The first person to answer the challenge completely was Philippe Teuwen. Kudos for solving this challenge the day itself. Since he already has a ticket, he receives a Tshirt and prices will go to the runner-up Mark Hillick!
For those who wondered what the correct answer was, here is the solution:
- Hidden.rtf is hidden in vader.gif using steganography with the IDEA encryption protocol. Using the passphrase “hexfactor” the file can be extracted.
- Hidden.rtf contains the following url : http://blog.remes-it.be/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/poodleman.jpg
- Poodleman.jpg metadata contains UHJpbnNlbmdhbGVyaWosIEJydXNzZWwsIEJlbGdpdW0=
- The base64 string contains the following information : Prinsengalerij, Brussel, Belgium
- With Google Maps, you can find the location and retrieve pictures taken nearby. The famous statue is among them : Jeanneke Pis
- With tineye.com, you can find out which sites also host the poodleman pictures :
http://daviddust.blogspot.com/2009/11/happy-couples.html
http://picturewar.wordpress.com/
http://blog.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/category/dumm-gelaufen-dg/
http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/2009/11/07/sns-mans-bff/
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=189401
http://www.cutewithchris.com/formal_cat_portraits/index.html
http://www.magazine13.com/awkward-family-photos/
http://poorlydressed.com/
http://ffffound.com/image/d0153c516c834df263886b518bcc77f827eb4508
http://www.spock.com/q/%5EDog-Groomer%5E
http://squat.net/overtoom301/pages/events.html
For those who want to have more fun and learn new stuff…. come over to BruCON and play TheHexFactor! The venue will stay open all Friday evening so you can play after the last presentations to your hearts content.
Previous posts: