CyberCode Academy episodes:

• November 13, 2025Course 5 - Full Mobile Hacking | Episode 5: Exploiting Insecure Storage and Access Controls via Reverse Engineering and ADB

  In this lesson, you’ll learn about:

  • Access control flaws & exposed debug interfaces: how application components and debug/logging channels can unintentionally reveal sensitive functionality or credentials when accessible from outside the normal UI (e.g., via dev/debug interfaces), and why minimizing exposed surfaces is critical.
  • Log‑based information leakage: why verbose runtime logs (debug logs, stack traces, or logcat output) can leak API credentials or internal activity flows and how logging policies should avoid emitting secrets.
  • Input validation failures enabling file access: the risk when inputs meant for URLs or safe IDs are not validated and are instead used directly to read files or resources—leading to unauthorized access to internal app files or external storage.
  • Reverse‑engineering for source‑level discovery (conceptual): how attackers analyze an app’s distributed package to inspect code paths, SQL queries, and hardcoded secrets; why attackers look for hardcoded credentials, embedded query strings, and sensitive constants in decompiled artifacts. (Discussed at a high level — use only approved analysis tools in controlled labs.)
  • Insecure storage patterns & common pitfalls: typical insecure storage locations and formats that leak secrets:
    • Shared Preferences / XML files: plaintext credentials stored in app-config XMLs.
    • SQLite databases: sensitive tables and records stored without encryption.
    • Temporary files: transient files (temp dumps) that retain secrets on disk.
    • External storage (SD card): writable, world‑readable areas where sensitive data may be exposed to other apps or users.
  • Attack surface demonstrated (high level): combining exposed components, poor input validation, and insecure storage enables an attacker to bypass intended UI controls and access stored credentials or private data — a clear example of failing the “defense in depth” principle.
  • Mitigations & secure design recommendations:
    • Never store credentials or secrets in plaintext; use platform keystores or strong encryption.
    • Validate and strictly sanitize all user‑supplied input before using it in file access or resource locators.
    • Avoid writing sensitive data to external/shared storage; prefer protected internal storage with proper file permissions.
    • Minimize and sanitize logging (do not log secrets or sensitive fields).
    • Harden app components: restrict component exposure, remove debug hooks from production builds, and enforce proper access checks on exported activities/services.
    • Secure databases with encryption-at-rest and limit sensitive columns; avoid temporary files for secret data.
  • Defensive testing & lab guidance:
    • Teach these issues using intentionally vulnerable apps (like DVAR) inside isolated, authorized lab environments only.
    • Instructors should provide sanitized sample APKs and datasets; students must never attempt these techniques against live/production apps or devices without explicit authorization.
    • Emphasize documentation: record findings, reproduce safely, and communicate issues with clear remediation steps for developers.
  • Core takeaway:
    Effective mobile app security requires careful control of exposed interfaces, strict input validation, and secure handling of all sensitive data (no plaintext secrets, no sensitive external storage). Combining secure coding practices with careful logging, testing, and least‑privilege design prevents the kinds of data exposures highlighted by the DVAR case study.

  
  
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• November 13, 2025Course 5 - Full Mobile Hacking | Episode 4: Comprehensive Android Debugging and Control: ADB, SCRCPY, and Security Manipulation

  In this lesson, you’ll learn about:
  

  • ADB & SCRCPY — purpose & components (conceptual):
    • What the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) is (a client/daemon/server communication layer) and its role for device management, debugging, and automation in development and incident response.
    • What SCRCPY (screen‑mirror tool) does: mirror and control an Android device screen from a desktop for testing and demonstrations.
  • Common ADB capabilities (overview, non‑actionable):
    • Device enumeration and an interactive device shell as a controlled interface for diagnostics.
    • High‑level categories of system utilities accessible via the shell (activity management, package management, device policies, screen capture) and why they matter for dev, testing, and forensics.
    • Wireless vs. wired connectivity tradeoffs (risk surface of enabling remote ADB/TCP) — conceptual only.
  • System management utilities (what they are & why they’re useful):
    • Activity Manager (am): monitoring app lifecycle and services (useful for debugging and detection).
    • Package Manager (pm): inventorying installed apps, checking app metadata, and assessing potential risk from side‑loaded packages.
    • Device Policy Manager (dpm): obtaining security posture indicators and enforcing enterprise policies.
    • Screen capture utilities: capturing screenshots or video for debugging and evidence collection — emphasise consent and chain‑of‑custody when used for forensics.
  • Screen mirroring & remote control (defensive uses):
    • How mirroring aids usability testing, accessibility demos, and secure classroom demos — and the importance of using it only on devices you control.
    • Security considerations: ensure mirroring is used on isolated networks and trusted hosts to avoid leaking sensitive data.
  • Security risks & hardening recommendations (practical, non‑actionable):
    • Disable USB debugging on production devices; enable only in controlled lab/dev environments.
    • Avoid enabling ADB over TCP on public or untrusted networks; prefer wired/authorized sessions.
    • Enforce ADB authorization (device ↔ host key confirmation) and rotate management keys in enterprise settings.
    • Remove or restrict developer options and sideloading on production/managed devices via MDM.
    • Use device encryption, strong lock screens, and biometrics as an additional layer of defense.
  • Forensic & incident‑response perspective (safe practices):
    • How ADB and related tools can be used legally and ethically for device triage in authorized investigations (collection of logs, capturing screenshots, listing installed packages) — emphasize documentation, consent, and evidentiary chain of custody.
    • Prefer read‑only collection methods and snapshotting (VMs, emulator states) during lab analysis to avoid contaminating evidence.
    • Use instrumented emulators or disposable test devices for any dynamic analysis.
  • Ethics, legality & authorization:
    • Clear rule: do not attempt privilege escalation, device unlocking, or bypassing authentication on devices without explicit, documented authorization from the device owner and appropriate legal clearance.
    • University lab policy suggestions: require signed authorization, isolated networks, and instructor oversight for any hands‑on mobile analysis.
  • Safe classroom exercises & demos:
    • Manifest & package inventory lab: students inspect app manifests and package metadata (provided benign APKs) to spot excessive permissions.
    • Mirroring demo: use SCRCPY to demonstrate UI workflows on an emulator or instructor‑controlled device (network isolated).
    • Telemetry detection lab: generate benign, explainable network traffic from an emulator and have students write detection rules for anomalous behavior (flow volume, unusual destination).
    • Forensics table‑top: present a logged incident and have students draft a triage and evidence‑collection plan that follows legal/ethical best practices.
  • Defender tooling & monitoring (recommended):
    • Mobile endpoint management (MDM/EMM) to enforce policies and control ADB/dev options.
    • Runtime telemetry monitoring (battery, CPU, network) and alerting for anomalous device behavior.
    • Use reputable static analysis tools (e.g., MobSF) and sandboxing for safe APK inspection in labs.
  • Further reading & resources:
    • OWASP Mobile Top 10 and MASVS (Mobile App Security Verification Standard).
    • Official Android docs on ADB and security best practices.
    • Mobile forensics and incident response guides (academic/industry publications).

  
  
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• November 13, 2025Course 5 - Full Mobile Hacking | Episode 3: Android Hacking and Remote Management: Payloads, App Hiding, Geolocation, and Data Extraction

  In this lesson, you’ll learn about:

  • Threat model — mobile remote‑control malware (conceptual):
    • What attackers seek from a malicious Android app: persistent remote access, stealth (hide presence), broad permissions (contacts, SMS, storage, mic, camera, location), data exfiltration, and remote command/control.
    • Why mobile malware is impactful: rich sensor/data access, always‑on networks, user trust in apps, and potential financial/privacy harm.
  • Common initial access vectors (high level):
    • Social engineering (phishing, trojanized apps), sideloading (installing outside official stores), malicious web pages, and repackaging legitimate apps.
    • Emphasize that these are high‑level categories — defensive focus is on prevention and detection.
  • Payload capabilities (overview, non‑actionable):
    • Typical capability categories attackers attempt to obtain after compromise: persistence, reconnaissance (contacts, logs), exfiltration (files, messages), location tracking, media capture (mic/camera), command execution, and process/service manipulation.
    • Discuss real impact scenarios (privacy invasion, surveillance, fraud) without operational recipes.
  • Scalable attacker tooling — concept:
    • Explain what device‑management/control frameworks are (legitimate MDM vs. malicious C2 panels) and why an attacker would use them (automation, scale, central management).
    • Distinguish legitimate enterprise MDM workflows from malicious misuse.
  • Indicators of compromise (IoCs) & detection signals:
    • Unusual app permissions (sudden requests for mic/camera/location).
    • Non‑store APK installs, unexpected installed packages, or packages with obfuscated names.
    • Unexpected background network connections to unknown domains or frequent long‑lived sockets.
    • Sudden battery drain, high CPU usage, or unexplained data usage spikes.
    • New services/processes, files, or logs created in app storage directories.
    • Presence of hidden activities or receivers in app manifest (teach students how to read manifests safely).
  • Forensic artifacts & investigation focus (non‑actionable):
    • What to collect and examine: installed package list, app manifest & permissions, network connection logs, logcat output (in controlled lab), file system artifacts in app data, SMS/call logs (with consent), and sensor access timestamps.
    • High‑level static vs dynamic analysis goals: manifest/permission review, metadata, certificate sources (signing), and observing runtime behavior in an isolated environment. No exploitation instructions included.
  • Safe, authorized analysis environments (lab checklist):
    • Use isolated VMs and dedicated test devices or emulators with network isolation (virtual network or proxy).
    • Configure a controlled test network (local-only or captive proxy) and sandboxed analysis tools.
    • Use disposable test accounts and fake/sample data (never real users’ data).
    • Snapshot or revert capability (emulator snapshots, VM snapshots) to restore clean state.
    • Logging and monitoring enabled (network captures, system logs) for teaching demonstrations.
  • Defensive detection & monitoring techniques:
    • Runtime monitoring: monitor unusual outbound connections, anomalous telemetry, high sensor access frequency, and abnormal app lifecycles.
    • Policy controls: disable sideloading, enforce app signing and store policies, use application allow‑lists, and MDM policies for enterprise devices.
    • Endpoint protections: mobile antivirus/ML detection, Play Protect (Android), and behavioural anomaly detection (heuristics on battery/network patterns).
    • Network controls: block connections to suspicious C2 domains, use DNS/HTTP filtering, and inspect TLS metadata for anomalies.
  • Mitigation & hardening best practices:
    • Principle of least privilege: request minimal permissions and use runtime permission prompts responsibly.
    • App store hygiene: vet third‑party stores, enforce code signing & provenance checks.
    • User education: phishing awareness, never install unknown APKs, inspect permissions before granting.
    • Enterprise controls: use MDM/EMM to restrict installation, enforce app vetting, restrict USB/ADB access, and enforce OS updates.
    • Secure development practices: secure coding, minimize sensitive data in storage, encrypt sensitive data, and avoid over‑privileged manifest entries.
  • Defender tools & frameworks (safe, recommended):
    • Static analysis: Mobile security frameworks like MobSF (static/interactive analysis), APKTool (manifest inspection), and decompilers for code inspection in an educational context.
    • Dynamic analysis: use instrumented emulators (isolated), system logging, and network proxies to observe behavior — always in lab setups.
    • Threat intelligence and scanners: commercial and open‑source mobile threat intelligence feeds and sandboxing services for malware scanning.
  • Ethics, legality & responsible disclosure:
    • Legal constraints: unauthorized testing, distribution, or deployment of malware is illegal — only perform hands‑on exercises in controlled, consented labs.
    • Responsible disclosure: how to report findings to vendors or platforms in a safe, ethical manner.
    • Academic lab policy: require signed authorization, lab safety rules, and anonymized datasets when demonstrating real cases.
  • Classroom exercises (safe & practical):
    • Manifest & permission analysis: students inspect benign APK manifests (provided by instructor) and identify suspicious permission combinations.
    • Network telemetry lab: simulate (benign) suspicious traffic from an emulator to a localhost collector and teach detection rules without using malicious payloads.
    • Static metadata analysis: examine sample (non‑malicious) APKs for signing certificate properties, package names, and embedded URLs.
    • Incident response tabletop: present a case study of a suspected compromised device and have students design detection/containment/eradication steps.
    • Use curated, intentionally vulnerable apps (educational samples) that are safe for analysis (e.g., OWASP MobileTop10 labs, purposely vulnerable app projects) — never real malware.
  • Case studies & post‑mortem learning (conceptual):
    • Summaries of well‑documented incidents showing attack chains, what failed, what detection worked, and remediation steps — focus on lessons learned rather than reproducing attack code.
  • Further reading & learning resources:
    • OWASP Mobile Top 10, OWASP MASVS (Mobile Application Security Verification Standard).
    • Mobile forensics textbooks and incident response guides.
    • Academic papers and industry blogs on mobile malware detection, mobile threat intelligence feeds, and responsible di

  
  
  You can listen and download our episodes for free on more than 10 different platforms:
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• November 13, 2025Course 5 - Full Mobile Hacking | Episode 2: Setting Up the iPhone Simulator on Mac OS using Xcode for Mobile Penetration Testing

  In this lesson, you’ll learn about:

  • iPhone Simulator on macOS — purpose & use: running a full iOS simulator via Xcode to test, debug, and perform mobile app analysis without physical hardware.
  • Prerequisites: a Mac running macOS and a working installation of Xcode (installed from the App Store; note: large download).
  • Launching the Simulator: open Xcode, load or create a project, then use Xcode → Open Developer Tool → Simulator to start a virtual device.
  • Selecting device & OS: choose device models (e.g., iPhone 12 Pro Max) and iOS system images (e.g., iOS 14.1) from the simulator UI.
  • Basic simulator controls & features: rotate/flip the device, take screenshots, record screen, copy/paste between host and simulator, and manage device snapshots.
  • System navigation & app testing: access Settings, sign in with an Apple ID (if desired), open Safari, browse websites (requires host internet), and launch installed apps for functional testing.
  • Use cases for pentesting & development: quick UI/behavior testing, permission inspection (photos, location, mic, camera), dynamic testing of apps, and preparing for deeper analysis (code/data access, reverse shells, storage inspection) in later modules.
  • Key benefits & limitations: fast, repeatable test environment; no physical device required; good for initial testing and debugging—but some hardware features and exact device behaviors may differ from a real device.

  
  
  You can listen and download our episodes for free on more than 10 different platforms:
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• November 13, 2025Course 5 - Full Mobile Hacking | Episode 1: Android Studio: Running AVDs and Installing Apps on Windows

  In this lesson, you’ll learn about:
  

  • Setting up Android Studio on Windows:
    • Launching Android Studio (built on IntelliJ) for developing, testing, and examining APKs.
    • Verifying proper installation of the Android SDK to ensure access to essential developer tools.
  • Creating and managing Android Virtual Devices (AVDs):
    • Using the AVD Manager to configure emulators by selecting:
      • Platform type (e.g., Phone)
      • Specific device model (e.g., Pixel 3)
      • System image (e.g., Android 10 / Q)
    • Launching the configured AVD and accessing advanced options via the Extended Controls panel.
  • Customizing emulator settings:
    • Adjusting location (e.g., setting GPS to Singapore).
    • Modifying cellular network type (GSM, LTE) and signal strength.
    • Changing battery level, configuring camera settings, and managing phone functions (SMS, calls).
    • Controlling virtual sensors such as the accelerometer and gyroscope.
    • Saving snapshots, recording emulator screens, and enabling clipboard sharing between Windows and the emulator.
  • Installing and testing APKs using ADB:
    • Downloading an APK (e.g., WhatsApp Messenger) and launching the desired emulator.
    • Using Android Debug Bridge (ADB) for remote device control and configuration:
      • Checking connected devices with adb devices.
      • Installing the APK via adb -s [emulator-name] install [apk-name].
      • Confirming success via the “success” response message.
    • Locating and launching the installed app from Apps & Notifications within the emulator.
  • Key outcome:
    Gain hands-on experience in emulator setup, configuration, and APK deployment using Android Studio and ADB — essential skills for mobile application testing, debugging, and secure app analysis in a controlled virtual environment.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  You can listen and download our episodes for free on more than 10 different platforms:
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• November 13, 2025Course 4 - Learning Linux Shell Scripting | Episode 9: Process Management, Scheduling, User Control, and Scripting Utilities

  In this lesson, you’ll learn about:
  

  • Process and signal management:
    • Understanding Linux processes and gathering details using ps, top (for CPU-intensive tasks), and pgrep (to find PIDs).
    • Analyzing process attributes such as PID, user, memory usage, and CPU time, and learning to filter and format outputs.
    • Managing processes through signals — terminating with kill (default SIGTERM) or force-stopping using SIGKILL.
    • Implementing custom signal handling in scripts using trap to gracefully manage interrupts like SIGINT (Ctrl+C).
  • System monitoring and communication:
    • Retrieving system details including hostname, kernel version, CPU, and memory stats.
    • Exploring the /proc pseudo-filesystem to access live process data (environment variables, file descriptors, working directories).
    • Sending system-wide messages to logged-in users using wall, or directly writing to a specific user’s terminal under /dev/pts.
  • Scheduling and database interaction:
    • Automating tasks with cron — writing crontab entries (minute, hour, day, month, weekday, command) and setting environment variables.
    • Configuring startup/boot-time commands and verifying background jobs.
    • Interacting with MySQL databases via shell scripts — executing SQL queries using the mysql client, embedding SQL through EOF blocks, and handling structured CSV data using the Internal Field Separator (IFS).
  • User administration and utilities:
    • Building an administrative management script (ADM.sh) to automate user and group operations — adding/removing users (useradd, userdel), modifying shells (chsh), locking/unlocking accounts (usermod -L/-U), setting expirations (chage), and updating passwords.
    • Performing bulk image management with convert (resize by dimension/percentage, format conversion).
    • Taking screenshots using import (whole screen, region, or window capture).
    • Managing multiple terminals using GNU screen — creating, switching, detaching, and reattaching sessions remotely.
  • Key outcome:
    Develop practical command-line and scripting proficiency for full-scale Linux system administration — covering process control, scheduling, user management, system monitoring, and automation.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  You can listen and download our episodes for free on more than 10 different platforms:
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• November 13, 2025Course 4 - Learning Linux Shell Scripting | Episode 8: System Monitoring, Performance Measurement, and Log Management

  In this lesson, you’ll learn about:
  

  • Resource monitoring & optimization:
    • Using df and du to calculate disk usage and free space, display results in human-readable form (-H), summarize totals, exclude directories, and locate the largest files with du | sort.
    • Tracking disk I/O activity with iotop in both interactive and script modes.
    • Checking filesystem integrity using fsck, with options to simulate or automatically repair issues.
    • Measuring and tuning system power usage with powertop, generating HTML reports, and adjusting power-saving settings.
  • Performance measurement & process analysis:
    • Measuring command execution time via time, interpreting Real, User, and System times, and formatting or appending output to files.
    • Monitoring process activity with ps to track CPU and memory usage, including automated scripts to identify the top resource-consuming processes.
    • Continuously observing system output using watch, with difference highlighting (-d) between updates.
  • System status & user activity tracking:
    • Viewing logged-in users (who, w, users), uptime, and load averages.
    • Reviewing login history with last (reads /var/log/wtmp) and failed logins with lastb.
    • Analyzing session logs to calculate each user’s total activity time, login count, and ranking by usage.
  • Logging techniques & management:
    • Writing custom system log messages using logger, which integrates with syslogd and system-wide log files (boot, kernel, authentication, mail, etc.).
    • Monitoring file and directory activity with inotifywait to detect read, write, create, move, or delete events.
    • Managing log file growth using logrotate, setting parameters for size limits, rotation intervals (daily/weekly), and archived copy counts, with optional compression.
  • Security & health monitoring scripts:
    • Implementing intrusion detection by scanning /var/log/auth.log for repeated failed login attempts, extracting attacker details (user, IP, count) within a time window.
    • Automating remote health checks using SSH to gather disk usage data from multiple hosts, logging device stats and marking alerts for disks above 80% usage.
  • Key outcome:
    Gain proficiency in maintaining Linux system stability and security by actively monitoring performance, automating diagnostics, and managing logs efficiently through shell scripting.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  You can listen and download our episodes for free on more than 10 different platforms:
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• November 13, 2025Course 4 - Learning Linux Shell Scripting | Episode 7: Comprehensive Network Diagnostics and Remote Host Management

  In this lesson, you’ll learn about:
  

  • Network connectivity & diagnostics: using ping to verify reachability and measure RTT (use -c to limit packets, check exit status), and traceroute to map hops. Techniques for discovering live hosts via parallel ping scripts or fping for fast network sweeps.
  • Secure remote access & automation (SSH): running remote commands securely, enabling compression (-C), X11 forwarding for GUI apps, and setting up passwordless login with ssh-keygen + authorized_keys for automated scripts and non-interactive sessions.
  • File transfer methods: classic FTP/lftp scripting, and secure alternatives over SSH — SCP, SFTP, and rsync (efficient delta transfers and remote backups). Best practices for automating transfers and preserving permissions.
  • Advanced network control (port forwarding & remoting): local and remote port forwarding examples, non-interactive/daemonized forwards, reverse tunnels to expose non-public machines, and mounting remote filesystems with SSHFS for local access to remote drives.
  • Network analysis & custom communication: listing open ports and connections (lsof -i, netstat -tnp), inspecting services, and building arbitrary TCP/UDP sockets with netcat (nc) for ad-hoc listeners, file transfers, or simple debugging shells.
  • Practical tips & safety: prefer encrypted channels (SSH/SFTP/rsync over SSH), restrict forwarded ports and keys to minimal scope, monitor open ports regularly, and test automation on controlled hosts before production use.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  You can listen and download our episodes for free on more than 10 different platforms:
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• November 13, 2025Course 4 - Learning Linux Shell Scripting | Episode 6: The Backup Plan

  In this lesson, you’ll learn about: The Backup Plan — Data Management, Archiving, and Backup Automation
  This section provides a deep dive into data management strategies, focusing on archiving, compression, specialized file systems, and automated backup solutions. It builds upon the previous lesson, where web interaction through shell scripting was introduced. 🗃️ Archiving Fundamentals • tar (Tape Archive):
  

  • Create and manage archive files (“tarballs”).
  • Perform operations like create, list, extract, append (-R), update (-u), and concatenate (-A).
  • Use verbose output (-v), wildcards for file selection, and exclude unwanted directories (e.g., .git).

  • cpio (Copy In/Out):
  

  • Understand this archive format, similar to tar, used mainly in RPM packages and Linux kernel init RAM FS.
  • Though less common, it remains an important legacy tool for low-level archiving.

  📦 Data Compression Techniques • gzip:
  

  • Compress single files efficiently.
  • Control output to standard output (-c) and set compression levels (1–9, or --fast / --best).
  • Use zcat to read compressed files without extraction.

  • bzip2:
  

  • Achieve higher compression ratios than gzip, though with slower processing.

  • lzma:
  

  • Offers even stronger compression performance, ideal for minimizing storage space.

  • zip:
  

  • Combines archiving and compression in one step, widely supported across platforms.

  • pbzip2:
  

  • A parallelized version of bzip2 using multiple CPU cores (Pthreads).
  • Greatly speeds up compression but requires tar for handling multiple files.

  💾 Specialized Data and System Management • SquashFS (Squash File System):
  

  • Create read-only, compressed file systems commonly used in Linux Live CDs/USBs.
  • Access compressed data on-demand through loopback mounting, avoiding full extraction.

  🧠 Advanced Backup Strategies • rsync (Remote Sync):
  

  • Synchronize and back up files efficiently by transferring only changes.
  • Support for SSH, compression (-z), and cron scheduling for automation.
  • Perfect for maintaining remote or incremental backups.

  • git (Version-Control Backup):
  

  • Apply Git’s versioning to regular files for incremental and differential backups.
  • Track changes, mark snapshots, and restore previous versions.
  • Not ideal for large binary-only datasets.

  • FS Archiver:
  

  • Create compressed disk images of entire file systems, including metadata.
  • Supports modern file systems like ext4, simplifying full restoration and migration.

  In summary:
  This section equips you with a complete toolkit for data protection — from simple file compression (gzip, zip) and archiving (tar), to powerful synchronization (rsync), version-based tracking (git), and full disk imaging (FS Archiver). Together, these tools form the foundation for a reliable, automated backup plan that ensures data integrity and recovery across systems.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  You can listen and download our episodes for free on more than 10 different platforms:
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• November 13, 2025Course 4 - Learning Linux Shell Scripting | Episode 5: Shell Scripting for Web Automation, Data Retrieval, and Parsing

  In this lesson, you’ll learn about: Tangled Web — Automating Web Interaction with Shell Scripting
  This section focuses on how shell scripting and command-line tools can be used to interact with and automate web-related tasks. It explains how to retrieve, parse, send, and monitor web data using the HTTP protocol through utilities like wget, curl, and links. 🌐 Core Command-Line Utilities for Web Interaction • wget (Web Download Utility):
  

  • Download files and web pages with options to resume interrupted downloads (-C) and set retry limits (-t).
  • Control bandwidth usage (--limit-rate) and quotas (--quota, -Q).
  • Perform full website mirroring (--mirror, -L, -R).
  • Support authentication via --user, --password, or secure password prompts (--ask-password).

  • links (Command-Line Web Browser):
  

  • Convert web pages into plain text by stripping HTML tags.
  • Use the -dump option to display page content and list all hyperlinks under a “References” section.

  • curl (Powerful Transfer Utility):
  

  • Handle HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP data transfers.
  • Execute POST requests, manage cookies, and use authentication (-u).
  • Save files using remote (-O) or custom (-o) filenames.
  • Resume downloads (-C), set referrers (--referrer), and customize user agents (-A).
  • Retrieve only HTTP headers (-I, --head) to verify content without downloading full files.

  ⚙️ Data Processing and Automation Scripts • Parsing Website Data:
  

  • Extract and reformat specific information from web pages by combining links -no-list, grep, and sed.

  • Image Crawler and Downloader:
  

  • Write scripts to extract image URLs (both absolute and relative) and automatically download them with curl.

  • Web Photo Album Generator:
  

  • Automate photo album creation using a for loop and the ImageMagick convert utility to create thumbnails (e.g., 100 px).
  • Generate an index.html file containing image tags and layout automatically.

  • Define Utility (Dictionary Script):
  

  • Use a dictionary API (e.g., Merriam-Webster) with curl to fetch data.
  • Apply grep, sed, and nl to extract and format word definitions.

  🛠️ Website Maintenance and Interaction • Finding Broken Links:
  

  • Collect all URLs recursively using links -traversal and check their status codes with curl -I to find dead links.

  • Tracking Changes:
  

  • Monitor websites for content updates by fetching new and old versions (recent.html, last.html) and comparing them with diff.

  • Posting Data to Web Pages:
  

  • Automate form submissions (like logins) using POST requests.
  • Send variable=value pairs with curl -d or wget --post-data and process the response.

  In summary:
  This section teaches how to automate web-related tasks such as downloading, parsing, monitoring, and submitting data directly from the command line—eliminating the need for manual browsing.
  Analogy:
  Learning this module is like programming a set of digital “bots” — each tool (curl, wget, links) acts as a specialized agent that collects, filters, and interacts with online data to create fully automated web workflows.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  You can listen and download our episodes for free on more than 10 different platforms:
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