1.1: Fixed some mistypes and added New York Exchange.

Overview
--------
1. Introduction 	[1INT]
2. The Game		[2GAM]
- Your Role		[2YOU]
- Interface		[2GUI]
- Commands		[2COM]
- Useful Tips		[2TIP]
3. Walkthrough		[3LEV]
- Tutorial Level	[3LV1]
- New York Exchange	[3LV2]

4. The End		[4END]


Introduction [1INT]
--------
I'm Baliame, programmer and well, gaming fan. Age: classified.
At the time of the writing of this text I reside in Hungary.
This is the second walkthrough I write and I hope it helps someone at least.
That is all you need to or need not to know, let's begin with...

The Game [2GAM]
--------
Everything about the game of course! Firstly,

< Your Role [2YOU] >
The evolution of technology eventually brought up the incident of machines
dominating. The Xenti corporation researches such a way of surfing the internet,
that the packets arrive to you before they were sent, which in fact means time
travelling. It happened in 2010. During this time, another technology was
researched, namely an AI that evolves and learns and controls the use of this
new packet transfer. The AI evolved so much that nobody is able to control
it. It doesn't want to kill, but it's goals are those of a living being, to
evolve, learn and survive.

The date is 20th of December, 2015. A series of catastrophic events happen in
four minutes, for example the collapse of the infrastructural market because
of a hacking attempt on New York Exchange and the shutdown of the Xenti Control
Satellite.

That's where you come into the picture. The FSA asks you, Brian Spencer, the
former intelligence agent, to gather information on what happened by hacking
the servers which were involved in the hacking series. As you gather more and
more pieces of the puzzle, it all becomes obvious.


< Interface [2GUI] >
The UI consists of 4 main parts. In the top left, you can see a world map with
server locations. Certain commands will add more servers to this map (refer to
2COM). When you move your mouse over a server, it will print out the
information about it - including the number of open ports, hostname, and
encryption size. Clicking on a server will add/remove it to your BOUNCER ROUTE.
It is only possible to add a bouncer after you've decrypted the server and
cracked all ports. The more bouncers you have in your route, the longer it
takes to trace you while hacking.

The top right part is what I like to call the "leethax0r" part. It contains the
most useful information for you while hacking while it also contains useless
stuff.
> First of all, the score. No comment.
> Then, it's your "trace" percent. If this reaches 100%, you have been
backtraced successfully and will lose the game. You gain an additional small
trace percent after a successful or failed hacking attempt.
> Dynamic difficulty factor, the name says it all.
> Money is another important thing. You can remove trace rating by spending
money, or upgrade your hardware. I'd say you should always keep 1500-2000$ for
safety reasons as your track rating persists through levels.
> The amount of hacks and traces are a question of e-peen.
> The bounced route shows how many bouncer servers you have in your bounced
route. Tracing time is calculated by the formula: (bouncedroutes+1*10) seconds.
> While hacking, another data appears: Trace E.T.A. or Trace Estimated Time of
Arrival. When this expires, you gain 50% extra trace rating, so be careful.
> Below, you can see your Hardware. By default, you have 2 disk space, 2 CPU
speed, 1 connection speed and 1 firewall slots. You start with 1 GB disk space,
1 GHz CPU speed, 1 MBPS modem and no firewall. Disk space is needed for storing
files. CPU Speed is required for carrying out hacking actions (cracking,
decrypting, etc.). 1 GHz speed means you have 1x speed. 3 GHz means you have 3x
speed. Connection speed is required for transfer actions (downloading,
uploading, moneytransfer). 1 mbps speed means you have 1x speed. Firewalls make
it longer to be traced and it protects you against nasty stuff, of course.
> Below this is your progress bar. Shows your progress with the current action.

The bottom left part is the console, refer to 2COM for more information.

The bottom right part is the messages. They usually contain orders or
information.

If you're unsure what to do, use F1 for help, F2 for mission objectives, and F3
to review the level overview.

< Commands [2COM] >
Yes, I'm going to list the commands and their meanings. You can also see this
by typing HELP into the console while playing, in a shorter form.

NOTE: I will use the word "speedfactor".
Formula: speedfactor = CPUSpeed * (bouncers + 1)
NOTE: And "connfaction" which is the short of "connection factor".
Formula: connfactor = ModemSpeed * (bouncers + 1)
NOTE: "firewallfactor" is the bonus time gained from firewalls.

> HELP shows you the command list. Syntax: HELP
> BOUNCEHELP shows you help about the bounce route system. Syntax: BOUNCEHELP
> LS or DIR, like the DOS command, lists the contents of the current directory.
There are usually only the directories "." and ".." present, and maybe a
mission objective or exploit on a server. Syntax: LS
> CAT shows the contents of a file in the console. For example, if this
walkthrough ingame was called "baliamesuberguide.txt" then typing CAT would
print all of this document's contents into the console. Syntax: CAT filename
> DELETE deletes the target file. (DUH!) Syntax: DELETE filename
> SCAN lets you scan a host. It contains important informations about the open
ports and the encryption size. It also tells you how many times can you use the
target server as a bouncer. If the scanned host isn't on the map, it will
appear. Syntax: SCAN server
> CONNECT allows you to connect to a server if possible. Do not confuse this
with the command LOGIN, as I really did struggle with it until I realized "bah,
I shouldn't have hacked it". Connecting port defaults to 80, some servers
require you to use other ports though. Syntax: CONNECT server port
> CLEAR clears the console window. Syntax: CLEAR
> LOGOUT disconnects you from the currently connected server. You cannot logout
from localhost. Syntax: LOGOUT
> EXEC is an exotic command that executes an exploit on the target server. Each
exploit has it's target program and only can be used if the server is running
it. Port is automatically chosen. Syntax: EXEC filename server
> DOWNLOAD downloads a file from the target server to localhost.
Syntax: DOWNLOAD filename
> UPLOAD uploads a file to the server from the localhost.
Syntax: UPLOAD filename
> CRACK is a brute-forcing command which guesses the password
character-by-character. Using the SCAN command you can see that on a server,
the password on each port consists of how many characters. Do not attempt to
crack long passwords without bouncers, as you will instantly lose after the
hacking. My estimation is that you can safely crack a password of the length of
this formula: (firewallfactor * speedfactor * 4) without getting a 50% penalty.
Syntax: CRACK
server port
> DECRYPT is the command that removes the encryption of the server. Server
encryptions are the powers of 2 starting from 128. My formula is that you can
safely decrypt a server of (firewallfactor * speedfactor * 128) bits encryption,
which means with a CPU speed of 2 GHz and 1 bouncer you can decrypt a server
encrypted with 1 * 2 * 2 * 128 = 4 * 128 = 512 bits encryption server without
the 50% penalty. I'm not quite sure in this one, but worked for me for now.
Syntax: DECRYPT server
> TRANSFER is used to steal money from the connected server. You can safely
transfer (firewallfactor * connfactor * 1000)$ without getting caught.
Syntax: TRANSFER amount
> ABORT is the command to use when you make a huge mistake - for example,
wanting to crack a server port with 16 characters password without a bouncer
and with 1xCPU speed. It would cost you alot indeed, but what can you do, you
already started it... Oh yeah, just type abort and it will instantly
discontinue. If you abort a money transfer, no money will be transferred to
your account. You can abort: CRACK, DECRYPT, TRANSFER, DOWNLOAD, UPLOAD.
Syntax: ABORT
> LOGIN is the alternative to CONNECT. It is used when you know the password to
the server. Syntax: LOGIN server password
> KILLTRACE is one of your most important commands. By spending $500, you
reduce your trace rating by 10%. Syntax: KILLTRACE
> CONFIG shows you extended hardware data. Syntax: CONFIG
> UPGRADE is another very important command. By typing "UPGRADE" you will get a
list of hardware you can buy. Syntax: UPGRADE or UPGRADE code
> BOUNCEINFO shows you all information about your current bouncing route.

< Useful Tips [2TIP] >
> Always have 1500-2000$ with you. You may never know when you need to use it
to get rid of that nasty extra trace rating.
> Use your bouncers wisely. You can only use a server to bounce 3 times. Do not
use bouncers for tasks you could do without bouncers. Some tasks might require
multiple bouncers.
> Upgrade your computer frequently. A bad piece of hardware will hardly hack
anything.


Now that we examined every piece of UI, let's move on to the real deal. Welcome
to the

3. Walkthrough [3LEV]
--------
< Level 1: Tutorial [3LV1] >
You CAN follow the steps of the tutorial, but there is a way to do it
relatively better regarding the track percent.
First, SCAN "atm.hacker-evolution.com". DECRYPT it and leave it alone for now.
Route it up for bounce and CRACK "core.hacker-evolution.com". Now, remove
"atm.hacker-evolution.com" from the bounce list and CONNECT to it. TRANSFER
1000$ and DOWNLOAD "connect.config". LOGOUT, and CONNECT to
"core.hacker-evolution.com". DOWNLOAD the "heftpd.exploit" file. LOGOUT and
EXECute the exploit on "hacker-evolution.com". Bounceroute every available
server and CRACK "ssl.hacker-evolution.com". Unbounce every server. Now,
connect to core.hacker-evolution.com and DOWNLOAD the file "passwd". Bounce to
"core.hacker-evolution.com", "ssl.hacker-evolution.com" and
"hacker-evolution.com" and CONNECT to "atm.hacker-evolution.com". TRANSFER
4500$. TRANSFER 1000$. LOGOUT. LOGIN to "user.hacker-evolution.com" with the
password "pass945". Quickly do KILLTRACE until you reach 0% trace rating in the
15 seconds which is remaining from the level. Make sure you have 4000$
remaining at the end of the level.

< Level 2: New York Exchange Crash [3LV2] >
Woot! A real assignment! You're mostly on your own here, no tutorial to help
you do the level step-by-step. Oh wait, there is a walkthrough here which will!
Before starting, you will need some new hardware. If you did everything right,
you should have 4000$ with you. UPGRADE CPU0 and UPGRADE FWL1. While it takes
away all your saved up money, you will have a computer that can bear some
heavily defended server. Now, let's start the level.
First, you will need to identify the attacker, by downloading the log file from
the Exchange server. To do this, first CONNECT to the port 80 of the server
"ny-exchange.com". As you can see it in the message of the day, someone
designed this page. SCAN "xenti-design.com". Xenti-design.com has nothing to
do with your assignment, but you do only get the bonus score in the end if
you find all the servers on the map. Do an LS command in the server you are
in to find a file called "index.new". CAT it, and voilá, it seems someone
defaced this server before. Scan this "dot-hackers.net". Now LOGOUT. CRACK the
port 80 of dot-hackers.net and DECRYPT it. CONNECT and LS. Oooooooh! What is
this? It's a juicy exploit script. Download it. LOGOUT and EXECute it on the
ny-exchange.com server. CONNECT to ny-exchange.com on port 99 and DOWNLOAD the
"connection.log". It will slowly download. What a nightmare, you really need
a better modem! When it's done, LOGOUT and CONNECT to "files.fsa.gov" 81.
UPLOAD "connection.log". Wee. When it's done, do a CAT "connection.log".
It appears terminal-83.xenti.com was used to hack the exchange. SCAN it, as you
could've guessed it. Your computer is currently capable of CRACKing it's long
password and DECRYPTing it without bouncers. Try it. Before CONNECTing to it,
delete the "connection.log" from your localhost to free up some space. Now, you
may CONNECT. Download "users.log". LOGOUT. CAT the "users.log" file. The server
was attacked at [11:59:45]. Who was online then? Guess. SCAN,CRACK and DECRYPT
"xenti.com". Bounce up 2 servers and CONNECT to "dot-hackers.net". TRANSFER
their savings: 4500$. LOGOUT and CONNECT to "xenti.com". DOWNLOAD the file
"tjohn.profile". LOGOUT and CONNECT to "files.fsa.gov" on port 81 and UPLOAD
the profile you just downloaded. Quickly burn all your trace with KILLTRACE in
the remaining 15 seconds and the map is completed. You should end up with a
small amount of 500$ by the end of the map and 0% trace.

4. The End [4END]
--------
Thank you for reading the guide. If you have an alternative walkthrough, idea,
complaint, or anything you want added to or removed from this guide, please
e-mail me at DXMIAMME [SNAKE] GMAIL [POINT] COM.