DONE BY GPT o3 WITH DEEPSEARCH

Context: The journey begins by jacking into a remote server under the neon glow of your terminal. In cyber-ops, being able to securely connect to a distant system is fundamental. The OverTheWire Bandit wargame, designed for absolute beginners, is our playground. Today you’ll use SSH (Secure Shell) to enter Bandit Level 0, hosted on a remote Linux machine. SSH is a secure protocol for remote login – a critical skill for any hacker or sysadmin. Mastering SSH means you can roam through remote systems as if they were next to you, which is exactly what we need to start cracking Bandit’s challenges. Let’s dive in.

Step-by-Step: (Launch iTerm2 on macOS and follow along – each step is a command to run in the terminal.)

1. ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Connect to the Bandit game server as user bandit0 on port 2220 (the custom SSH port). You’ll be prompted for a password: enter bandit0 (the starting password). This drops you into the remote shell of bandit0, your starting point.
2. ls – List files in the current directory. You should see a file named readme. Bandit Level 0’s goal is to read this file for the password to Level 1.
3. cat readme – Concatenate (display) the contents of readme. This reveals the password for bandit1 (Level 1). Jot this down or copy it somewhere safe – you’ll need it to log in as bandit1 next.
4. exit – Close the SSH connection to bandit0. The remote prompt disappears, returning you to your local machine’s shell. You’ve successfully completed Level 0 by retrieving the Bandit1 password!

AI Booster: Stuck or curious? You can use GPT-4 as your personal tutor. For example, ask ChatGPT: “What does the -p 2220 option do in the ssh command?” GPT will explain that -p specifies the port (here, 2220) for the SSH connection. Tools like GitHub Copilot can even explain command usage in-line. When in doubt, have the AI break down the command syntax or clarify error messages. The goal is to understand each piece: you control the terminal, AI just assists.

Stretch-Challenge 🔥: After logging in, explore the neon-lit system a bit more. For instance, run uname -a to see the OS/kernel info or whoami to confirm your user. Can you find the current working directory with pwd? These aren’t required Bandit steps, but real operators often run such commands to gather intel on a new box. (Advanced: If you’re feeling bold, configure an SSH key pair on your Mac and try using key-based auth to log in – a forward-looking exercise in secure access.)

Checkpoint: You’ve proven your access by obtaining Bandit1’s password from the readme file. Confirm success by reconnecting as bandit1 using that password – if you can log in and see bandit1’s prompt, you’re all set. Take a screenshot of your terminal showing the successful SSH login and the readme file content as your Day 1 artefact. This is your first flag captured!

Outcome Checklist: By the end of Week 3, you will have:

• Completed OverTheWire Bandit levels 0–6, gaining hands-on Linux command-line experience.
• Created 7 proof-of-skill artefacts (screenshots, Gists, or notes), one for each day, documenting your progress.
• Built a foundation in core Linux security commands (ssh, ls, cat, find, grep, strings, file, etc.) and learned to use them in practice.
• Integrated AI tools (GPT-4 and Copilot) into your workflow to accelerate learning – from explaining commands to automating tasks.

Next-Level Teaser: Tomorrow, the real fun begins. You’ll encounter files that “ghost” you – ones with names so tricky, the shell misinterprets them. Get ready for a neon-soaked lesson in outsmarting the shell’s quirks as we continue our Bandit run. The gateway is open; time to step through.

Further Reading:

• OverTheWire Bandit – Official Intro – Why Bandit is great for beginners (learn basics by playing).
• SSH Basics (MayADev Blog) – A short primer on SSH and its purpose in remote login.

Context: After gaining entry, we now face ghosts in the shell – files that are there but hard to grab. Adversaries and CTF creators often hide information in plain sight using filenames that confuse naive commands. Today’s mission covers Bandit Levels 1–3, teaching you how to handle filenames beginning with hyphens, containing spaces, or hidden as dotfiles. These are common “gotchas” in Linux. Why does this matter? Imagine a malicious script named -rf – running rm * could interpret it as an option and wreak havoc. Or consider log files with spaces in their names – you must quote or escape them to access the content. Mastering these quirks makes you a shell ninja who isn’t fooled by simple tricks.

Step-by-Step: (You should have Bandit1’s password from Day 1. Each step might involve logging into a new level.)

1. ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Connect to Bandit as bandit1, using the password you found yesterday. Now you’re in Bandit Level 1. Run ls -la if you like, to reveal all files including hidden ones. You’ll notice a file named (just a single hyphen) in the home directory. This is an oddly named file that normal cat might misinterpret as an option.
2. cat ./- – Use ./ to explicitly reference the file named “-” in the current directory. This command reads the content of the file , yielding the password for bandit2. The ./ prefix tells the shell “this is a filename in the current folder,” preventing it from treating as stdin. ✅ You have the Bandit2 password!
3. exit and then ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Log out of bandit1 and into bandit2 (use the password from the previous step). In Bandit Level 2, do ls and you’ll see a file with spaces in its name (likely spaces in this filename). Filenames with spaces need special handling.
4. cat "spaces in this filename" – Surround the name with quotes to read the file with spaces. Alternatively, you could escape spaces with backslashes (e.g. spaces\\ in\\ this\\ filename). This prints the contents: the password for bandit3. 🗝️ Got the Bandit3 password!
5. exit and ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Time for Level 3. After logging in as bandit3, run ls and notice a directory called inhere. The Level 3 goal hints that the password is hidden in this directory. Use ls -la inhere/ to list everything inside, including hidden files. You should spot a file named something like .hidden.
6. cat inhere/.hidden – Read the hidden file. (In Linux, files beginning with . are hidden from normal ls output.) The file’s content is the password for bandit4. Another one down! Make sure to save this password for tomorrow.

AI Booster: Bash giving you attitude with weird filenames? Ask GPT-4 for backup. For example: “How do I open a file named '-' on Linux?” and you’ll get advice like using ./- or -- to stop option parsing. If quoting filenames with spaces slips your mind, prompt GPT: “How to cat a file with spaces in its name?” It will remind you to quote or escape the spaces. You can also leverage GitHub Copilot: start typing a comment in VS Code, e.g., *# Open file named "-" and file with spaces*, and watch Copilot suggest the correct commands. It’s like having a ghost-hunter AI in your shell, ensuring no filename spook can stop you.

Stretch-Challenge 🔥: Recreate these scenarios on your Mac to cement the skill. For instance, make a file literally named - in your local directory (touch ./-) and try removing it with rm (you’ll need rm -- - to avoid treating it as an option). Or create a file with spaces (echo "test" > "my file.txt") and practice reading it with cat. For an extra puzzle, try a one-liner to list all files in the Bandit2 home directory that contain spaces or start with a dash (hint: the find command can filter by name patterns). By reproducing the ghost-file issues, you exorcise them from your future workflow.

Checkpoint: You should now possess the passwords for bandit2, bandit3, and bandit4. Verify success by logging in as bandit4 with the last password – if you get in and can ls bandit4’s directory, you’ve nailed it. Your Day 2 artefact can be a screenshot of your terminal showing one of the tricky file contents (e.g., the output of cat "spaces in this filename" or cat inhere/.hidden) as proof that you conquered the ghost files.

Outcome Checklist: By the end of Week 3, you will have:

• Solved Bandit levels 0–6, encountering real-world file handling hurdles (weird filenames, hidden files) and overcome them.
• A collection of 7 daily artefacts (screenshots/gists) demonstrating your solutions and command outputs.
• Confidence with core shell skills: remote SSH login, listing directories (including hidden files), and reading file contents even when filenames fight back.
• Practical experience integrating AI helpers to explain shell quirks and speed up problem-solving.

Next-Level Teaser: In the next session, you’ll train your searchlight on a bunch of mysterious files. Only one will contain the key, and you’ll learn how to identify it amid decoys. This is a forensic skill – like finding a needle in a stack of binary hay. Plus, we’ll venture further into the inhere directory’s secrets. The shell games continue, but you’re leveling up to beat them.

Further Reading:

• Handling “-” Filenames (StackOverflow) – Why ./- or - helps with hyphenated filenames.
• Spaces in Filenames (SuperUser) – Spaces are fine, just quote them – a minor inconvenience in CLI.

Context: Time to shine a light into the darkness of random files. In Bandit Level 4, you’re faced with a directory full of files – most are nonsense, one is the real deal. This mirrors a common scenario: you’ve dumped a trove of data and need to pick out the one human-readable file among binaries. Today, you’ll learn to quickly identify file types using the file command, a fundamental tool in any hacker’s kit. Why? Because file extensions lie – especially in security, where a .txt might be malware and an extensionless blob could hide text. The file utility inspects a file’s content to tell you its type, not just the name. This skill is crucial for malware analysis, CTF challenges, and basic sysadmin work (ever wondered if a file is ASCII text, JPEG, or a shell script? file will tell you). In short, you’ll learn to separate signal from noise with laser precision.

Step-by-Step: (Begin with the password for bandit4 from Day 2.)

1. ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Connect as bandit4. Welcome to Bandit Level 4. Running ls here shows a directory named inhere, which contains a bunch of files (likely file0X or similar names). The level goal: “The password for the next level is stored in the only human-readable file in the inhere directory.” So, we have multiple files – only one is ASCII text, the rest are binary garbage.

2. cd inhere/ – Change into the directory. Now, use the file command on all files:

   file ./*
   

   This runs file on each file in inhere. You’ll see output like:

   • file01: ASCII text
   • file02: data

   … etc. file analyzes each file’s contents and labels it (e.g., “ASCII text” means human-readable text). Identify which file is ASCII text (human-readable).

3. cat ./-file01 (replace file01 with the actual filename that file identified as ASCII). This prints the contents of the lone text file. Bingo – that’s the password for bandit5! 🎉 If you see a random string of letters/numbers, that’s the flag. (If the filename begins with a dash, remember to prefix with ./ as you did on Day 2.)

4. (Optional) exit and ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Log in as bandit5 using the password you just found, to ensure it’s correct. You’ve now cleared Level 4 and are ready for Level 5’s challenge next.

AI Booster: Handling 20 files manually is tedious – and in real ops, it could be thousands. Let AI lighten the load. For example, you could ask ChatGPT: “How can I quickly find which file in a directory is ASCII text?” It might suggest using a combination of find and file commands, or even piping to grep. GitHub Copilot can also assist: if you open a script file in VS Code and write a comment like “# Find all human-readable files in this folder”, Copilot might auto-generate a loop or a one-liner using file for you. These AI suggestions leverage the same logic you used manually. (Fun fact: The Bandit wargame itself encourages research and creative solutions – using AI is just turbocharged research.) And as a reminder: skills like using file to determine file type are considered basic and important – AI can speed up usage, but make sure you understand why the answer is “ASCII text” or not.

Stretch-Challenge 🔥: Level up your one-liner game. Try solving the Level 4 task in a single command:

find . -type f -exec file {} + | grep "ASCII text"

This finds all files, determines their type, and filters the output to show only the ASCII text file. It’s a mouthful, but an elite move to impress your (imaginary) cyberpunk crew. Alternatively, practice using strings: run strings * in inhere/ to dump printable text from each file. It will spew gibberish for binaries, but the real text file’s content (the password) will clearly stand out. Bonus: If you’re feeling creative, script it! Write a short Bash script that scans each file and tells you which one is human-readable – it’s great scripting practice, and Copilot might even write most of it for you.

Checkpoint: You should have the bandit5 password in hand. Double-check by logging in to bandit5 (if you haven’t already) and verifying that the login is successful. Your artefact for Day 3 could be a snippet of your command outputs (for example, a GitHub Gist showing the file * output and highlighting which file was ASCII). The key is that you’ve identified the correct file and obtained the bandit5 flag.

Outcome Checklist: By the end of Week 3, you will have:

• Discovered how to determine file types and extract hidden text, crucial for both CTFs and real-world forensics.
• A habit of documenting commands and outputs (in daily notes or Gists), reinforcing what each step accomplishes.
• Enhanced problem-solving speed by knowing which tool (e.g., file vs strings) to deploy for different file types.
• Begun integrating one-liner solutions and scripts for efficiency – a sign of growing proficiency.

Next-Level Teaser: Tomorrow’s challenge escalates. You’ll be dropped into a labyrinth of subdirectories, tasked with finding a file of a specific size and property. It’s like finding a single grain of sand on a cyber beach. But fear not – you now wield find like a lightsaber. Coming up, we’ll refine your find-fu to slice through the file maze (with a dash of AI guidance when the shell floods you with errors). Keep that searchlight ready.

Further Reading:

• file Command Usage – Explanation of the file utility analyzing content instead of extension.
• Hidden “Dot” Files (AskUbuntu) – Why files starting with . are hidden and how shells treat them.

Context: Bandit Level 5 raises the stakes: instead of a handful of files, you have directories within directories – a mini filesystem maze. The password is hidden in one of these files, but you’re only given some properties: size (1033 bytes) and that it’s not executable. This scenario is all about searching by metadata. In real incidents, you might know a malicious file’s size or owner but not its name – you’ll need to search the entire system for it. Enter the mighty find command. Today you’ll learn to wield find with precision flags to zero in on files by size, ownership, etc. This skill is a turning point: you move from manually scouring directories to letting the system do the hunting for you. We’ll also confront the noisy reality of system-wide search: permission denied messages when your user can’t access certain paths. Handling these errors is an essential trick for any operator in a multi-user environment. In short, you become the detective with a metal detector, sweeping the whole system for that one clue, while tuning out the false signals.

Step-by-Step: (Start with the password for bandit5 from Day 3.)

1. ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Log in as bandit5. Welcome to Bandit Level 5. Running ls reveals another inhere/ directory, but this one contains multiple subdirectories (maybe maybehere00 … maybehere19). The goal: “The password for the next level is stored in a file that is 1033 bytes in size and not executable.” There are dozens of files nested in these folders. Manually checking each would be soul-crushing – let’s automate.

2. Run find in bandit5’s directory:

   find . -type f -size 1033c -not -executable
   

   Breakdown: -type f finds regular files, -size 1033c filters files exactly 1033 bytes (the c stands for bytes), and -not -executable excludes any file with executable permission. The . means start searching in the current directory (bandit5’s home, including all subfolders). This command will churn through all those subdirectories and print the path of any file matching the criteria. Ideally, you get one result: the path to a file that fits the description. (If you see nothing, double-check your syntax or the criteria.)

3. Suppress noise (if needed): If the search were system-wide or in unwritable areas, you’d see many “Permission denied” errors. In this case, we confined it to bandit5’s own directory, so it should be quiet. But keep this pro-tip in your back pocket: appending 2>/dev/null to your find command will redirect error messages to the void, cleaning up the output. For example: find / -name "secret.txt" 2>/dev/null would search the whole system for “secret.txt” without drowning you in errors about directories you can’t access. (We’ll need this trick very soon.)

4. Once find outputs the target file path (let’s say it prints ./inhere/maybehere07/.file2 or similar), copy that path and run:

   cat ./inhere/maybehere07/.file2
   

   This will display the content of the file that find found. That content is the password for bandit6. 🎯 Mission accomplished! Note the power here: with one command, you searched through potentially 100+ files and pinpointed the correct one by properties, not by name.

5. exit (logout from bandit5) and optionally verify by logging in as bandit6 (ssh bandit6@...) using the new password. You’re now at Bandit Level 6, prepped for tomorrow’s task.

AI Booster: Confronted with a wall of errors or not sure about find flags? Let AI back you up. If you had run a system-wide find and got flooded with permission denied messages, you could copy one of those error lines and ask GPT-4: “How do I suppress ‘Permission denied’ in find output?” GPT would likely explain output redirection (using 2>/dev/null) and why those errors occur (you lack permission in some directories). It might also mention running as root or with sudo (which we can’t do in Bandit), but the key is: AI can decode cryptic errors for you. Additionally, if you’re unsure about a find option, try a prompt like: “Explain the meaning of ‘-size 1033c’ in find.” You’ll learn that 1033c = 1033 bytes exactly. Essentially, think of GPT-4 as your instant man-page or tutor. That said, always apply critical thinking – AI suggestions should complement, not replace, your growing command-line intuition.

Stretch-Challenge 🔥: Become a search maestro. Experiment with modifying the find criteria: can you find files between 1000 and 1100 bytes? Try -size +1000c -size -1100c. How about files owned by bandit5? Add -user bandit5 to your command. Also, now that you know the exact location of bandit6’s password file, run ls -l on it – observe its owner and permissions to understand why you (as bandit5) could read it. For the bold: write a one-liner to find and output the password in one go. (Hint: combine -exec with cat so find directly prints the file content). For example:

find . -type f -size 1033c -not -executable -exec cat {} \\;

If done right, this single command would have popped the password to your screen without a separate cat. Master moves! Finally, if you’re eager, you can try jumping ahead to Bandit Level 6 → 7 on your own (we’ll do it tomorrow). It involves searching the entire system by owner, which you’re now equipped to handle. Give it a shot and see if you can locate bandit7’s password file early.

Checkpoint: You’ve retrieved the bandit6 password. Confirm by logging in as bandit6 (Bandit Level 6) – you should get access with the password you found, proving you nailed the search. Your Day 4 artefact might be a copy of your find command and its output showing the found file, or a screenshot of you using cat to reveal bandit6’s password. This demonstrates you can surgically search through a complex directory structure.

Outcome Checklist: By the end of Week 3, you will have:

• Efficiently navigated a labyrinth of files using find with specific criteria (size, ownership, etc.), a critical investigative skill.
• Learned to manage and suppress irrelevant error output (your terminal is no longer cluttered with “Permission denied” – you control the signal-to-noise ratio).
• Developed a methodical approach to problem-solving: break down the hint (size, type), translate to command options, execute, retrieve result. This is exactly how real cyber investigations proceed with limited clues.
• Strengthened your trust in automation: letting the system do the heavy lifting (searching hundreds of files) while you focus on refining the query. This is productivity in a nutshell.

Next-Level Teaser: The net widens tomorrow. Bandit Level 6 will force you to search the entire server (yes, / root filesystem) for a file owned by a specific user and group. This means you’ll stir up a lot of “access denied” noise – but you’ve got the tools to handle it. We’ll push find to its limits and introduce a dash of AI to triage the deluge of data. Think of it as scanning a neon megacity for one elusive signal. You’re ready for this – your deep sweep training has prepared you to sweep even deeper. See you on the other side.

Further Reading:

• Find Command Flags Explained – Medium walkthrough clarifying size 1033c (1033 bytes) and not -executable usage.
• Cleaning Up Find Output (Ceos3c) – Using 2>/dev/null to hide “Permission denied” messages for a cleaner search.

Context: Strap in, because Bandit Level 6 ups the ante: the password is hidden somewhere on the entire server. The only clues: the file is owned by user bandit7, owned by group bandit6, and 33 bytes in size. This is a full-system sweep scenario. In real-world ops, this is akin to: “Find any file on this machine created by that user, with these attributes.” It’s a detective hunt across thousands of directories. Today, you’ll hone your find skills further by searching from the root /. You’ll also practice redirecting error output to maintain your sanity, as you’ll inevitably hit many “Permission denied” areas outside your home directory. This exercise reinforces file permission concepts (you’ll tangibly see where bandit6 user can or cannot read) and the importance of filtering output. By day’s end, you’ll have located the Bandit7 password and be even more comfortable navigating Linux’s access controls. Consider this a live-fire drill of your search abilities – an essential daily task for sysadmins and penetration testers alike.

Step-by-Step: (Use the password for bandit6 from Day 4.)

1. ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Log in as bandit6. This is Bandit Level 6. No obvious clues in the home directory, because the task expects you to search the whole file system. We know: look for a file owned by bandit7:bandit6 (user:group) and 33 bytes. Time to execute the mother of all find commands.

2. Run find from root /:

   find / -type f -user bandit7 -group bandit6 -size 33c 2>/dev/null
   

   Let’s unpack that:

   • / as the starting point tells find to search everywhere on the server.

   • type f restricts to files.

   • user bandit7 -group bandit6 filters files owned by user bandit7 and group bandit6.

   • size 33c finds files exactly 33 bytes in size.

   • 2>/dev/null is crucial – it dumps error messages (from directories you’re not allowed to read) into the void, so your output isn’t flooded. Without this, your screen would light up with “Permission denied” warnings for half the system. With it, find will quietly skip those and show only results you have permission to see.

     After a moment, you should get a result: a path to a file. In Bandit6’s case, it’s likely something like /var/lib/dpkg/info/bandit7.password. This looks promising – it’s a file that presumably contains bandit7’s password!

3. cat /var/lib/dpkg/info/bandit7.password – Use cat on the path find discovered (yours might be slightly different, but it should be the same concept). The content displayed is the password for bandit7. Got it! Note: If find printed multiple paths (it shouldn’t in this level), you’d check each. In this case, it should be a single file.

4. Before we move on, reflect on what just happened: you searched an entire Linux system as a regular user, and the success of that search hinged on file permissions. The password file was world-readable (or at least readable by bandit6’s group) – otherwise you’d never see it. The creators intentionally placed it where bandit6 can read. All those 2>/dev/null errors were places bandit6 cannot access. This is how Linux security works: each user has boundaries. As an operator, sometimes you’ll need to scan systems you don’t fully control; knowing how to ignore the “noise” and find what you can access is golden.

5. exit bandit6 and optionally ssh [email protected] -p 2220 with the new password to ensure it works. You are now Bandit Level 7 – nicely done!

AI Booster: Even with 2>/dev/null, maybe you were curious about those “Permission denied” messages you suppressed. Copy one from a trial run (without the redirect) and ask ChatGPT: “Why do I get ‘Permission denied’ when running find as bandit6?” You’ll get a quick lesson on Linux file permissions and user roles. GPT might explain that many directories are owned by root or others, so bandit6 can’t traverse them. It could also suggest the 2>/dev/null trick, or even using sudo (which you can’t here, but good to know in general). Essentially, GPT can translate cryptic system output into plain English. Another AI angle: if writing that long find command was intimidating, you could have described it to GPT-4: “Give me a find command to search for files owned by bandit7, group bandit6, 33 bytes, searching from root.” It likely would have constructed the exact command for you. This is a glimpse of AI as your co-pilot in admin tasks. But remember the flip side: fundamentals matter. As one expert noted, relying on AI without understanding core concepts is risky. Use GPT to accelerate, not to autopilot – today, you steered, GPT was in the backseat with the map.

Stretch-Challenge 🔥: You’ve mastered finding one file; how about finding many? For fun, try searching for all SUID files on the system (files with the special permission bit that allows privilege escalation). Hint: find / -perm -4000 2>/dev/null will list files with the SUID bit set. This has real security relevance – SUID files can sometimes be exploited. See if you recognize any (like the passwd command). Another stretch: Write a script to automate what you just did. Perhaps a Bash script that takes user, group, size as inputs and prints matching files. You could feed the prompt to Copilot: “# Script to find files by user, group, size” and let it suggest code. Also, if you haven’t already, attempt Bandit Level 7 → 8 (tomorrow’s task) early. Use the bandit7 password and see if you can solve it solo. It involves a file with a specific keyword inside – something we’ll use grep for. Give it a go as a preview of Day 6!

Checkpoint: You should now have the bandit7 password securely noted. Verify it by logging in as bandit7. The ability to search an entire system for a specific file was the pinnacle of this week’s Linux command challenges – and you’ve done it. For your Day 5 artefact, consider sharing the one-liner find command you used (it’s a thing of beauty), along with the trimmed output showing the target file path, and maybe a note on how you redirected errors. A screenshot of your terminal with the command and its result (no junk errors visible) would be a perfect validation of your skill.

Outcome Checklist: By the end of Week 3, you will have:

• Demonstrated full-system search competence, pinpointing files by owner and attributes without needing root privileges.
• Applied error-handling techniques (like redirecting stderr) to focus on relevant data, an invaluable habit in any technical debugging or reconnaissance.
• Collected all Bandit passwords from level0 through level6, reinforcing that you can systematically tackle progressively harder challenges.
• A deeper understanding of Linux permissions and file system layout, gained by actively traversing and observing where your access is allowed or denied. This observational knowledge makes you a better security practitioner moving forward.

Next-Level Teaser: Next, we pivot from finding files to finding content within files. Bandit Level 7 is all about reading through a large text to find a specific word. In Week 3 you’ve honed your sight; in Week 4, we’ll sharpen your insight. Expect to unleash grep, parse massive outputs, and even decode some encoding schemes. Plus, you’ll lean more on AI to quickly summarize and script solutions as the puzzles become more intricate. The neon journey continues, evolving from file-hunting to information mining. Rest up – tomorrow’s data mines await, and they are vast.

Further Reading:

• Bandit 6→7 Walkthrough (MayADev) – Using find with user/group filters and handling permission errors.
• Linux Permissions & Ownership – Quick refresher on why “Permission denied” occurs (files/directories not readable by your user). (See “Permission denied” discussion in any Linux intro resource.)

Context: You’ve proven you can find files by name or metadata – now let’s find information inside files. Bandit Level 7 presents a file data.txt with many lines, and the goal is to find the one line containing the word “millionth”. This is a classic scenario for grep, the Unix utility that prints lines matching a pattern. In the field, grep is your best friend for log analysis: whether it’s scanning auth logs for “Failed password” or config files for a keyword, grep finds the needle in the haystack. We’ll solve Bandit 7→8 using grep, and then pivot to a realistic log analysis task using both grep and GPT-4. Why involve AI? Because while grep fetches raw data, AI can summarize and highlight anomalies in logs. It’s like having an apprentice who can read through thousands of log lines and tell you the story they reveal. Today marries brute-force command-line searching with intelligent AI summarization – a powerful combo for any modern cyber operator. By the end, you’ll extract Bandit’s password from a sea of text and also practice turning unstructured log snippets into meaningful insights with GPT-4.

Step-by-Step: (Use the password for bandit7 from Day 5.)

1. ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Log in as bandit7 (Bandit Level 7). In the home directory, there’s a file named data.txt. It’s quite large if you open it (thousands of lines). The goal says the password is next to the word “millionth” in this file. This is precisely what grep excels at.

2. grep "millionth" data.txt – This command searches for the string “millionth” in data.txt and prints any lines that contain it. Instantly, grep will spit out the line (something like: millionth XXXXX...) that has the word. On that line, after “millionth”, you’ll see a long string of characters – that is the password for bandit8! 🎉 In one swift move, you sifted through megabytes of data. (If the file is extremely huge, you might add | head to only see the first match, but here one line is expected.)

3. Copy the password from the grep output and save it for later (or go ahead and verify by SSH-ing into bandit8 if you’re eager). But our focus for the second part of today is on log analysis. Let’s create a mini scenario: imagine you have an authentication log and you want to identify suspicious login attempts. You’ll generate a sample log file and use grep and GPT-4 on it.

4. On your local Mac terminal (not on Bandit): create a fake log file to simulate something like /var/log/auth.log. Run:

   echo "Jul  7 18:45:23 myhost sshd[12345]: Failed password for invalid user neo from 203.0.113.42 port 22" > sample.log
   echo "Jul  7 18:47:10 myhost sshd[12347]: Accepted password for alice from 192.168.0.100 port 22" >> sample.log
   

   This populates sample.log with two entries: one failed login from an IP (possibly malicious), and one successful login from a local IP (likely normal).

5. grep "Failed password" sample.log – Use grep to filter only the failed login attempts in the log. It should output the first line (the attempt by “neo” from that external IP). If this were a real log with hundreds of lines, you could quickly list all failures (or all occurrences of a username/IP, etc.). Grep is lightning-fast at this kind of targeted search.

6. Now for the AI magic: copy the entire content of sample.log (both lines) and feed it to ChatGPT (GPT-4) with a prompt like: “Summarize the security-relevant events in this log.” Within seconds, GPT-4 might respond with something like: “One failed login attempt for user ‘neo’ from IP 203.0.113.42, and one successful login for user ‘alice’ from IP 192.168.0.100. The failed attempt could indicate a username enumeration or attack, while the successful login appears normal.” The AI has just analyzed and summarized the log, highlighting the suspicious IP. This augmentation accelerates your insight – rather than manually interpreting raw grep output, you get a human-readable summary of patterns and anomalies. In a real SOC (Security Operations Center), analysts spend a lot of time doing exactly this: grep + human analysis. With GPT-4, the “human analysis” part can be partly automated, allowing you to focus on response.

AI Booster: Today’s entire exercise was an AI booster. But think further: tools like ChatGPT can also assist in writing complex grep regexes, parsing unknown log formats, or even generating scripts to automate log parsing. For instance, if you needed to count how many failed attempts each IP made, you could ask GPT to write a one-liner awk or Python script. Also, consider GitHub Copilot: if you open sample.log in VS Code and start writing a Python script to parse it, Copilot might automatically suggest code to read the file, search for “Failed password” lines, and print a summary. Embrace this synergy: grep gives you exact control, AI gives you flexible interpretation. As noted in a recent study, LLMs can summarize logs, highlight abnormal activity, and recommend actions. You leveraged exactly that. The key is to validate AI’s output – it should match what you could conclude yourself. In our example, ensure GPT correctly identified the failed vs successful attempts. When it does, you’ve effectively gained an AI junior analyst working at your side.

Stretch-Challenge 🔥: Push your grep skills and AI integration further. Here are a few ideas:

• Bandit extension: If you’ve completed level 7, you know bandit8’s password. Try Bandit Level 8 → 9, which involves finding a unique line in a file (hint: you might combine sort and uniq). See if you can solve it a day early, and maybe ask GPT-4 to explain the strategy if you’re stuck.
• Log analysis drill: Take a real log file from your Mac (for example, /var/log/install.log or any system log you have access to) and query something interesting with grep – maybe find all lines containing “error” (using grep -i error). Then feed a portion of that log to GPT-4 asking, “What are the common errors here and their potential causes?” This will test GPT’s ability to interpret technical data.
• Automate with AI: Using Copilot or GPT, write a quick script (Bash or Python) to parse sample.log and output a count of failed vs successful logins, or list all unique IPs that failed to login. This is a miniature SIEM functionality. Compare the AI-generated solution to what you would have written – learn from it or refine it if needed (maybe add color to output or sorting).

Checkpoint: You’ve extracted the bandit8 password using grep (make sure to save it for Week 4!). You also created a sample log and got a concise summary with AI assistance. For Day 6’s artefact, consider providing a screenshot of your grep command finding “millionth” in Bandit’s data.txt (showing the password line), and a snippet of your AI chat where it summarizes the sample log. This demonstrates both your command-line prowess and your AI-augmented analytical skills. It’s evidence that you not only can find data, but also derive insight from data – a true cyber-ops capability.

Outcome Checklist: By the end of Week 3, you will have:

• Used grep to surgically extract information from within files – mastering pattern matching on the fly.
• Solved Bandit Level 7 by filtering content, reinforcing the value of text processing in security challenges.
• Understood how to integrate GPT-4 into your workflow to summarize and interpret logs or command outputs, effectively multiplying your analytical capacity.
• Produced concrete daily deliverables that showcase both raw technical skill (command usage) and higher-level understanding (AI-generated summaries and explanations).
• Gained confidence that you can handle the deluge of real-world data: whether it’s thousands of log lines or multi-GB text files, you have the tools (grep/AWK) and allies (AI) to extract meaning quickly.

Next-Level Teaser: Week 4 is on the horizon, and with it comes an even more neon-soaked cyberpunk adventure. Expect to dive into data encoding and decoding: you might encounter base64, hexdumps, compressed files within files – puzzles that require peeling back layers. You’ll likely leverage new tools (maybe sort, uniq, base64, tar, gzip – the arsenal hinted at in Bandit levels beyond 7). Your AI co-pilot will be there to help decode error messages or script multi-step tasks. Essentially, in Week 4 you’ll transition from basic ops to intermediate hacking ops, possibly leaving the safe SSH haven and interacting with network services or exploiting small programs. But fear not: the solid foundation you built in Week 3 (and the daily practice habit) has prepared you to tackle whatever comes next – from cracking cipher texts to infiltrating a web service. The neon city awaits – and you’re ready to conquer its next level challenges.

Further Reading:

• grep Command (Linux Handbook) – Overview of using grep for searching within files (options for recursive search, ignore case, etc.).
• LLMs in Log Analysis (DataSunrise) – How large language models can assist in summarizing logs and detecting anomalies in security operations.

Context: Congratulations, you’ve navigated through a week of intensive cyber-ops training! Day 7 is all about solidifying that knowledge and demonstrating it in a polished form. In the cyberpunk future (and in present-day reality), documentation and communication are just as important as hacking skills. You might have the elite skills to break into systems, but if you can’t clearly report what you did and what you learned, those skills might as well be secrets locked in an vault. Today you will create a Week-3 Summary Chronicle – essentially, an artifact that proves to yourself (and perhaps to others) what you’ve accomplished. This could be a blog-style write-up, a GitHub Gist, or a brief report capturing each day’s highlights, the commands used, problems encountered and overcome, and how AI assisted you. Think of it as your “Captain’s log” for the neon missions of this week. By reflecting on each challenge, you not only cement your learning (writing reinforces memory), but you also build a portfolio piece that showcases your journey. This is your story of Week 3: make it professional, make it precise, but don’t be afraid to give it a little cyberpunk flair in the narration.

Step-by-Step:

1. Compile Notes: Gather all your notes, artefacts, and passwords from Days 1–6. Open VS Code (with that cool neon theme, perhaps!) and create a new Markdown file titled Week3-summary.md (or similar). Start by outlining the week: e.g., Day 1 – SSH basics (Bandit0→1), Day 2 – File name tricks (Bandit1→4), ..., Day 6 – grep and AI-assisted log analysis (Bandit7→8). Under each heading, jot 3-5 bullet points: what you did, key commands learned (maybe with short explanations), any stumbling blocks and solutions, and the artefact you produced. This is essentially a condensed recap of each day’s Theme, Goal, and Outcome. Write in clear, concise language – imagine explaining to a colleague or future self what you achieved this week. Aim for short paragraphs or bullets (you can even repurpose some text from these prompts, since they are already succinct).

2. Add Technical Details: For each day, include a snippet of a command or output that was significant. For example, Day 3 might include a small code block:

   file ./*
   # Identified -file07 as ASCII text; contained Bandit5 password.
   

   Day 5 might show the find / -user bandit7 -group bandit6 -size 33c 2>/dev/null command (perhaps truncated or explained, to avoid an overly long line). These concrete examples ground your summary in real actions. Also mention how you utilized AI each day (if you did): e.g., “Used GPT-4 to explain the significance of 2>/dev/null in the find command, which clarified error redirection.” This highlights your adaptive workflow.

3. Checkpoint & Edit: Once your summary content is written, double-check for accuracy. Verify any command syntax you included is correct (typos in a report can mislead readers). Ensure you haven’t accidentally posted any sensitive info – in this context, the Bandit passwords themselves are sensitive (you can mention finding a password, but you don’t need to list the actual string of characters in your public summary). Maybe replace actual passwords with [REDACTED] or just describe them. Proofread for clarity and brevity. This document should read like a week’s mission report: factual, structured, and easy to skim (that’s why headings and bullet points are great).

4. Publish the Artefact: Now share it. If you have GitHub set up locally, you can turn this into a gist or commit it to a repository. For example, using the GitHub CLI (if configured), you could run:

   gh gist create Week3-summary.md -d "Week 3 - Bandit Learning Sprint Summary"
   

   This would upload your Markdown to a Gist (public or secret as you prefer). If you’re already managing a Git repository for your learning journey, do a git add, git commit -m "Add Week3 summary" and git push. Alternatively, copy-paste the Markdown into a new blog post if you maintain one. The key is to deliver that concrete artefact. It’s the proof of skill acquisition the sprint requires.

5. (Optional) Add Cyberpunk Flavor: While maintaining clarity, you can add a bit of the “neon-soaked” tone to make the read entertaining. Perhaps start with a one-liner intro: “Week 3 Recap: In the neon haze of Bandit’s wargames, I mastered the shell’s basics and beyond…” and end with a forward-looking statement. Just a sentence or two to give it personality – but avoid overdoing it. The technical content should remain precise and not drowned in metaphor. If you’re not comfortable with that style, a straightforward professional tone is perfectly fine.

AI Booster: Use GPT-4 here as your editor. After writing your draft, you can feed sections to ChatGPT asking for suggestions: “Proofread this paragraph for clarity” or “Can you rephrase this bullet in a more concise way?”. You could also ask “Give me a snappy title for my Week 3 cyber-ops summary.” Perhaps it suggests something like “Week 3: Mastering the Shell – A Cyberpunk Ops Diary”. You might or might not use it, but it’s great for brainstorming. Copilot in VS Code can also make formatting suggestions (for instance, if you start a Markdown table or list, it might auto-complete some structure). However, ensure the final voice is yours – AI can polish, but the experience and learnings are uniquely human (yours). An insightful practice is to have GPT-4 act as a strict reviewer: “Check my Week3 summary for any technical inaccuracies or missing crucial details.” This might catch something you glossed over. Finally, if you struggle with the “cyberpunk tone” aspect, you can prompt GPT-4: “Rewrite this summary with a subtle cyberpunk narrative voice, without losing technical clarity.” Just be cautious to fact-check any additions it makes.

Stretch-Challenge 🔥: Now that your Week 3 chronicle is done, think ahead. How would you prepare for Week 4? Perhaps set up a plan or teaser in your summary’s conclusion (e.g., “Next week, I’ll dive into Bandit’s higher levels, facing new forms of encoded secrets and possibly network-based challenges.”). As a stretch, outline what skills you anticipate needing (maybe research what Bandit levels 8-12 entail – without spoiling solutions, just see the topics like base64, binary files, etc.). Jot down a “Week 4 preview” in your notes, which can guide your learning. Another stretch idea: share your summary with a friend or online (security forum, Twitter, etc.) and invite feedback or tips for the next stage. Teaching others or simply exposing your learning process can solidify your own understanding. It takes guts to put your work out there, but the cyberpunk ethos is all about boldness, right? 🔥

Checkpoint: By now, you should have a polished Week 3 summary document and have shared it (or at least saved it in a way you can share later). Double-check the content covers each day’s major learning goal and that the expected artefacts are mentioned or linked. The act of writing this (and perhaps getting it reviewed by AI or peers) is your final proof of completion. Your Day 7 artefact is essentially the summary itself – consider this the crowning piece of Week 3 that encapsulates all other artefacts.

Outcome Checklist: By the end of Week 3, you now have:

• A comprehensive “Week 3 – Bandit Sprint” report written in Markdown, documenting each day’s theme, tasks, and outcomes.
• All Bandit levels 0–6 solutions verified and explained in your own words (and even Level 7’s solution prepared as a head-start for Week 4).
• A demonstration of communication skills: you can convey technical steps clearly (a crucial ability in cybersecurity, where you’ll often write reports for bosses or clients).
• A portfolio piece showing your journey – this summary can be shown to mentors or even included in a blog or resume to illustrate your hands-on experience.
• A habit of daily reflection and note-taking. By doing this regularly, you reinforce retention of what you learned and set yourself up for continuous improvement.

Next-Level Teaser: Week 4 looms like a glowing skyline on the horizon. Next week, the challenges escalate from the basics to the exotic. Expect to crack open encoded files (Base64, hex, maybe even RSA?), manipulate archives (ever unwrapped an .gz inside a .tar inside a .bz2? you will), and interact with running services (Bandit later levels involve connecting to ports and sending payloads). You’ll leave the comfort of simple shell commands and write small scripts, possibly in Python or Bash, to automate multi-step exploits. Also, anticipate integrating tools like curl or ncat as you venture into networking. But here’s the good news: everything you mastered in Week 3 forms the backbone for tackling Week 4. You know how to search, filter, automate, and use AI assistance. Week 4 will feel like entering a higher level of the game – it’s tougher, yes, but also more thrilling. Gear up for more puzzles, more neon, and perhaps the first taste of actual “hacking” challenges. The skills are in place, the AI co-pilot is on standby, and you’re ready to write the next chapter of this cyberpunk saga. See you in Week 4 – the future is yours to commandeer.

Further Reading:

• Benefits of Technical Note-Taking – How writing and documenting your process improves understanding and retention.
• Effective Cybersecurity Reporting – (Blog) Tips on writing clear, actionable technical reports for security findings (learn to communicate like a pro).

Context: The journey begins by jacking into a remote server under the neon glow of your terminal. In cyber-ops, being able to securely connect to a distant system is fundamental. The OverTheWire Bandit wargame, designed for absolute beginners, is our playground. Today you’ll use SSH (Secure Shell) to enter Bandit Level 0, hosted on a remote Linux machine. SSH is a secure protocol for remote login – a critical skill for any hacker or sysadmin. Mastering SSH means you can roam through remote systems as if they were next to you, which is exactly what we need to start cracking Bandit’s challenges. Let’s dive in.

Step-by-Step: (Launch iTerm2 on macOS and follow along – each step is a command to run in the terminal.)

1. ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Connect to the Bandit game server as user bandit0 on port 2220 (the custom SSH port). You’ll be prompted for a password: enter bandit0 (the starting password). This drops you into the remote shell of bandit0, your starting point.
2. ls – List files in the current directory. You should see a file named readme. Bandit Level 0’s goal is to read this file for the password to Level 1.
3. cat readme – Concatenate (display) the contents of readme. This reveals the password for bandit1 (Level 1). Jot this down or copy it somewhere safe – you’ll need it to log in as bandit1 next.
4. exit – Close the SSH connection to bandit0. The remote prompt disappears, returning you to your local machine’s shell. You’ve successfully completed Level 0 by retrieving the Bandit1 password!

AI Booster: Stuck or curious? You can use GPT-4 as your personal tutor. For example, ask ChatGPT: “What does the -p 2220 option do in the ssh command?” GPT will explain that -p specifies the port (here, 2220) for the SSH connection. Tools like GitHub Copilot can even explain command usage in-line. When in doubt, have the AI break down the command syntax or clarify error messages. The goal is to understand each piece: you control the terminal, AI just assists.

Stretch-Challenge 🔥: After logging in, explore the neon-lit system a bit more. For instance, run uname -a to see the OS/kernel info or whoami to confirm your user. Can you find the current working directory with pwd? These aren’t required Bandit steps, but real operators often run such commands to gather intel on a new box. (Advanced: If you’re feeling bold, configure an SSH key pair on your Mac and try using key-based auth to log in – a forward-looking exercise in secure access.)

Checkpoint: You’ve proven your access by obtaining Bandit1’s password from the readme file. Confirm success by reconnecting as bandit1 using that password – if you can log in and see bandit1’s prompt, you’re all set. Take a screenshot of your terminal showing the successful SSH login and the readme file content as your Day 1 artefact. This is your first flag captured!

Outcome Checklist: By the end of Week 3, you will have:

• Completed OverTheWire Bandit levels 0–6, gaining hands-on Linux command-line experience.
• Created 7 proof-of-skill artefacts (screenshots, Gists, or notes), one for each day, documenting your progress.
• Built a foundation in core Linux security commands (ssh, ls, cat, find, grep, strings, file, etc.) and learned to use them in practice.
• Integrated AI tools (GPT-4 and Copilot) into your workflow to accelerate learning – from explaining commands to automating tasks.

Next-Level Teaser: Tomorrow, the real fun begins. You’ll encounter files that “ghost” you – ones with names so tricky, the shell misinterprets them. Get ready for a neon-soaked lesson in outsmarting the shell’s quirks as we continue our Bandit run. The gateway is open; time to step through.

Further Reading:

• OverTheWire Bandit – Official Intro – Why Bandit is great for beginners (learn basics by playing).
• SSH Basics (MayADev Blog) – A short primer on SSH and its purpose in remote login.

Context: After gaining entry, we now face ghosts in the shell – files that are there but hard to grab. Adversaries and CTF creators often hide information in plain sight using filenames that confuse naive commands. Today’s mission covers Bandit Levels 1–3, teaching you how to handle filenames beginning with hyphens, containing spaces, or hidden as dotfiles. These are common “gotchas” in Linux. Why does this matter? Imagine a malicious script named -rf – running rm * could interpret it as an option and wreak havoc. Or consider log files with spaces in their names – you must quote or escape them to access the content. Mastering these quirks makes you a shell ninja who isn’t fooled by simple tricks.

Step-by-Step: (You should have Bandit1’s password from Day 1. Each step might involve logging into a new level.)

1. ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Connect to Bandit as bandit1, using the password you found yesterday. Now you’re in Bandit Level 1. Run ls -la if you like, to reveal all files including hidden ones. You’ll notice a file named (just a single hyphen) in the home directory. This is an oddly named file that normal cat might misinterpret as an option.
2. cat ./- – Use ./ to explicitly reference the file named “-” in the current directory. This command reads the content of the file , yielding the password for bandit2. The ./ prefix tells the shell “this is a filename in the current folder,” preventing it from treating as stdin. ✅ You have the Bandit2 password!
3. exit and then ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Log out of bandit1 and into bandit2 (use the password from the previous step). In Bandit Level 2, do ls and you’ll see a file with spaces in its name (likely spaces in this filename). Filenames with spaces need special handling.
4. cat "spaces in this filename" – Surround the name with quotes to read the file with spaces. Alternatively, you could escape spaces with backslashes (e.g. spaces\ in\ this\ filename). This prints the contents: the password for bandit3. 🗝️ Got the Bandit3 password!
5. exit and ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Time for Level 3. After logging in as bandit3, run ls and notice a directory called inhere. The Level 3 goal hints that the password is hidden in this directory. Use ls -la inhere/ to list everything inside, including hidden files. You should spot a file named something like .hidden.
6. cat inhere/.hidden – Read the hidden file. (In Linux, files beginning with . are hidden from normal ls output.) The file’s content is the password for bandit4. Another one down! Make sure to save this password for tomorrow.

AI Booster: Bash giving you attitude with weird filenames? Ask GPT-4 for backup. For example: “How do I open a file named '-' on Linux?” and you’ll get advice like using ./- or -- to stop option parsing. If quoting filenames with spaces slips your mind, prompt GPT: “How to cat a file with spaces in its name?” It will remind you to quote or escape the spaces. You can also leverage GitHub Copilot: start typing a comment in VS Code, e.g., *# Open file named "-" and file with spaces*, and watch Copilot suggest the correct commands. It’s like having a ghost-hunter AI in your shell, ensuring no filename spook can stop you.

Stretch-Challenge 🔥: Recreate these scenarios on your Mac to cement the skill. For instance, make a file literally named - in your local directory (touch ./-) and try removing it with rm (you’ll need rm -- - to avoid treating it as an option). Or create a file with spaces (echo "test" > "my file.txt") and practice reading it with cat. For an extra puzzle, try a one-liner to list all files in the Bandit2 home directory that contain spaces or start with a dash (hint: the find command can filter by name patterns). By reproducing the ghost-file issues, you exorcise them from your future workflow.

Checkpoint: You should now possess the passwords for bandit2, bandit3, and bandit4. Verify success by logging in as bandit4 with the last password – if you get in and can ls bandit4’s directory, you’ve nailed it. Your Day 2 artefact can be a screenshot of your terminal showing one of the tricky file contents (e.g., the output of cat "spaces in this filename" or cat inhere/.hidden) as proof that you conquered the ghost files.

Outcome Checklist: By the end of Week 3, you will have:

• Solved Bandit levels 0–6, encountering real-world file handling hurdles (weird filenames, hidden files) and overcome them.
• A collection of 7 daily artefacts (screenshots/gists) demonstrating your solutions and command outputs.
• Confidence with core shell skills: remote SSH login, listing directories (including hidden files), and reading file contents even when filenames fight back.
• Practical experience integrating AI helpers to explain shell quirks and speed up problem-solving.

Next-Level Teaser: In the next session, you’ll train your searchlight on a bunch of mysterious files. Only one will contain the key, and you’ll learn how to identify it amid decoys. This is a forensic skill – like finding a needle in a stack of binary hay. Plus, we’ll venture further into the inhere directory’s secrets. The shell games continue, but you’re leveling up to beat them.

Further Reading:

• Handling “-” Filenames (StackOverflow) – Why ./- or - helps with hyphenated filenames.
• Spaces in Filenames (SuperUser) – Spaces are fine, just quote them – a minor inconvenience in CLI.

Context: Time to shine a light into the darkness of random files. In Bandit Level 4, you’re faced with a directory full of files – most are nonsense, one is the real deal. This mirrors a common scenario: you’ve dumped a trove of data and need to pick out the one human-readable file among binaries. Today, you’ll learn to quickly identify file types using the file command, a fundamental tool in any hacker’s kit. Why? Because file extensions lie – especially in security, where a .txt might be malware and an extensionless blob could hide text. The file utility inspects a file’s content to tell you its type, not just the name. This skill is crucial for malware analysis, CTF challenges, and basic sysadmin work (ever wondered if a file is ASCII text, JPEG, or a shell script? file will tell you). In short, you’ll learn to separate signal from noise with laser precision.

Step-by-Step: (Begin with the password for bandit4 from Day 2.)

1. ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Connect as bandit4. Welcome to Bandit Level 4. Running ls here shows a directory named inhere, which contains a bunch of files (likely file0X or similar names). The level goal: “The password for the next level is stored in the only human-readable file in the inhere directory.” So, we have multiple files – only one is ASCII text, the rest are binary garbage.

2. cd inhere/ – Change into the directory. Now, use the file command on all files:

   file ./*
   

   This runs file on each file in inhere. You’ll see output like:

   • file01: ASCII text
   • file02: data

   … etc. file analyzes each file’s contents and labels it (e.g., “ASCII text” means human-readable text). Identify which file is ASCII text (human-readable).

3. cat ./-file01 (replace file01 with the actual filename that file identified as ASCII). This prints the contents of the lone text file. Bingo – that’s the password for bandit5! 🎉 If you see a random string of letters/numbers, that’s the flag. (If the filename begins with a dash, remember to prefix with ./ as you did on Day 2.)

4. (Optional) exit and ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Log in as bandit5 using the password you just found, to ensure it’s correct. You’ve now cleared Level 4 and are ready for Level 5’s challenge next.

AI Booster: Handling 20 files manually is tedious – and in real ops, it could be thousands. Let AI lighten the load. For example, you could ask ChatGPT: “How can I quickly find which file in a directory is ASCII text?” It might suggest using a combination of find and file commands, or even piping to grep. GitHub Copilot can also assist: if you open a script file in VS Code and write a comment like “# Find all human-readable files in this folder”, Copilot might auto-generate a loop or a one-liner using file for you. These AI suggestions leverage the same logic you used manually. (Fun fact: The Bandit wargame itself encourages research and creative solutions – using AI is just turbocharged research.) And as a reminder: skills like using file to determine file type are considered basic and important – AI can speed up usage, but make sure you understand why the answer is “ASCII text” or not.

Stretch-Challenge 🔥: Level up your one-liner game. Try solving the Level 4 task in a single command:

find . -type f -exec file {} + | grep "ASCII text"

This finds all files, determines their type, and filters the output to show only the ASCII text file. It’s a mouthful, but an elite move to impress your (imaginary) cyberpunk crew. Alternatively, practice using strings: run strings * in inhere/ to dump printable text from each file. It will spew gibberish for binaries, but the real text file’s content (the password) will clearly stand out. Bonus: If you’re feeling creative, script it! Write a short Bash script that scans each file and tells you which one is human-readable – it’s great scripting practice, and Copilot might even write most of it for you.

Checkpoint: You should have the bandit5 password in hand. Double-check by logging in to bandit5 (if you haven’t already) and verifying that the login is successful. Your artefact for Day 3 could be a snippet of your command outputs (for example, a GitHub Gist showing the file * output and highlighting which file was ASCII). The key is that you’ve identified the correct file and obtained the bandit5 flag.

Outcome Checklist: By the end of Week 3, you will have:

• Discovered how to determine file types and extract hidden text, crucial for both CTFs and real-world forensics.
• A habit of documenting commands and outputs (in daily notes or Gists), reinforcing what each step accomplishes.
• Enhanced problem-solving speed by knowing which tool (e.g., file vs strings) to deploy for different file types.
• Begun integrating one-liner solutions and scripts for efficiency – a sign of growing proficiency.

Next-Level Teaser: Tomorrow’s challenge escalates. You’ll be dropped into a labyrinth of subdirectories, tasked with finding a file of a specific size and property. It’s like finding a single grain of sand on a cyber beach. But fear not – you now wield find like a lightsaber. Coming up, we’ll refine your find-fu to slice through the file maze (with a dash of AI guidance when the shell floods you with errors). Keep that searchlight ready.

Further Reading:

• file Command Usage – Explanation of the file utility analyzing content instead of extension.
• Hidden “Dot” Files (AskUbuntu) – Why files starting with . are hidden and how shells treat them.

Context: Bandit Level 5 raises the stakes: instead of a handful of files, you have directories within directories – a mini filesystem maze. The password is hidden in one of these files, but you’re only given some properties: size (1033 bytes) and that it’s not executable. This scenario is all about searching by metadata. In real incidents, you might know a malicious file’s size or owner but not its name – you’ll need to search the entire system for it. Enter the mighty find command. Today you’ll learn to wield find with precision flags to zero in on files by size, ownership, etc. This skill is a turning point: you move from manually scouring directories to letting the system do the hunting for you. We’ll also confront the noisy reality of system-wide search: permission denied messages when your user can’t access certain paths. Handling these errors is an essential trick for any operator in a multi-user environment. In short, you become the detective with a metal detector, sweeping the whole system for that one clue, while tuning out the false signals.

Step-by-Step: (Start with the password for bandit5 from Day 3.)

1. ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Log in as bandit5. Welcome to Bandit Level 5. Running ls reveals another inhere/ directory, but this one contains multiple subdirectories (maybe maybehere00 … maybehere19). The goal: “The password for the next level is stored in a file that is 1033 bytes in size and not executable.” There are dozens of files nested in these folders. Manually checking each would be soul-crushing – let’s automate.

2. Run find in bandit5’s directory:

   find . -type f -size 1033c -not -executable
   

   Breakdown: -type f finds regular files, -size 1033c filters files exactly 1033 bytes (the c stands for bytes), and -not -executable excludes any file with executable permission. The . means start searching in the current directory (bandit5’s home, including all subfolders). This command will churn through all those subdirectories and print the path of any file matching the criteria. Ideally, you get one result: the path to a file that fits the description. (If you see nothing, double-check your syntax or the criteria.)

3. Suppress noise (if needed): If the search were system-wide or in unwritable areas, you’d see many “Permission denied” errors. In this case, we confined it to bandit5’s own directory, so it should be quiet. But keep this pro-tip in your back pocket: appending 2>/dev/null to your find command will redirect error messages to the void, cleaning up the output. For example: find / -name "secret.txt" 2>/dev/null would search the whole system for “secret.txt” without drowning you in errors about directories you can’t access. (We’ll need this trick very soon.)

4. Once find outputs the target file path (let’s say it prints ./inhere/maybehere07/.file2 or similar), copy that path and run:

   cat ./inhere/maybehere07/.file2
   

   This will display the content of the file that find found. That content is the password for bandit6. 🎯 Mission accomplished! Note the power here: with one command, you searched through potentially 100+ files and pinpointed the correct one by properties, not by name.

5. exit (logout from bandit5) and optionally verify by logging in as bandit6 (ssh bandit6@...) using the new password. You’re now at Bandit Level 6, prepped for tomorrow’s task.

AI Booster: Confronted with a wall of errors or not sure about find flags? Let AI back you up. If you had run a system-wide find and got flooded with permission denied messages, you could copy one of those error lines and ask GPT-4: “How do I suppress ‘Permission denied’ in find output?” GPT would likely explain output redirection (using 2>/dev/null) and why those errors occur (you lack permission in some directories). It might also mention running as root or with sudo (which we can’t do in Bandit), but the key is: AI can decode cryptic errors for you. Additionally, if you’re unsure about a find option, try a prompt like: “Explain the meaning of ‘-size 1033c’ in find.” You’ll learn that 1033c = 1033 bytes exactly. Essentially, think of GPT-4 as your instant man-page or tutor. That said, always apply critical thinking – AI suggestions should complement, not replace, your growing command-line intuition.

Stretch-Challenge 🔥: Become a search maestro. Experiment with modifying the find criteria: can you find files between 1000 and 1100 bytes? Try -size +1000c -size -1100c. How about files owned by bandit5? Add -user bandit5 to your command. Also, now that you know the exact location of bandit6’s password file, run ls -l on it – observe its owner and permissions to understand why you (as bandit5) could read it. For the bold: write a one-liner to find and output the password in one go. (Hint: combine -exec with cat so find directly prints the file content). For example:

find . -type f -size 1033c -not -executable -exec cat {} \;

If done right, this single command would have popped the password to your screen without a separate cat. Master moves! Finally, if you’re eager, you can try jumping ahead to Bandit Level 6 → 7 on your own (we’ll do it tomorrow). It involves searching the entire system by owner, which you’re now equipped to handle. Give it a shot and see if you can locate bandit7’s password file early.

Checkpoint: You’ve retrieved the bandit6 password. Confirm by logging in as bandit6 (Bandit Level 6) – you should get access with the password you found, proving you nailed the search. Your Day 4 artefact might be a copy of your find command and its output showing the found file, or a screenshot of you using cat to reveal bandit6’s password. This demonstrates you can surgically search through a complex directory structure.

Outcome Checklist: By the end of Week 3, you will have:

• Efficiently navigated a labyrinth of files using find with specific criteria (size, ownership, etc.), a critical investigative skill.
• Learned to manage and suppress irrelevant error output (your terminal is no longer cluttered with “Permission denied” – you control the signal-to-noise ratio).
• Developed a methodical approach to problem-solving: break down the hint (size, type), translate to command options, execute, retrieve result. This is exactly how real cyber investigations proceed with limited clues.
• Strengthened your trust in automation: letting the system do the heavy lifting (searching hundreds of files) while you focus on refining the query. This is productivity in a nutshell.

Next-Level Teaser: The net widens tomorrow. Bandit Level 6 will force you to search the entire server (yes, / root filesystem) for a file owned by a specific user and group. This means you’ll stir up a lot of “access denied” noise – but you’ve got the tools to handle it. We’ll push find to its limits and introduce a dash of AI to triage the deluge of data. Think of it as scanning a neon megacity for one elusive signal. You’re ready for this – your deep sweep training has prepared you to sweep even deeper. See you on the other side.

Further Reading:

• Find Command Flags Explained – Medium walkthrough clarifying size 1033c (1033 bytes) and not -executable usage.
• Cleaning Up Find Output (Ceos3c) – Using 2>/dev/null to hide “Permission denied” messages for a cleaner search.

Context: Strap in, because Bandit Level 6 ups the ante: the password is hidden somewhere on the entire server. The only clues: the file is owned by user bandit7, owned by group bandit6, and 33 bytes in size. This is a full-system sweep scenario. In real-world ops, this is akin to: “Find any file on this machine created by that user, with these attributes.” It’s a detective hunt across thousands of directories. Today, you’ll hone your find skills further by searching from the root /. You’ll also practice redirecting error output to maintain your sanity, as you’ll inevitably hit many “Permission denied” areas outside your home directory. This exercise reinforces file permission concepts (you’ll tangibly see where bandit6 user can or cannot read) and the importance of filtering output. By day’s end, you’ll have located the Bandit7 password and be even more comfortable navigating Linux’s access controls. Consider this a live-fire drill of your search abilities – an essential daily task for sysadmins and penetration testers alike.

Step-by-Step: (Use the password for bandit6 from Day 4.)

1. ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Log in as bandit6. This is Bandit Level 6. No obvious clues in the home directory, because the task expects you to search the whole file system. We know: look for a file owned by bandit7:bandit6 (user:group) and 33 bytes. Time to execute the mother of all find commands.

2. Run find from root /:

   find / -type f -user bandit7 -group bandit6 -size 33c 2>/dev/null
   

   Let’s unpack that:

   • / as the starting point tells find to search everywhere on the server.

   • type f restricts to files.

   • user bandit7 -group bandit6 filters files owned by user bandit7 and group bandit6.

   • size 33c finds files exactly 33 bytes in size.

   • 2>/dev/null is crucial – it dumps error messages (from directories you’re not allowed to read) into the void, so your output isn’t flooded. Without this, your screen would light up with “Permission denied” warnings for half the system. With it, find will quietly skip those and show only results you have permission to see.

     After a moment, you should get a result: a path to a file. In Bandit6’s case, it’s likely something like /var/lib/dpkg/info/bandit7.password. This looks promising – it’s a file that presumably contains bandit7’s password!

3. cat /var/lib/dpkg/info/bandit7.password – Use cat on the path find discovered (yours might be slightly different, but it should be the same concept). The content displayed is the password for bandit7. Got it! Note: If find printed multiple paths (it shouldn’t in this level), you’d check each. In this case, it should be a single file.

4. Before we move on, reflect on what just happened: you searched an entire Linux system as a regular user, and the success of that search hinged on file permissions. The password file was world-readable (or at least readable by bandit6’s group) – otherwise you’d never see it. The creators intentionally placed it where bandit6 can read. All those 2>/dev/null errors were places bandit6 cannot access. This is how Linux security works: each user has boundaries. As an operator, sometimes you’ll need to scan systems you don’t fully control; knowing how to ignore the “noise” and find what you can access is golden.

5. exit bandit6 and optionally ssh [email protected] -p 2220 with the new password to ensure it works. You are now Bandit Level 7 – nicely done!

AI Booster: Even with 2>/dev/null, maybe you were curious about those “Permission denied” messages you suppressed. Copy one from a trial run (without the redirect) and ask ChatGPT: “Why do I get ‘Permission denied’ when running find as bandit6?” You’ll get a quick lesson on Linux file permissions and user roles. GPT might explain that many directories are owned by root or others, so bandit6 can’t traverse them. It could also suggest the 2>/dev/null trick, or even using sudo (which you can’t here, but good to know in general). Essentially, GPT can translate cryptic system output into plain English. Another AI angle: if writing that long find command was intimidating, you could have described it to GPT-4: “Give me a find command to search for files owned by bandit7, group bandit6, 33 bytes, searching from root.” It likely would have constructed the exact command for you. This is a glimpse of AI as your co-pilot in admin tasks. But remember the flip side: fundamentals matter. As one expert noted, relying on AI without understanding core concepts is risky. Use GPT to accelerate, not to autopilot – today, you steered, GPT was in the backseat with the map.

Stretch-Challenge 🔥: You’ve mastered finding one file; how about finding many? For fun, try searching for all SUID files on the system (files with the special permission bit that allows privilege escalation). Hint: find / -perm -4000 2>/dev/null will list files with the SUID bit set. This has real security relevance – SUID files can sometimes be exploited. See if you recognize any (like the passwd command). Another stretch: Write a script to automate what you just did. Perhaps a Bash script that takes user, group, size as inputs and prints matching files. You could feed the prompt to Copilot: “# Script to find files by user, group, size” and let it suggest code. Also, if you haven’t already, attempt Bandit Level 7 → 8 (tomorrow’s task) early. Use the bandit7 password and see if you can solve it solo. It involves a file with a specific keyword inside – something we’ll use grep for. Give it a go as a preview of Day 6!

Checkpoint: You should now have the bandit7 password securely noted. Verify it by logging in as bandit7. The ability to search an entire system for a specific file was the pinnacle of this week’s Linux command challenges – and you’ve done it. For your Day 5 artefact, consider sharing the one-liner find command you used (it’s a thing of beauty), along with the trimmed output showing the target file path, and maybe a note on how you redirected errors. A screenshot of your terminal with the command and its result (no junk errors visible) would be a perfect validation of your skill.

Outcome Checklist: By the end of Week 3, you will have:

• Demonstrated full-system search competence, pinpointing files by owner and attributes without needing root privileges.
• Applied error-handling techniques (like redirecting stderr) to focus on relevant data, an invaluable habit in any technical debugging or reconnaissance.
• Collected all Bandit passwords from level0 through level6, reinforcing that you can systematically tackle progressively harder challenges.
• A deeper understanding of Linux permissions and file system layout, gained by actively traversing and observing where your access is allowed or denied. This observational knowledge makes you a better security practitioner moving forward.

Next-Level Teaser: Next, we pivot from finding files to finding content within files. Bandit Level 7 is all about reading through a large text to find a specific word. In Week 3 you’ve honed your sight; in Week 4, we’ll sharpen your insight. Expect to unleash grep, parse massive outputs, and even decode some encoding schemes. Plus, you’ll lean more on AI to quickly summarize and script solutions as the puzzles become more intricate. The neon journey continues, evolving from file-hunting to information mining. Rest up – tomorrow’s data mines await, and they are vast.

Further Reading:

• Bandit 6→7 Walkthrough (MayADev) – Using find with user/group filters and handling permission errors.
• Linux Permissions & Ownership – Quick refresher on why “Permission denied” occurs (files/directories not readable by your user). (See “Permission denied” discussion in any Linux intro resource.)

Context: You’ve proven you can find files by name or metadata – now let’s find information inside files. Bandit Level 7 presents a file data.txt with many lines, and the goal is to find the one line containing the word “millionth”. This is a classic scenario for grep, the Unix utility that prints lines matching a pattern. In the field, grep is your best friend for log analysis: whether it’s scanning auth logs for “Failed password” or config files for a keyword, grep finds the needle in the haystack. We’ll solve Bandit 7→8 using grep, and then pivot to a realistic log analysis task using both grep and GPT-4. Why involve AI? Because while grep fetches raw data, AI can summarize and highlight anomalies in logs. It’s like having an apprentice who can read through thousands of log lines and tell you the story they reveal. Today marries brute-force command-line searching with intelligent AI summarization – a powerful combo for any modern cyber operator. By the end, you’ll extract Bandit’s password from a sea of text and also practice turning unstructured log snippets into meaningful insights with GPT-4.

Step-by-Step: (Use the password for bandit7 from Day 5.)

1. ssh [email protected] -p 2220 – Log in as bandit7 (Bandit Level 7). In the home directory, there’s a file named data.txt. It’s quite large if you open it (thousands of lines). The goal says the password is next to the word “millionth” in this file. This is precisely what grep excels at.

2. grep "millionth" data.txt – This command searches for the string “millionth” in data.txt and prints any lines that contain it. Instantly, grep will spit out the line (something like: millionth XXXXX...) that has the word. On that line, after “millionth”, you’ll see a long string of characters – that is the password for bandit8! 🎉 In one swift move, you sifted through megabytes of data. (If the file is extremely huge, you might add | head to only see the first match, but here one line is expected.)

3. Copy the password from the grep output and save it for later (or go ahead and verify by SSH-ing into bandit8 if you’re eager). But our focus for the second part of today is on log analysis. Let’s create a mini scenario: imagine you have an authentication log and you want to identify suspicious login attempts. You’ll generate a sample log file and use grep and GPT-4 on it.

4. On your local Mac terminal (not on Bandit): create a fake log file to simulate something like /var/log/auth.log. Run:

   echo "Jul  7 18:45:23 myhost sshd[12345]: Failed password for invalid user neo from 203.0.113.42 port 22" > sample.log
   echo "Jul  7 18:47:10 myhost sshd[12347]: Accepted password for alice from 192.168.0.100 port 22" >> sample.log
   

   This populates sample.log with two entries: one failed login from an IP (possibly malicious), and one successful login from a local IP (likely normal).

5. grep "Failed password" sample.log – Use grep to filter only the failed login attempts in the log. It should output the first line (the attempt by “neo” from that external IP). If this were a real log with hundreds of lines, you could quickly list all failures (or all occurrences of a username/IP, etc.). Grep is lightning-fast at this kind of targeted search.

6. Now for the AI magic: copy the entire content of sample.log (both lines) and feed it to ChatGPT (GPT-4) with a prompt like: “Summarize the security-relevant events in this log.” Within seconds, GPT-4 might respond with something like: “One failed login attempt for user ‘neo’ from IP 203.0.113.42, and one successful login for user ‘alice’ from IP 192.168.0.100. The failed attempt could indicate a username enumeration or attack, while the successful login appears normal.” The AI has just analyzed and summarized the log, highlighting the suspicious IP. This augmentation accelerates your insight – rather than manually interpreting raw grep output, you get a human-readable summary of patterns and anomalies. In a real SOC (Security Operations Center), analysts spend a lot of time doing exactly this: grep + human analysis. With GPT-4, the “human analysis” part can be partly automated, allowing you to focus on response.

AI Booster: Today’s entire exercise was an AI booster. But think further: tools like ChatGPT can also assist in writing complex grep regexes, parsing unknown log formats, or even generating scripts to automate log parsing. For instance, if you needed to count how many failed attempts each IP made, you could ask GPT to write a one-liner awk or Python script. Also, consider GitHub Copilot: if you open sample.log in VS Code and start writing a Python script to parse it, Copilot might automatically suggest code to read the file, search for “Failed password” lines, and print a summary. Embrace this synergy: grep gives you exact control, AI gives you flexible interpretation. As noted in a recent study, LLMs can summarize logs, highlight abnormal activity, and recommend actions. You leveraged exactly that. The key is to validate AI’s output – it should match what you could conclude yourself. In our example, ensure GPT correctly identified the failed vs successful attempts. When it does, you’ve effectively gained an AI junior analyst working at your side.

Stretch-Challenge 🔥: Push your grep skills and AI integration further. Here are a few ideas:

• Bandit extension: If you’ve completed level 7, you know bandit8’s password. Try Bandit Level 8 → 9, which involves finding a unique line in a file (hint: you might combine sort and uniq). See if you can solve it a day early, and maybe ask GPT-4 to explain the strategy if you’re stuck.
• Log analysis drill: Take a real log file from your Mac (for example, /var/log/install.log or any system log you have access to) and query something interesting with grep – maybe find all lines containing “error” (using grep -i error). Then feed a portion of that log to GPT-4 asking, “What are the common errors here and their potential causes?” This will test GPT’s ability to interpret technical data.
• Automate with AI: Using Copilot or GPT, write a quick script (Bash or Python) to parse sample.log and output a count of failed vs successful logins, or list all unique IPs that failed to login. This is a miniature SIEM functionality. Compare the AI-generated solution to what you would have written – learn from it or refine it if needed (maybe add color to output or sorting).

Checkpoint: You’ve extracted the bandit8 password using grep (make sure to save it for Week 4!). You also created a sample log and got a concise summary with AI assistance. For Day 6’s artefact, consider providing a screenshot of your grep command finding “millionth” in Bandit’s data.txt (showing the password line), and a snippet of your AI chat where it summarizes the sample log. This demonstrates both your command-line prowess and your AI-augmented analytical skills. It’s evidence that you not only can find data, but also derive insight from data – a true cyber-ops capability.

Outcome Checklist: By the end of Week 3, you will have:

• Used grep to surgically extract information from within files – mastering pattern matching on the fly.
• Solved Bandit Level 7 by filtering content, reinforcing the value of text processing in security challenges.
• Understood how to integrate GPT-4 into your workflow to summarize and interpret logs or command outputs, effectively multiplying your analytical capacity.
• Produced concrete daily deliverables that showcase both raw technical skill (command usage) and higher-level understanding (AI-generated summaries and explanations).
• Gained confidence that you can handle the deluge of real-world data: whether it’s thousands of log lines or multi-GB text files, you have the tools (grep/AWK) and allies (AI) to extract meaning quickly.

Next-Level Teaser: Week 4 is on the horizon, and with it comes an even more neon-soaked cyberpunk adventure. Expect to dive into data encoding and decoding: you might encounter base64, hexdumps, compressed files within files – puzzles that require peeling back layers. You’ll likely leverage new tools (maybe sort, uniq, base64, tar, gzip – the arsenal hinted at in Bandit levels beyond 7). Your AI co-pilot will be there to help decode error messages or script multi-step tasks. Essentially, in Week 4 you’ll transition from basic ops to intermediate hacking ops, possibly leaving the safe SSH haven and interacting with network services or exploiting small programs. But fear not: the solid foundation you built in Week 3 (and the daily practice habit) has prepared you to tackle whatever comes next – from cracking cipher texts to infiltrating a web service. The neon city awaits – and you’re ready to conquer its next level challenges.

Further Reading:

• grep Command (Linux Handbook) – Overview of using grep for searching within files (options for recursive search, ignore case, etc.).
• LLMs in Log Analysis (DataSunrise) – How large language models can assist in summarizing logs and detecting anomalies in security operations.

Context: Congratulations, you’ve navigated through a week of intensive cyber-ops training! Day 7 is all about solidifying that knowledge and demonstrating it in a polished form. In the cyberpunk future (and in present-day reality), documentation and communication are just as important as hacking skills. You might have the elite skills to break into systems, but if you can’t clearly report what you did and what you learned, those skills might as well be secrets locked in an vault. Today you will create a Week-3 Summary Chronicle – essentially, an artifact that proves to yourself (and perhaps to others) what you’ve accomplished. This could be a blog-style write-up, a GitHub Gist, or a brief report capturing each day’s highlights, the commands used, problems encountered and overcome, and how AI assisted you. Think of it as your “Captain’s log” for the neon missions of this week. By reflecting on each challenge, you not only cement your learning (writing reinforces memory), but you also build a portfolio piece that showcases your journey. This is your story of Week 3: make it professional, make it precise, but don’t be afraid to give it a little cyberpunk flair in the narration.

Step-by-Step:

1. Compile Notes: Gather all your notes, artefacts, and passwords from Days 1–6. Open VS Code (with that cool neon theme, perhaps!) and create a new Markdown file titled Week3-summary.md (or similar). Start by outlining the week: e.g., Day 1 – SSH basics (Bandit0→1), Day 2 – File name tricks (Bandit1→4), ..., Day 6 – grep and AI-assisted log analysis (Bandit7→8). Under each heading, jot 3-5 bullet points: what you did, key commands learned (maybe with short explanations), any stumbling blocks and solutions, and the artefact you produced. This is essentially a condensed recap of each day’s Theme, Goal, and Outcome. Write in clear, concise language – imagine explaining to a colleague or future self what you achieved this week. Aim for short paragraphs or bullets (you can even repurpose some text from these prompts, since they are already succinct).

2. Add Technical Details: For each day, include a snippet of a command or output that was significant. For example, Day 3 might include a small code block:

   file ./*
   # Identified -file07 as ASCII text; contained Bandit5 password.
   

   Day 5 might show the find / -user bandit7 -group bandit6 -size 33c 2>/dev/null command (perhaps truncated or explained, to avoid an overly long line). These concrete examples ground your summary in real actions. Also mention how you utilized AI each day (if you did): e.g., “Used GPT-4 to explain the significance of 2>/dev/null in the find command, which clarified error redirection.” This highlights your adaptive workflow.

3. Checkpoint & Edit: Once your summary content is written, double-check for accuracy. Verify any command syntax you included is correct (typos in a report can mislead readers). Ensure you haven’t accidentally posted any sensitive info – in this context, the Bandit passwords themselves are sensitive (you can mention finding a password, but you don’t need to list the actual string of characters in your public summary). Maybe replace actual passwords with [REDACTED] or just describe them. Proofread for clarity and brevity. This document should read like a week’s mission report: factual, structured, and easy to skim (that’s why headings and bullet points are great).

4. Publish the Artefact: Now share it. If you have GitHub set up locally, you can turn this into a gist or commit it to a repository. For example, using the GitHub CLI (if configured), you could run:

   gh gist create Week3-summary.md -d "Week 3 - Bandit Learning Sprint Summary"
   

   This would upload your Markdown to a Gist (public or secret as you prefer). If you’re already managing a Git repository for your learning journey, do a git add, git commit -m "Add Week3 summary" and git push. Alternatively, copy-paste the Markdown into a new blog post if you maintain one. The key is to deliver that concrete artefact. It’s the proof of skill acquisition the sprint requires.

5. (Optional) Add Cyberpunk Flavor: While maintaining clarity, you can add a bit of the “neon-soaked” tone to make the read entertaining. Perhaps start with a one-liner intro: “Week 3 Recap: In the neon haze of Bandit’s wargames, I mastered the shell’s basics and beyond…” and end with a forward-looking statement. Just a sentence or two to give it personality – but avoid overdoing it. The technical content should remain precise and not drowned in metaphor. If you’re not comfortable with that style, a straightforward professional tone is perfectly fine.

AI Booster: Use GPT-4 here as your editor. After writing your draft, you can feed sections to ChatGPT asking for suggestions: “Proofread this paragraph for clarity” or “Can you rephrase this bullet in a more concise way?”. You could also ask “Give me a snappy title for my Week 3 cyber-ops summary.” Perhaps it suggests something like “Week 3: Mastering the Shell – A Cyberpunk Ops Diary”. You might or might not use it, but it’s great for brainstorming. Copilot in VS Code can also make formatting suggestions (for instance, if you start a Markdown table or list, it might auto-complete some structure). However, ensure the final voice is yours – AI can polish, but the experience and learnings are uniquely human (yours). An insightful practice is to have GPT-4 act as a strict reviewer: “Check my Week3 summary for any technical inaccuracies or missing crucial details.” This might catch something you glossed over. Finally, if you struggle with the “cyberpunk tone” aspect, you can prompt GPT-4: “Rewrite this summary with a subtle cyberpunk narrative voice, without losing technical clarity.” Just be cautious to fact-check any additions it makes.

Stretch-Challenge 🔥: Now that your Week 3 chronicle is done, think ahead. How would you prepare for Week 4? Perhaps set up a plan or teaser in your summary’s conclusion (e.g., “Next week, I’ll dive into Bandit’s higher levels, facing new forms of encoded secrets and possibly network-based challenges.”). As a stretch, outline what skills you anticipate needing (maybe research what Bandit levels 8-12 entail – without spoiling solutions, just see the topics like base64, binary files, etc.). Jot down a “Week 4 preview” in your notes, which can guide your learning. Another stretch idea: share your summary with a friend or online (security forum, Twitter, etc.) and invite feedback or tips for the next stage. Teaching others or simply exposing your learning process can solidify your own understanding. It takes guts to put your work out there, but the cyberpunk ethos is all about boldness, right? 🔥

Checkpoint: By now, you should have a polished Week 3 summary document and have shared it (or at least saved it in a way you can share later). Double-check the content covers each day’s major learning goal and that the expected artefacts are mentioned or linked. The act of writing this (and perhaps getting it reviewed by AI or peers) is your final proof of completion. Your Day 7 artefact is essentially the summary itself – consider this the crowning piece of Week 3 that encapsulates all other artefacts.

Outcome Checklist: By the end of Week 3, you now have:

• A comprehensive “Week 3 – Bandit Sprint” report written in Markdown, documenting each day’s theme, tasks, and outcomes.
• All Bandit levels 0–6 solutions verified and explained in your own words (and even Level 7’s solution prepared as a head-start for Week 4).
• A demonstration of communication skills: you can convey technical steps clearly (a crucial ability in cybersecurity, where you’ll often write reports for bosses or clients).
• A portfolio piece showing your journey – this summary can be shown to mentors or even included in a blog or resume to illustrate your hands-on experience.
• A habit of daily reflection and note-taking. By doing this regularly, you reinforce retention of what you learned and set yourself up for continuous improvement.

Next-Level Teaser: Week 4 looms like a glowing skyline on the horizon. Next week, the challenges escalate from the basics to the exotic. Expect to crack open encoded files (Base64, hex, maybe even RSA?), manipulate archives (ever unwrapped an .gz inside a .tar inside a .bz2? you will), and interact with running services (Bandit later levels involve connecting to ports and sending payloads). You’ll leave the comfort of simple shell commands and write small scripts, possibly in Python or Bash, to automate multi-step exploits. Also, anticipate integrating tools like curl or ncat as you venture into networking. But here’s the good news: everything you mastered in Week 3 forms the backbone for tackling Week 4. You know how to search, filter, automate, and use AI assistance. Week 4 will feel like entering a higher level of the game – it’s tougher, yes, but also more thrilling. Gear up for more puzzles, more neon, and perhaps the first taste of actual “hacking” challenges. The skills are in place, the AI co-pilot is on standby, and you’re ready to write the next chapter of this cyberpunk saga. See you in Week 4 – the future is yours to commandeer.

Further Reading:

• Benefits of Technical Note-Taking – How writing and documenting your process improves understanding and retention.
• Effective Cybersecurity Reporting – (Blog) Tips on writing clear, actionable technical reports for security findings (learn to communicate like a pro).