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Microsoft Programming Contest Hacked and Defaced
Posted by
kdawson
on Mon Oct 06, 2008 09:16 PM
from the star-developers dept.
from the star-developers dept.
davidmwilliams writes "Microsoft followed their major annual Tech-Ed event in Australia with a week-long programming contest called 'DevSta,' to find 'star developers.' While the quantity and quality of submissions suggest a poor turnout, it certainly caught the attention of at least two hackers who left their mark. Here is the low-down on the contest, what happened, by whom, and screen shots for posterity in case it's been fixed by the time you read this. And unless the volume of submissions increase dramatically within the next few hours, someone may be awarded an Xbox for doing nothing more than rewriting the Windows calculator as a .NET app."
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Microsoft catching the attention of hackers? (Score:5, Funny)
This isn't news. If it were, it'd carry a headline like "Microsoft Programming Contest Security Thwarts Hackers" and be about how Microsoft employed some effective security measures without subjecting all applicants to activity-monitoring rootkit DRM and attendees to cavity-searches.
Re:Microsoft catching the attention of hackers? (Score:5, Funny)
This isn't news. If it were, it'd carry a headline like "Microsoft Programming Contest Security Thwarts Hackers" and be about how Microsoft employed some effective security measures without subjecting all applicants to activity-monitoring rootkit DRM and attendees to cavity-searches.
Cavity search is news to me. Where do I sign up?
Parent
Re:Microsoft catching the attention of hackers? (Score:5, Funny)
where is the +1 disturbing moderation??
Parent
Re: Disturbing? Nah. (Score:5, Funny)
He clearly means Dentistry software. Manage the patient's records, search cavities...
Parent
Re:Microsoft catching the attention of hackers? (Score:5, Informative)
This isn't news.
Well, you're right about that at least. The whole thing is a joke. Here is the evidence (consider yourself saved from 3 pages of ads):
Exhibit A [photobucket.com]
Exhibit B [photobucket.com]
So somebody found (probably) a SQL injection vulnerability in an obscure Microsoft-hosted site and changed a few submission titles and comments? This is news? It's not like they defaced microsoft.com or anything else even slightly significant.
They couldn't even do something creative with the hole they found. Kids these days...
Parent
Re:Microsoft catching the attention of hackers? (Score:5, Insightful)
"All y'all penguins put your flippers on your heads, this abacus has the power of Windows Presentation Foundation!"
Parent
Re:Microsoft catching the attention of hackers? (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Meh, this hack is probably even worse, both for its general stupidity as an idea and its felonious misuse of metric prefixes:
http://desktop.google.com/plugins/i/metricclock_2853.html?hl=en [google.com]
FFS(aimed at author of linked app, not parent), if you are going to stick it to the man and boldly challenge the stodgy conventions of horology, at least do it the clock mod(10), not 1 through 10. Seriously, you could lose your geek card for that kind of thing.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Wow, that is a terrible Gadget.
Who the hell writes a metric clock without understanding the metric system?
This must be written by that 13 year old who painted "Anarchy Rules" on my garage door.
Swatch Internet Time (Score:3, Informative)
Who the hell writes a metric clock without understanding the metric system?
Swatch, for one [wikipedia.org]. And the Chinese before them [wikipedia.org].
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
There doesn't seem to be any abuse of the metric system there.
Look at the description of the Google Gadget. The author has no idea how metric prefixes work.
Re:Microsoft catching the attention of hackers? (Score:5, Funny)
Someone is trying to hack your contest (Cancel/Allow)?
I guess even Microsoft employees are just used to clicking 'Allow' now.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
subjecting all ... attendees to cavity-searches.
Wait. I can't figure it out. Why would dentists be at a Microsoft convention?
XBox for rewriting calc (Score:5, Funny)
Re:XBox for rewriting calc (Score:5, Funny)
I was going to say that :) .net calculator when you need one).
XBox is hardly enough to motivate me to load windows on any machine I own. Up next, US mint authorized silver certificate reproduction copies of the hundreds of pages of the bail out bill. This authentically signed reproduction can be yours for the small price of $850 Billion US Dollars, paid in three easy payments of (damn, where's a
Why don't they get a little more real... say MSDN subscription for life? Yeah, I suppose that is too much to give to a MS developer... sheesh
Parent
XBox for relaxation. (Score:2)
"Why don't they get a little more real... say MSDN subscription for life? Yeah, I suppose that is too much to give to a MS developer... sheesh"
Maybe because developers like to get away from WORK now and then.
Google: $10M in prizes, MS: an XBox (Score:5, Insightful)
Anyone wonder why only some pissed off script kiddies are playing?
Parent
Re:Google: $10M in prizes, MS: an XBox (Score:5, Interesting)
The Microsoft thing seems to be a week-long "speed hack" aimed at a small audience just for fun. Hardly the same thing. Oh, but this is
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Google doesn't have an IDE with a built in application creator wizard.
An Xbox sounds pretty cool if all I have to do is
Project -> New
Select "calculator" from list, next
Select radial button "scientific", next
Checkbox a few skins and an include contentless help-pages, next
Hit Create
Run it, accept the EULA
Hello Xbox.
Re:XBox for rewriting calc (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
...no, actually the punishment is sending them 2 copies of Vista.
Obligatory (Score:5, Funny)
They are. And don't call me Shirley.
Cheers,
Parent
Re:Obligatory (Score:5, Funny)
Looks like I picked the wrong week to ditch C#.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Oh, right. It's Oveur at System.Collections.Generic.List
Microsoft Programming Contest Hacked and Defaced (Score:5, Funny)
Hacked or just a blog post? (Score:2, Informative)
Or is that what passes off as hacking these days?
Was SELinux enabled? (Score:5, Funny)
rewriting the windows calculator? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:rewriting the windows calculator? (Score:5, Funny)
Easier too.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
You kill two birds with one stone, first it would show Microsoft with a sense of humor, second it would probably give the hacker who hates Microsoft something to do other than hack Microsoft websites - like play Xbox.
Hardly hacked (Score:4, Insightful)
To me it would appear that someone submitted entries with an bogus title and accompanying description. Hacked? Hardly. What surprises me is that no one submitted Viagra programs with accompanying links in the description.
These aren't the droids you're looking for. Move along.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Existing entries were overwritten with the bogus data. That sounds like it was hacked to me.
Re:Hardly hacked (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Lame (Score:4, Insightful)
If you want a prize, why not come up with a hack that releases OEMs from their contractual obligation to pre-load Windows? Or maybe a hack that dis-allows Microsoft from counting the sale of a Dell server with Linux installed as a sale of a Windows license. How about a hack that gives the ISO people a spine and some cojones?
Now, those would be worth a prize.
Re: (Score:2)
Now, those would not be hacks. Feats worthy of praise they would be, but they would not be hacks.
Let's See... (Score:3, Funny)
Microsoft programmers....stars? Too funny... (Score:5, Informative)
I speak from about 15 years experience at multiple companies and not bias that the more "Microsofty" the programmer is, the worse they are.
The current project I am on is full of the Microsoft way of doing things. And get this:
We have a Linux server and Windows client, and they designed a Windows Registry as an interface to the database on Linux. They are having piss-poor performance due to many design issues related to this thing. I should probably post it to Daily WTF. I mean WTF indeed.
Who wants to be a Microsoft Star!! Wooohoo!
Re:Microsoft programmers....stars? Too funny... (Score:4, Informative)
Please do! As a young programmer starting out, I keep an eye on Daily WTF for what NOT to do. Well, most of the time anyways.
The fact they use the registry as the interface makes my eye twitch.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I speak from about 15 years experience at multiple companies and not bias that the more "Microsofty" the programmer is, the worse they are.
Works the same for users, too.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
What I don't get is, as intelligent people (which is relative), don't some of you feel the least bit ashamed at the quality of the anti-MS stories here? There is plenty of legit bashing to do. But
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm sure you have other reasons to dislike it - but that sounds like a design mistake that has little to do with the 'registry-like' interface.
I've seen the same 'feature' (commit on-change) on a lot of other naive user interfaces for remote database storage - web forms, spreadsheets, desktop clients... Typically the product of good intentions, and very optimistic assumptions about the usage.
There's nothing magical about a 'registry-like' tree that makes explicit batch updates impossible - or on other inter
HACKED BY BENJYMOUSE (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:HACKED BY BENJYMOUSE (Score:4, Funny)
A hacker known by the name BENJYMOUSE has today been arrested for defacing a popular news site. The 2 SWAT teams were deemed necessary as hackers are known to be armed and dangerouse and usualy in company of muslim terrorists. Only 2400 rounds were fired and a mere 25 bystanders were killed. Rumors that the terrorist-hacker was playing a loud videogame instead of firing his as yet undiscovered arsenal of weapons show that these terrorists are not just evil, but also lazy.
The hacker will be put on trail for possesion of illegal invisible weapons of mass destruction.
Parent
just submitted to the slashdot story queue (Score:4, Funny)
commodoresloat writes "Slashdot followed their major annual asteroid-collision article with an article called 'Microsoft Programming Contest Hacked and Defaced.' While the quantity and quality of posts suggest a poor turnout, it certainly caught the attention of a hacker named 'BENJYMOUSE' who left his mark. Here is the low-down on the slashdot post, what happened, by whom, and screen shots for posterity in case it's been fixed by the time you read this. And unless the quality of posts increase dramatically within the next few hours, someone may be awarded mod points for doing nothing more than rewriting the *BSD troll as an anti-M$ post."
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
"F-" ...I'm concerned, please see me after class!
Just kidding... But actually, its slightly more impressive than you noticed. They modified existing submissions thereby appearing as the top submission. While not groundbreaking, its more than simply posting garbled messages to a public board.
DevSta? Seriously? (Score:3, Insightful)
This is what we need in the programming world, more developers with an ego complex. "Star developers", way to go, when a part of skill lies deeply in being able to communicate and organize oneself in a community or company.
"Star developers" sounds like these people need three flatscreen monitors, a massage chair and a personal makeup assistant to be happy.
The reason why no serious programmers will turn up at this event is the same reason, why I'm not at this event: I am busy doing serious, real life code. I have no time for marketing shams.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Star development really should become an engineering job and I don't thi
Re:How about this one... (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Re:Let me be the first to say (Score:5, Funny)
In other news, Alanis Morissette is found posting on Slashdot under the name 'db32'.
Parent
Re:mhm (Score:4)
The screenshots look like these "hackers" defaced the site by ...
*drum roll* ... posting to a forum!!!
OMG /. HACKED BY NARCBERRYHACKED BY NARCBERRYHACKED BY NARCBERRYHACKED BY NARCBERRY
Parent