1247: The Mother of All Suspicious Files

2013-10-11T18:13:56Z

96.231.58.51: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1247
| date = August 5, 2013
| title = The Mother of All Suspicious Files
| image = the_mother_of_all_suspicious_files.png
| titletext = Better change the URL to 'https' before downloading.
}}

==Explanation==
The save dialogue shows a download from [http://www.utrace.de/?query=65.222.202.53 65.222.202.53], an IP address that hosted JavaScript malware during a recent attack on the Tor anonymity network, with a very long file title. Many of the extensions used inside there indicate executable code; multiple file extensions are sometimes used to disguise a trojan program as a document.

You also see common download syntax for a pirated movie, {{w|Hackers (film)|Hackers}}, likely included to appear malicious to anyone skimming but is actually a movie about hackers, making it a benign reference rather than malicious. It is described as "_BLURAY_CAM", which contradicts itself ("_BLURAY" would mean it was ripped from a copy on Blu-Ray Disc, while "_CAM" would mean it was copied by pointing a camera at the screen in the cinema). "_BLURAY_CAM" would probably indicate a search-keyword-stuffed fake copy; fake pirated media often contain viruses (although this is more likely to be a problem with newer media, before the first real pirated copy appears).

The {{w|URL}} contains the path "~tilde/pub/cia-bin/etc". The first part is a public folder of a user named tilde (which is also the name for the ~ symbol), "cgi-bin" is a common folder on a Web-Server for server side executables ([[Randall]] jokes with the name), and "etc" is a standard folder for configuration files – normally never accessible through a webserver. The program "init.dll" isn't executable at all, it's a {{w|Windows Dynamic Link Library}} which can't be run standalone, and is rarely referenced in URLs (even though such syntax is still being employed, even on [https://www.google.com/search?q=site:edu+filetype:dll reputable websites (Google search)] or here at [https://signin.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll eBay], indicating the webserver is a Microsoft {{w|Active Server Pages|ASP}} server). The question mark indicates the start of a parameter list, and in this case we have only one named "FILE".

The "Save" button is disabled; you can only click the "Cancel" button. This can be different when the server detects that you are using a secure (https) connection.

The complete content sent to the server, starting with "/~TILDE..." and ending with "...OUT.EXE", is exactly 256 characters long. On {{w|HTML 3}} specifications you have a limitation of 1024 characters, whereas later HTML specifications don't have this limit; it just depends on the web server's capabilities. But posting parameters directly at the URL is still a worse choice.

The content of the parameter is shown here:
* __ (underscore underscore) - used in the C programming language to denote that a symbol is really not for public consumption
* {{w|AUTOEXEC.BAT}} - a file which is automatically run during startup on Windows/DOS operating systems, and was often modified by viruses, which added malicious code to be run on each boot.
* MY%20OSX%20DOCUMENTS - referencing the {{w|OSX}} operating system ({{w|URL_encoding#Character_data|%20}} is a representation of a space in a URL, i.e. it reads as "MY OSX DOCUMENTS").
* INSTALL.EXE - a typical {{w|Installer#Installer|installer}}
* {{w|RAR}} - a compressed archive file type
* {{w|INI_file|INI}} - a configuration file type
* {{w|Tar_(computing)|TAR}} - a file archive popular in UNIX and UNIX-like operating systems. TAR has been mentioned [[1168:_tar|before]].
* DOÇX - {{w|docx}} is an Office Open XML file, i.e. a word processing format used by Microsoft Word 2007 and above, but has no cedilla (¸). The addition of a cedilla may be a reference to exploits that rely on rare characters being mistaken for more common ones that look similar, such as the {{w|IDN homograph attack}}.
* PHPHPHP - a play on {{w|PHP}} files, a kind of server-based web page file type. PHP originally stood for "Personal Home Page" but was later redefined as the recursive abbreviation "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor".
* {{w|XHTML}} - another web page file type
* {{w|TransducerML|TML}} - stands for Transducer Markup Language, an XML based markup language that specifies how to capture, time-tag and describe sensor data
* XTL - another play on {{w|XHTML}}?
* TXXT - a play on {{w|Text_file|TXT}} file types
* 0DAY - a reference to a {{w|zero-day exploit}}
* HACK.ERS_(1995)_BLURAY_CAM-XVID - a reference to the 1995 Hackers movie, but pirated movies would either be a BlurayRIP/DVDRIP or CAM, but not both at the same time unless you used a camera to record the Blu-ray movie as it played.
* {{w|EXE}} - an executable file type used by Microsoft Windows
* [SCR] - a tag used by movie pirates to denote a '{{w|Screener}}', the DVD copy of films given to critics prior to theater release. Usually the highest quality available at this time, rare, and therefor good bait for a virus laden download. "{{w|.scr}}" is also the extension for screen saver files, really just an exe file with a different extension and one of the classical ways to distribute infected files
* {{w|Lisp (programming language)|LISP}} - programming language
* {{w|Windows_Installer|MSI}} - an installation file used by Microsoft Installer
* {{w|.lnk|LNK}} - an extension used by Microsoft Windows for shortcuts. The extension is normally hidden to the user.
* LNK, ZDA, GNN - references to {{w|Link_(The_Legend_of_Zelda)|Link}}, {{w|Princess_Zelda|Zelda}}, and {{w|Ganon|Ganon}}, important characters from {{w|The_Legend_of_Zelda|The Legend of Zelda}} video game franchise
* {{w|White_Rabbit#Television_and_films|WRBT OBJ}} - A reference to the line of code Dennis Nedry used in {{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}} to shut down key systems
* {{w|Object_file|O}} - The extension for a linker file, an intermediary created when compiling C code.
* {{w|Header_file|H}} - The file extension of a header file in C code.
* {{w|SWF}} - Shockwave Flash file type
* {{w|Dpkg|DPKG}} - The Debian package management, although the package files use the file suffix ".deb"
* APP - an application on Mac OS X operating system
* {{w|ZIP_%28file_format%29|ZIP}} - compressed archive file type
* CO - looks like a {{w|List_of_Internet_top-level_domains|top-level domain}}. Many countries use .co.''tld'' in front of their main TLD, e.g. ''.co.uk''. ''.co.gz'' doesn't exist.
* {{w|Gzip|GZ}} - a compressed file using GNU zip
* {{w|A.out|A.OUT}} - Default filename when creating an executable on Linux or other UNIX-like operating systems if none was specified for the compiler.

The title text suggests changing from http to https, as if encrypting a suspicious file before downloading it is somehow better than downloading it unencrypted. http (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) and https (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol - Secure) are the two common protocols for getting web pages and web downloads. http is the simple download, whereas https adds an SSL encryption layer so the item being downloaded cannot be viewed unencrypted by anyone except the end recipient. Changing "http" to "https" is a common suggestion to improve security when browsing the web from an insecure network (such as a public wifi hotspot) to avoid surveillance or hijacking to a malicious website; Google automatically switches to https for all mail accounts and is starting to do so with searches. The end recipient will still get whatever nasties were in the original, however - encrypting it doesn't change the content at all.

The IP address referenced in the comic, 65.222.202.53, is currently being used by the shellcode of a JavaScript 0-day exploit for the Tor Browser Bundle being run by the FBI to phone home over the clearnet [http://thehackernews.com/2013/08/Firefox-Exploit-Tor-Network-child-pornography-Freedom-Hosting.html] and de-anonymize visitors to websites on Freedom Hosting that are serving child pornography. [http://www.reddit.com/r/onions/comments/1jmrta/founder_of_the_freedom_hosting_arrested_held/]

The title of this comic, "The Mother of All Suspicious Files", is a reference to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfIgzSoTMOs The Mother of All Demos] from {{w|Douglas Engelbart}}.

==Transcript==
:[Browser download warning box containing the following text]
:Warning!
:This type of file can harm your computer! Are you sure you want to download: <nowiki>http://65.222.202.53/~TILDE/PUB/CIA-BIN/ETC/INIT.DLL?FILE=__AUTOEXEC.BAT.MY%20OSX%20DOCUMENTS-INSTALL.EXE.RAR.INI.TAR.DOÇX.PHPHPHP.XHTML.TML.XTL.TXXT.0DAY.HACK.ERS_(1995)_BLURAY_CAM-XVID.EXE.TAR.[SCR].LISP.MSI.LNK.ZDA.GNN.WRBT.OBJ.O.H.SWF.DPKG.APP.ZIP.TAR.TAR.CO.GZ.A.OUT.EXE</nowiki>
:[Cancel and Save buttons]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Computers]]

Talk:1272: Shadowfacts

2013-10-11T18:01:09Z

96.231.58.51:

Reminds me of the Cat Facts meme. --[[User:Rael|Rael]] ([[User talk:Rael|talk]]) 05:11, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Wow, a talking horse! That puts poor old Bill The Pony in the shade... [[Special:Contributions/178.98.253.80|178.98.253.80]] 08:32, 2 October 2013 (UTC)
: Ok, I'm done with the internet for today. I don't think anything else is going to match this pun. [[Special:Contributions/74.200.7.145|74.200.7.145]] 14:38, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Is this the same horse from Correct Horse Battery Staple? [[Special:Contributions/128.49.161.70|128.49.161.70]]
: That battery staple casts a shadow. --[[User:Rael|Rael]] ([[User talk:Rael|talk]]) 16:41, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Hang on, hobbits? I know they look short, but when is this supposed to happen? Wouldn't Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas be more likely choices, given the chronology? {{unsigned ip|98.216.97.56}}

Is that a LEGO Gandalf? [[User:Porkypine|Porkypine]] ([[User talk:Porkypine|talk]]) 17:49, 3 October 2013 (UTC)
: Shoulda had a LEGO Legolas in there too[[User:Diszy|Diszy]] ([[User talk:Diszy|talk]]) 14:22, 5 October 2013 (UTC)

Nitpicking: changed "trilogy" to "novel". Trilogy is a set of three novels with a common theme or characters and each novel from the set can be read separately without knowing the other ones. ''The Lord of the Rings'' is a single novel (divided into six books, by the way) that just happened to be published in three volumes originally. The tradition is often maintained, but often not. You can hardly understand what's going on in ''The Two Towers'' (the second volume) without reading ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' first.{{unsigned ip|89.174.214.74}}
:: If we're being picky, Tolkien said LOTR was "not a novel, but an heroic romance, a much older and quite different variety of literature". [[http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Letter_329 Letter 329]] [[Special:Contributions/96.231.58.51|96.231.58.51]] 18:01, 11 October 2013 (UTC)

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1247: The Mother of All Suspicious Files

Talk:1272: Shadowfacts